Ratan Tata has this advice for startups of the future

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus Tata Sons, on Tuesday, said that the future of startups will be in the artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive business space.

Tata was speaking at the 11th edition of TiEcon Mumbai where the theme is, “The Decade Of Start-Ups, Kickstarting the Future”.

“Many startups depend extensively on technology. Startups of the future will be in the AI, predictive business space,” Tata noted.

The veteran businessman also had a word of advice for players just starting out.

“Startups should operate their business ethically. There will be startups that attract attention and disappear. Such startups will not get a second chance. So, the success mantra for startups is to do the right thing and do it ethically,” Tata advised.

Tata is of the belief that Indian startups need to be funded by domestic investors rather than foreign ones. At TIEcon he advocated a need for mentoring, advising new startups and mentioned that a shadow regulator might be the need of the hour.

Ratan Tata who calls himself an accidental investor has funded close to a dozen startups to date. He backed Ola and Paytm in 2015 in his personal capacity. His other top includes fitness startup CureFit, auto website CarDekho; online furniture store Urban Ladder, eyewear e-tailer Lenskart and home rental platform NestAway.