AI has cut content production cuts costs by 95%: Pocket FM COO

Pocket FM slashes content production costs by over 95% using AI, reduces timelines and turns EBITDA positive as global user base and revenue scale up.

Written by Anees Hussain

April 21, 2026 21:35 IST

Pocket FM uses AI to cut content costs by 95%, speed up production and achieve EBITDA profitability while expanding globally and boosting revenue.

Audio series platform Pocket FM has slashed the cost of producing content from roughly $1,000 per hour to between $50 and $60 by integrating artificial intelligence across its entire production chain — a reduction of more than 95% that the company says has been key to its turning Ebitda-positive, newly appointed Chief Operating Officer Lalit Gangwar told FE.

Pocket FM’s serialised audio shows typically run over 150 hours per series and used to take up to two years to produce. With AI-led writing, voice synthesis and post-production, a full series can now be deployed in about a month, Gangwar added. Even human-led productions have been compressed from two years to roughly six months.

Beyond Audio

Beyond audio, Pocket FM has also built out dedicated YouTube channels presenting its stories in video-drama format across genres largely produced by AI. The platform initially relied on 30-40 second trailers, but has recently started experimenting with longer 10-15 minute videos to increase conversion.

Gangwar drew a sharp distinction between Pocket FM’s long-form audio model and the growing crowd of short-drama platforms entering the market.

JioHotstar launched its short-form vertical ‘Tadka’ earlier this month with over 100 titles of 60–90 second episodes, timed to the IPL 2026 viewership surge across its 300-million-plus user base. In the US, TikTok launched a standalone micro-drama app called PineDrama in January, entering a market that consultancy Owl & Co estimated generated $1.3 billion in direct viewer payments in 2025.

Advertising currently accounts for about 20% of Pocket FM’s revenue, with the company now building a direct partnerships team to move beyond programmatic placements and grow that share.

250 million+ users across 10 countries

Pocket FM says it reaches over 250 million users across more than 10 countries and has logged 140 billion cumulative streaming minutes. Its library spans over 100,000 audio series from more than 300,000 writers. Gangwar, who joined Pocket FM in 2021 when it was a seed-funded startup of 30–40 people, led the India growth to 150 million users before steering the US and Europe expansion. Nearly 70% of its revenue now comes from the United States. Its parent entity, Pocket Entertainment, had reported revenue of Rs 1,768 crore in FY25 up 68% from FY24. It’s annualised revenue run-rate now stands at $450 million globally, doubling in a year, Gangwar added. “We are now free cash flow positive, at around 5% Ebitda.”

The company has raised approximately $197 million to date from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, StepStone Group and Naver. It’s last known valuation stood at $750 million.

This article was first uploaded on April twenty-one, twenty twenty-six, at thirty-five minutes past nine in the night.