As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve from basic automation to autonomous decision-making, agentic AI – AI that can perform complex tasks with little or no human intervention – is rapidly gaining traction. While traditionally the domain of enterprise solutions, startups are now eyeing a new frontier: consumers.
Several companies that once focused purely on business-to-business (B2B) applications are now tapping into the burgeoning interest from everyday users, driven by rising digital adoption and demand for intuitive, voice-enabled, and personalised services.
Last month, Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI venture Krutrim launched Kruti, a consumer-focused agentic AI platform that enables users to book taxis, order food, pay bills, generate images, and conduct detailed research. With its action agents, research mode, and image generation capabilities offered for free, Kruti aims to bring AI autonomy into the hands of consumers.
Similarly, Fractal Analytics, a Mumbai-based AI startup known for its enterprise product Cogentiq, is also making headway into the B2C space. Fractal’s consumer-facing agentic products such as Vaidya ai (a health assistant), Kalaido ai (a text-to-image generator in 17 Indian languages), and Marshallgoldsmith ai (a coaching platform), are all built atop the Cogentiq engine. These tools are not just extensions but serve as early signals of a deeper shift from corporate workflows to personal utility.
Consumer curiosity in agentic AI is also riding the wave of widespread generative AI adoption. While generative models like ChatGPT gained popularity for creating content based on input prompts, agentic AI goes a step further by taking decisions and acting on them.
“The increased demand for B2C agentic offerings in India is driven by a tech-savvy, mobile-first population seeking faster, more intuitive, and hyper-personalised digital experiences in everything from shopping and banking to healthcare and education,” said Ganesh Gopalan, co-founder and CEO of Gnani AI.
Gnani, which is part of the IndiaAI Mission to help develop a sovereign large language model, recently launched Inya AI, its flagship consumer agentic platform. “In just the past few days, we have seen strong adoption from a diverse set of users, from developers experimenting with no-code workflows to strategic program managers, digital heads, and business leaders looking to solve specific engagement challenges with AI agents,” Gopalan added.
According to Gnani, Inya is multilingual, multimodal, and designed to be a plug-and-play solution that allows users to build intelligent voice or chat agents in under five minutes, without any coding. “As user behaviour continues to shift toward voice-driven experiences, especially in regional and under-served markets, we see strong potential to create direct-to-consumer offerings that are not only scalable and cost-efficient but also deeply personalised and context-aware,” Gopalan said.
Startups like Meritto, which currently offers agentic AI solutions tailored for educational institutions, are also closely tracking the B2C space. Naveen Goyal, founder and CEO, said, “There’s more curiosity when it comes to B2C agentic AI in India. What’s driving the interest isn’t just the tech; it’s the complexity of navigating essential services as a consumer. Whether it’s education, healthcare, or finance, the average Indian user is dealing with fragmented systems, multiple apps, inconsistent support, and high stakes”.
Meritto believes solving problems for institutions will eventually cascade into solving for their B2C audiences like students, parents, and broader learning communities. “While we don’t currently offer a direct B2C agentic product, we are closely observing the evolving consumer landscape. B2B institutions in India aren’t asking for ‘AI’, they are asking for help with velocity and consistency. The demand is for agents that reduce lag in decisions, shrink human error, and remove friction from repetitive tasks, not bells and whistles,” Goyal said.
Industry experts note that consumers increasingly expect instant, human-like support across platforms, whether it’s through voice assistants, chatbots, or smart home devices. Gnani claims it is witnessing growing traction for solutions enabling 24/7 customer engagement in regional languages, with low latency and high accuracy.
Use cases such as voice-driven customer support, AI-powered self-service, and conversational IVRs are rapidly gaining acceptance in sectors like banking, e-commerce, and telecom. The ability to deliver secure, emotionally intelligent, and contextual responses is becoming a significant differentiator in the consumer space.
According to Tracxn, there are currently 106 active agentic AI companies in India. The global market for agentic AI is projected to grow from $28.29 billion in 2024 to $126.89 billion by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate of 35%, according to MarketResearchReports.