By Aayur Kaul
As the tech world moves beyond the platform era dominated by Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb, a new growth frontier is emerging—hyper-personalisation. In an ecosystem where user attention is fragmented and AI capabilities are maturing rapidly, startups focusing on personalised experiences are gaining an edge.
Relevance is the key
Unlike the last two decades, where scale and network effects defined success, today’s users demand relevance. Endless content or choices no longer impress; what matters is delivering the right experience at the right moment. That’s where hyper-personalisation becomes more than a feature—it becomes the product.
In sectors like fintech, edtech, and consumer internet, data-backed personalisation has proven its value. At Operabase, machine learning–powered recommendations boosted click-through rates by 135% and increased time spent on the platform by 24%. Skillshare India’s targeted notifications and course suggestions doubled user interaction and cut churn by 30%. Product Chase, with AI-driven mentor matching, achieved a 4.75/5 user rating and organic growth of 60,000 users.
The leap forward is being powered by AI—especially large language models and real-time learning systems—that go beyond traditional analytics. AI now anticipates needs instead of merely responding. Shopping apps adapt storefronts to individual preferences, edtech platforms tailor learning paths, and wellness tools offer real-time suggestions based on biometric inputs.
Personalisation engines
Products that thrive today function more like personalisation engines. TikTok’s “For You” feed and Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” are popular not for their vast libraries, but for making users feel like each session is uniquely tailored to them. Similarly, AI-native platforms like Character.ai show the power of user-specific engagement.
For founders and product leaders, the critical question isn’t how big their platform can become—but how personal their product can feel. AI should be deployed not just for efficiency, but for deep user understanding and experience differentiation.
As the race to build the next generation of unicorns intensifies, startups that embed hyper-personalisation into their DNA are likely to lead. In a world full of choices, those who master relevance will win.
The author is product leader with over a decade of experience across fintech, edtech, and the creative industries.