Future of Technology Companies Shifts to AI Models Trained on Proprietary Data, Says InMobi CEO

The influence of technology firms is shifting from software to AI models developed using exclusive data, according to a senior executive at InMobi, India's first unicorn. This statement comes as the Indian government supports open-source models for developing sovereign AI models, sparking discussions about the future of the country's IT sector.

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InMobi's CEO and founder, Naveen Tewari, highlighted that the strength of technology companies now lies in proprietary models trained with unique data rather than traditional software. "The power is moving into the proprietary models that you are basically training using proprietary data. So even all the frontier models are all commoditised. The value is in the models which have proprietary data," he stated.

AI Models and Global Competition

India must develop its own proprietary vertical models tailored for its region on top of existing frontier models. Leading frontier models like ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic Claude 3 are being utilised by numerous companies to offer AI-driven services. At a recent summit, Indian start-up Sarvam introduced a frontier model aiming to rival other global frontier models.

InMobi boasts that its mobile advertising services reach 2 billion users across over 150 countries. It has also created an agentic commerce system operating on more than 100 million devices worldwide, including mobile lock screens and smart TVs. A large user base is crucial for refining and training any AI model; larger datasets enhance model performance.

India's Advantage in AI Development

Tewari noted that the previous advantage of internet technologies emerging from the West no longer exists. "Now, it's a level playing field. We can actually test products on a much larger number of consumers and then make them go global," he explained. This allows India to develop products locally and introduce them to enterprises worldwide, an opportunity that was previously unavailable.

During his presentation at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Tewari discussed how artificial intelligence could potentially unlock over USD 3 trillion in incremental economic impact for India by 2047 by fundamentally transforming commerce operations. "We are essentially trying to create commerce models that are trained on proprietary consumer data, which basically then trains those models and becomes different," he said.

Future Prospects for AI in India

The rapid pace of technological change means that developments from just two or three years ago may no longer be relevant. Tewari emphasised this point by stating, "The world is moving very rapidly. What you saw in the last two, three years is not even valid anymore." This highlights the need for continuous innovation and adaptation in the AI sector.

The shift towards proprietary AI models represents a significant change in how technology companies operate. As India continues to develop its own AI capabilities, it positions itself as a key player in the global technology landscape. The focus on leveraging proprietary data to train AI models could provide Indian companies with a competitive edge in the international market.

With inputs from PTI