Can an Indian startup dethrone Instagram? Perplexity AI’s Aravind Srinivas reveals what it takes to Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath

In the fast-evolving world of technology, the dominance of platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Google Search seems unshakable. But Aravind Srinivas, CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI, believes the right combination of innovation, strategy, and risk-taking could challenge the status quo—even if the road ahead is treacherous.

In a candid conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath on his podcast, Srinivas was able to decode what it would take for an Indian startup to take on Silicon Valley giants and explored AI’s untapped potential in disrupting social media and podcasts.

Can an Indian Startup Dethrone Instagram?

The idea of an Indian company building an Instagram or WhatsApp rival, on the face of it, seems pretty much audacious. But Srinivas believes the feat is not impossible.

The key challenge isn’t just creating a better product—it’s about solving the cold-start problem and breaking Meta’s stranglehold on distribution.

“If an Indian company started an Instagram or WhatsApp rival, I would be very impressed by the bravery of it. Although, you can’t just focus on building a better product; you have to spend a lot of energy thinking about distribution,” says Srinivas.

Meta’s dominance is deeply entrenched. It pre-installs its apps on smartphones and shares ad revenue with manufacturers, ensuring its platforms remain the default choice. For an Indian challenger to break through, it would need a game-changing feature that compels users and creators to switch—something that goes beyond minor tweaks in UI or better algorithms, Srinivas pointed out.

“Success requires heavy investment in user acquisition and giving creators a compelling reason to move,” he explains. One potential edge could be superior ad targeting, which could make content discovery and monetization more lucrative for influencers and brands, Srinivas told Kamath.

AI Search: The Next Battleground

Srinivas, who has built Perplexity AI as a formidable challenger to Google in search, understands first-hand what it takes to go up against a tech behemoth. Google’s search dominance isn’t just about its algorithm—it’s about its deep integration with Android and aggressive strategies like strategic pop-ups that nudge users back to Google Search.

“Google makes money every time you click on a link and make a purchase because they claim cost-per-click conversion,” Srinivas explains. To truly challenge Google, AI-driven search engines must go beyond just providing information. “You need AIs that don’t just help with research but also enable transactions directly.” The future, he believes, lies in making search more actionable—integrating commerce, bookings, and services seamlessly into AI-powered queries.

Can AI Disrupt Podcasts? The Untapped Opportunity

Beyond social media and search, Kamath and Srinivas explored an industry that remains ripe for AI disruption—podcasts. Despite the explosion of podcasting in India, no platform has yet mastered the art of AI-driven interactivity, real-time engagement, and content segmentation.

Kamath told Srinivas that he envisions a new ecosystem where Indian podcasts are aggregated on a single platform with AI-powered enhancements.

“If we can aggregate every Indian podcaster and enhance video quality—maybe by adding a chat function where audiences can directly interact with the podcaster and guest—it could be a game changer,” Kamath says.

Srinivas, on the other hand, pointed out that he saw immense potential in AI-driven content customization, where users can extract highlights, translate discussions into different languages on the fly, and even edit segments in real-time. However, the challenge isn’t just technological—it’s about shifting user habits away from dominant platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

“The hard part is that you’ve got to start from scratch. You’ve got to create incentives for people to like and consume content differently,” Srinivas explains. “Something new is needed—perhaps a way to aggregate all Indian podcasts on one platform, allowing listeners to edit content and consume it in any language they choose. That could be a massive product-market fit.”

One of the biggest gaps, he notes, is voice AI for Indian languages. “Most AIs are pretty bad at Indian voices. The speech recognition and synthesis aren’t good. That’s an area where Indian entrepreneurs can make a clear difference.”