In a conversation with Outlook Business, Prashant Singh, co-founder of SaaS unicorn LeadSqaured, talks about the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and the company's roadmap to achieve $100 million in annual recurring revenue over the next few years.
Let’s start with AI. Satya Nadella has suggested that AI will impact SaaS, leading to a more agentic world. What is your take on this?
AI allows us to stitch journeys and create intelligent agents, but I don’t believe we’re heading towards a world where agents completely replace humans. Instead, AI will complement human efforts, handling routine or semi-intelligent tasks while people focus on creativity and strategy. Agentic AI will be prevalent, but it will act as a co-pilot rather than a replacement.
The idea that AI will make SaaS obsolete seems extreme. SaaS isn’t just going about placing a UI in front of a database, it involves more complex workflows. While conversational interfaces will improve engagement, traditional UI will remain essential for some tasks. Some interactions, like sales processes, may shift to platforms like Whatsapp, but for complex operations, a structured interface will still be necessary. The future, I believe, will be a blend of both approaches.
Given that hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure already offer a wide range of AI features and functionalities on their platforms, do you think this will lead to increased white-labeling of SaaS?
Infrastructure players have an easier path moving into applications than SaaS providers do into infra, which is complex and costly. While they may extend into applications, competing with SaaS could hurt their own revenue streams. From my interactions with hyperscalers, their focus is on enabling companies like ours to use their capabilities rather than directly entering our space. However, point solutions like email or messaging services could be absorbed, while complex enterprise applications such as invoicing, HRMS, or sales platforms will likely remain distinct due to their deep business workflows.
Talk to us about your team. Is AI impacting headcount? Are you coding and managing products with AI?
We are actively using AI across various functions. Some initiatives have already shown success, while others are still in the experimental phase. However, we are encouraging all teams to continuously assess how AI can improve their work, and that mindset is already taking shape across the organization. It will affect some headcount, as tasks like customer service operations, coding and code reviews can be done more efficiently and accurately with AI. In our case, with a team of over a thousand people, AI has helped us rationalize our headcount forecasts.
Are you out to raise funds to deal with the AI wave?
So far, we have raised approximately $180 million, with our last round bringing in $153 million from WestBridge. We are well-capitalized, and most of the funds we raised is still in the bank, so we are not actively looking for funding at this time. However, if the need arises in the future, we are confident there will be investors willing to support us.
What about your key growth plans for the next 12 months?
India and the US are our key markets, with strong growth plans in both regions. In India, we lead in CRM software, while in the US, our on-ground team is expanding our reach. AI is a major driver, and we are integrating it across our product to improve customer experiences. We’re also doubling down on financial services and healthcare while exploring strategic acquisitions to strengthen our growth.
Can you give us a little bit of colour on how these B2B sales conversations evolved in the US over the last 2 to 3 years?
I believe AI is transforming the landscape, but customer expectations remain the same with efficiency and experience. In the US, a mature replacement market, success depends on proving that a solution shows efficiency or experience without cost. With AI, conversations now revolve around its ability to process through machine learning and improve customer interactions with generative AI.
Has there been no pricing pressure in the face of AI?
So far, there hasn’t been pricing pressure, though discussions around it may arise. However, companies like ours typically focus on using AI to drive revenue growth or improve customer experience. By doing so, we aim to maintain or even increase our revenue while delivering greater value to our customers.
What’s the goal for the next couple of years? Any IPO plans in the pipeline?
In the near term, our focus is on achieving key goals, but our broader vision is to build a dominant, global SaaS company from India. The opportunity ahead is similar to what IT services companies experienced in the late 90s and early 2000s, those that capitalized on it grew into large, publicly listed firms that India takes pride in. We see a similar potential and are just getting started. Execution will be key, and we are thinking in terms of decades, not just the short term.
Over the next two years, we aim to grow by 40-50% while maintaining profitability and setting the company on a path of steady expansion. Our long-term goal is to become a billion-dollar revenue company. Regarding an IPO, there is no firm plan yet, but we are preparing to operate like a public company in terms of process maturity and financial forecasting. If the board decides to go for a public listing, we will be ready when the time is right.
Can you give us an idea of what kind of annual recurring revenue (ARR) you have reached now? What is the goal for the next one, two years?
I prefer not to share specific numbers, but in terms of magnitude, we envision reaching a significant scale in the next few years. We should be approaching a $100 million ARR. Discussions with investors are ongoing as we align our growth strategy with long-term opportunities.
What is your key takeaway on how investors perceive the impact of AI on SaaS?
There is a lot of anxiety and fear surrounding AI, but with fear comes opportunity. We see AI as an opportunity rather than a threat, though we remain cautious. Investors have emphasized the need for adoption, as certain AI-driven features have now become table stakes, essential functionalities that every software provider must offer. While we, along with others, will integrate these capabilities, they won’t necessarily serve as differentiators in the market.
