Glance bets on AI-led shopping discovery as India’s consumer AI market takes shape

Glance and InMobi founder Piyush Shah outlines a strategy centred on AI-powered shopping, consumer discovery and ad distribution. He argues India can build inclusive, high-scale AI products, but says inference costs will require new monetisation models.

— Source publishedMon, 10 Aug, 2026, 12:25 IST·First seen Mon, 10 Aug, 2026, 12:30 IST·Source YourStory

What happened

Glance is building AI-powered shopping and discovery experiences while InMobi develops advertising and distribution solutions for consumer AI. Founder Piyush

Key facts

  • two unicorns
  • nearly two decades
  • a billion people
  • almost 100 countries
  • 100 million users
  • 70% of OpenAI revenue (Shah's estimate)

Why this matters

Glance’s combination of consumer discovery, shopping experiences and InMobi distribution makes it a relevant partnership target for commerce platforms, retailers and AI vendors seeking scaled reach in India.

What to watch

  • Announcement of commerce, marketplace, payment or catalog partnerships that enable in-flow checkout.
  • Evidence of transaction-level attribution, cost-per-sale products or retailer conversion case studies.
  • Growth in sponsored recommendation inventory and retailer advertising spend routed through Glance/InMobi.
  • Reported AI inference cost controls, model partnerships or monetisation of premium shopping features.
  • Competitive launches from Google, Meta, Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, PhonePe or OEM-native assistants in India.
  • Changes in Indian data, consumer-protection or AI disclosure rules affecting personalized recommendations and ad targeting.
  • Launch AI shopping assistants that combine product comparison, vernacular search, recommendations and deal discovery.
  • Package InMobi ad inventory with commerce conversion measurement, merchant catalogs and sponsored AI recommendations.
  • Pursue integrations with Indian marketplaces, D2C brands, payment providers and logistics platforms to close the path from discovery to checkout.
  • Use smaller models, caching and advertiser-funded query tiers to reduce inference cost per assisted shopping session.
  • Expand OEM and telecom distribution partnerships to secure high-frequency consumer entry points.

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