Gupshup’s AI Rebuild: Can It Stay Ahead Of The Platforms It Runs On?

Gupshup is shifting from messaging infrastructure to AI-powered customer engagement, with AI offerings already contributing 25–30% of its global revenue.

As messaging infrastructure becomes more competitive, Gupshup is betting that its 20-year enterprise relationships and existing customer base can give it an edge in the race for enterprise AI.

With a potential 12–24 month IPO window, investors will ultimately judge whether its AI pivot can drive higher revenue, margins and a durable moat.

Added to Saved Stories in Login VIEW SAVED STORIES .inc42-toggle-item-popup { display: none; position: relative; } .toggle-item-close { text-align: end; padding: 8px 12px 0px 10px; position: absolute; right: 0; cursor: pointer; } .toggle-items-content-main { display: block; position: relative; top: 27px; left: -204px; border-radius: 12px; background: #FFF; box-shadow: 0px 4px 24px 0px rgba(100, 100, 100, 0.25); width: 435px; height: 115px; } .toggle-items-content { display: flex; align-items: baseline; justify-content: center; padding-top: 22px; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .h4-saved-story{ color: #000; font-size: 20px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; text-transform: capitalize; margin: 2px 0 10px 6px; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .myInc42-plus-dark { width: 100px !important; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .myInc42-light { width: 80px !important; } .toggle-items-content .items-content-text img{ height: 22px; } .view-my-feed-btn { width: 100%; text-align: center; display: flex; justify-content: center; } .view-my-feed-btn a { width: auto !important; } .view-my-feed-btn button { border-radius: 4px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, #DA1B4D 0%, #E23026 100%); color: #fff; font-size: 12px; display: inline-block !important; min-width: 162px; width: 162px !important; height: 34px !important; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; padding: 10px; cursor: pointer; } .CustomIconStyled { position: absolute; right: 180px; top: -80px; } .SubDropdownModelShare .sub-arrow-icon { width: 76px; height: 80px; position: relative; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: none; } @media (max-width:767px) { .toggle-items-content .items-content-text .h4-saved-story{ margin: 4px 0 10px 6px; font-size: 18px; } .toggle-items-content { align-items: center; } }

For a company that started out sending SMSes, Gupshup has spent nearly two decades learning one thing: how businesses talk to their customers.

That experience is now becoming the foundation for its next bet: conversational AI.

Gupshup is no longer positioning itself simply as a messaging infrastructure company. Its product stack is expanding from SMS and WhatsApp to voice AI, AI agents, campaign orchestration and tools that allow enterprises to connect multiple AI models with customer-engagement channels.

The shift is already showing up in the business. At the global level, CEO and cofounder Beerud Sheth said for FY26, Gupshup is roughly $350 Mn business and profitable. 

But that is not the real story here given that global revenue in FY23 was around $300 Mn. More importantly, Sheth said 25% of the revenue today now comes from AI-related offerings. And this transition also resulted in some workforce reduction over FY26, but the CEO believes Gupshup is different from a conventional startup launching an AI product because it has seen how communication and messaging has evolved.

Today, Gupshup is effectively trying to AI-ify an existing enterprise customer base, using the infrastructure,........

© Inc42