‘The idea that India is falling behind on AI globally is a myth’: Eazy Business Solutions MD Kunal Singhal | Interview

When ERP began to gain prominence in India in the 2000s, there were many early movers. Among them was an early innovator with Tally-integrated ERP systems, Eazy ERP Technologies Ltd. Founded in 2007 in Gurugram, it quickly found its niche in Indian manufacturing and SME sections, especially working with tools like Tally.

While massive global names such as SAP and Oracle make the sector their playground, the homegrown company found itself in a position to provide services for businesses for whom these global ERP platforms were complex, out of reach, a challenge in India’s finance ecosystem, and at times, expensive.

As India Inc reels from the aftermath of the global AI push and recent developments in the country's tech stack, Kunal Singhal, MD and co-founder of Eazy Business Solutions, shared some of his thoughts with THE WEEK. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Q: How has Digital India's push, from UPI to digital public infrastructure, changed the way even mid-market Indian businesses think about going global?

Kunal Singhal: Digital India's public infrastructure has given mid-market businesses the confidence and capability to think beyond domestic markets. The distribution and retail layer, including the unorganised market and cottage industries, can now receive payments instantly, even in smaller amounts, putting more money directly into the hands of businesses.

UPI's expansion overseas, where Indian buyers can pay directly at stores using Indian UPI, has further supported this shift. 

Q: In your experience, which sectors are seeing the fastest globalisation on the back of these digital foundations, and why?

Kunal Singhal: The biggest beneficiaries of digital payments and digital commerce have been cottage industries, handicraft businesses, small apparel brands, and gifting businesses. E-commerce platforms and social media-driven commerce have enabled these businesses to reach national and international customers, helping them scale beyond local markets.

Q: What specific Industry 4.0 technologies are you seeing Indian mid-market manufacturers adopt first, and how does that compare with global peers?

Kunal Singhal: Industry 4.0 adoption in the mid-market remains fairly slow, with the biggest uptake concentrated in enterprise software, IoT, and now some early AI use.

Complete floor-level automation is still largely missing and needs further work to bring mid-market manufacturers up to standard.

Q: How does automation in sales, distribution and back-office functions help an Indian business compete credibly with international players from day one?

Kunal Singhal: Traditional Indian businesses have typically operated with a blind spot - they manufacture and sell goods without real visibility into how their distribution is actually performing.

Solving for that visibility through automation gives businesses a credible way to identify which sectors and geographies need improvement and how to act on it, and getting that right is what positions them to take on international players.

Q: India's Industry 4.0 adoption still trails at roughly a third of firms, with MSMEs lagging large enterprises. What's holding back faster adoption?

Kunal Singhal: As a cost-conscious market, affordability of solutions is the biggest constraint for India. Compounding that, even cost-effective global solutions often aren't built for Indian business practices.

Q: How are you using "Made in India" enterprise technology stack to expand into international markets? What has surprised you most about competing globally as a homegrown platform?

Kunal Singhal: Eazy has built a solid position among Indian customers and began selling internationally a few years ago, in Africa and the Middle East. In those markets, there's a clear gap between legacy local solutions that are outdated or don't meet scaling companies' needs, and expensive global solutions that are out of reach for mid-market customers. Eazy positions itself in the middle to fill that gap.

What's been surprising is that, despite large global brands having strong brand value and wide availability, the actual product and functionality is often weak for genuine mid-market use.

Q: How is AI changing the way ERP, DMS and SFA platforms support cross-border operations for Indian businesses expanding overseas?

Kunal Singhal: AI is increasing these platforms' capability to become more globally compatible. At the same time, it remains a genuinely difficult area—talent and manpower shortages, along with a steep learning curve, are real constraints, including in markets like Africa, where building more stable solutions is an ongoing challenge.

Q: Five years from now, what will "digital-first globalisation" look like for India's mid-market enterprises?

Kunal Singhal: Five years out, the shift won't be digital-first; it will be AI-first. The idea that India is falling behind on AI globally is a myth; AI is genuinely cost-effective, and the real hurdle is finding the right application for it rather than cost itself.

This is how not just Eazy, but many other businesses, will be able to take on the global market, improving these solutions while reducing dependence on human labour, in service of "Making India for the World."