In this session, Abhilekh Verma — Global Startup Mentor, Microsoft MVP in AI, and founder of a deeptech AI/ML startup — will share insights on how today’s founders can embrace AI-first thinking to scale sustainably. Drawing from global mentorship experience and real startup use cases, the talk will explore how AWS services empower startups to build and deploy scalable GenAI solutions, responsibly and rapidly.

We’ll dive into the intersection of startup agility, responsible AI principles, and cloud-native architecture — with live examples on how founders can go from prototype to product, and from product to platform, leveraging AWS and open AI tools. Whether you're a builder, founder, or enterprise architect, expect actionable strategies, architecture tips, and stories from the trenches.

Talk Duration:
30–40 minutes (plus Q&A)

Target Audience:
Startup founders and product teams

AI/ML engineers and cloud architects

AWS practitioners exploring GenAI

Innovation and tech evangelists

Outline / Key Talking Points
Introduction: The AI-First Startup Revolution

The rise of GenAI in startup ecosystems

Challenges startups face in building fast and scaling smart

Building AI Solutions: From MVP to PMF with AWS

Using AWS services like SageMaker, Bedrock, Lambda, DynamoDB

Cost-effective AI experimentation on cloud for early-stage startups

Responsible GenAI: Ethics, Safety & Guardrails

What responsible AI means for founders

Governance frameworks and AWS tools for ethical AI development

Scaling with AI + AWS: From 10 to 10,000 Users

Architectures that scale (Event-driven, Serverless, Microservices)

Monitoring and optimizing GenAI pipelines on AWS

Case Studies & Stories from the Field

Examples from mentoring early-stage startups globally

Lessons learned from building an AI/ML hiring platform

Collaboration Over Competition: The Community Advantage

How to tap into global developer communities and AWS programs

Call to action: collaborate, innovate, and build together

Q&A / Interactive Wrap-Up

Invite questions, ideas, and co-creation