Ai Palette: Himanshu Upreti on Revolutionizing FMCG Product Innovation with AI
In the massive Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, a staggering 9 out of 10 new products fail in their first year. Himanshu Upreti, Co-founder and CTO of Ai Palette, is using artificial intelligence to rewrite this narrative. By analyzing millions of data points from social media, blogs, and search trends in real-time, Ai Palette helps global giants like Pepsi and Nestle identify what consumers actually want before they even know it themselves.
Himanshu’s journey is a masterclass in the synergy of engineering and industry expertise. A graduate of IIT Guwahati in Mathematics and Computing, he spent his early career at Visa’s data labs, building predictive models for the payment industry. It was his meeting with Som, a food industry veteran, at the deep-tech accelerator 'Entrepreneur First' in Singapore that sparked the creation of Ai Palette in 2018. "We combined Som's deep understanding of the FMCG world with my background in AI and Fintech," Himanshu reflects. "The result was a platform that could predict the next big food trend in minutes rather than months."
The Data Gap in Consumer Research
Traditional market research relies on talking to 50–100 people in a room—a method that is slow, expensive, and prone to social desirability bias. "When you bring people into a controlled environment, they present the best version of themselves. They'll say they eat healthy while craving a burger outside," Himanshu notes. Ai Palette solves this by looking at what people actually post and search for in their natural digital habitat.
Real-Time Trends in an Unstructured World
The core of Ai Palette's technology is its ability to parse unstructured data across multiple languages and formats. Whether it’s images of food pairings on Instagram or discussions on vernacular forums, the platform’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) models identify emerging flavors, ingredients, and nutritional preferences. "We identified the rise of healthy, nutritious biscuits in metros and even pinpointed the specific ingredients like jaggery and oats that would resonate best," Himanshu explains, referencing a successful pilot for a major Indian client.
This "Real-Time Insight" allows brand managers to stay ahead of the curve. While traditional agencies take 3–6 months to deliver a report, Ai Palette provides analysis in minutes, helping brands pivot as fast as consumer tastes change.
Human-AI Symbiosis: The 'Centaur' Approach
Addressing the common fear that AI will replace jobs, Himanshu points to the concept of "Centaur teams"—the combination of human strategic thinking and machine tactical precision. "Machines are great at tactics and processing vast data, but humans are essential for long-term strategic vision," he says. "AI isn't here to kill jobs; it's here to act as an enabler, removing manual drudgery so people can focus on creativity and strategy."
This philosophy extends to his latest experiments with Generative AI (GANs), where the platform can even generate new packaging designs and product concepts with a click of a button, based on identified market "white spaces."
Himanshu's Roadmap for Deep-Tech Founders
- Be Adaptable: Change is the only constant. Don't be afraid of the "Social Dilemma" or new algorithms; learn how to leverage them.
- Talk to VCs Early (But Practice First): Don't go to the big VCs first. Practice with smaller ones, take their criticism as feedback, and structure your pitch better for the big names.
- Maintain a High-Performance Circle: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Surround yourself with people who push your limits.
- Stay Inquisitive: Whether you are in a 9-to-6 job or running a startup, always wonder "Why?" about the problems you see around you.
The Future of FMCG
Looking ahead, Himanshu sees AI percolating into every facet of the food industry—from identified pairings (like burgers and coke) to video-based sentiment analysis on platforms like TikTok. Ai Palette is expanding its footprint across Southeast Asia and India, aiming to become the default operating system for product innovation. For Himanshu, the goal is simple: to ensure that the next product you see on the shelf is exactly what you were looking for.
Ai Palette Impact
- Success Rate: Solving the 90% failure rate problem in FMCG product launches.
- Speed: Delivering market analysis in minutes vs. months.
- Global Reach: Focused on major hubs in India and Southeast Asian geographies.
About the Guest
Himanshu Upreti is the Co-founder and CTO of Ai Palette. An alumnus of IIT Guwahati, Himanshu is a visionary technologist with a background in data science and mathematics. Before founding Ai Palette in 2018, he worked at Visa Data Labs, where he pioneered AI applications for the payment industry. He is a fitness enthusiast, a cinephile, and a strong advocate for "Bharat-centric" AI solutions. Himanshu is dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional industry processes and cutting-edge technology.
Ai Palette is a leading deep-tech startup that helps FMCG companies innovate faster and more accurately. By using a patent-pending AI technology that leverages NLP and image recognition, the platform identifies consumer needs and generates successful product concepts, ensuring higher market success for consumer goods brands worldwide.