CARS24 has announced the launch of CARS24 Labs, backed by a $20 million commitment to artificial intelligence.
The announcement is notable not simply because of the size of the investment, but because of how CARS24 appears to be approaching the opportunity. Rather than treating AI as a standalone function or a collection of tools for employees, the company is building a broader structure around three areas: building, partnering and investing.
It is a useful example of how the conversation around AI is changing.
For the past few years, many businesses have focused on adoption. Which AI tools should teams use? Where can automation save time? How can generative AI improve productivity?
Those are still valid questions. But they only address part of the opportunity.
The bigger question is what happens when AI changes the way an organisation can operate.
Moving beyond AI adoption
Giving a team access to an AI tool is relatively straightforward. Redesigning the way that team works is much harder.
AI can help people research faster, write code more efficiently, analyse information and automate repetitive work. But its real impact depends on whether organisations are willing to rethink the processes around that work.
A process designed ten years ago for a large team may not make sense when a smaller group can now achieve the same output with better tools.
Layers of approval can become bottlenecks. Communication structures may need to change. Decisions may need to move closer to the people who are actually building and operating products.
This is where the distinction between using AI and becoming an AI-native organisation becomes important.
One is about introducing technology into an existing system.
The other is about examining the system itself.
What CARS24 Labs is trying to build
CARS24's approach combines three different activities.
The first is building. Developing proprietary products allows a company to apply AI directly to its own business problems and customer experiences.
The second is partnering. AI is developing too quickly for most organisations to build everything internally. Working with specialised companies and researchers can provide access to new capabilities without requiring every piece of technology to be developed from scratch.
The third is investing. Supporting early-stage startups creates another connection to the wider AI ecosystem. It can also help bring new ideas, technologies and talent closer to the organisation.
Together, these three areas create something more substantial than an internal AI programme.
They create an environment where a company can build internally while staying connected to external innovation.
Smaller teams may be able to do more
One of the most interesting effects of AI is its potential impact on team size and execution.
A capable individual can already use AI to perform tasks that previously required support from several people. A small product team can prototype faster. Developers can experiment with ideas in less time. Research that once took days can sometimes be completed in hours.
That does not mean people become less important.
If anything, judgment becomes more valuable.
When the cost and speed of execution improve, the ability to identify the right problem matters even more. So does knowing what not to build, when to question an output and how to make decisions with incomplete information.
AI can increase capacity. It cannot replace responsibility.
The organisations that understand this distinction will likely be in a stronger position than those focused only on reducing headcount or automating isolated tasks.
A significant opportunity for India's AI ecosystem
CARS24's investment also points to a larger opportunity in India.
India has a substantial technology talent pool, a large digital user base and access to complex real-world problems across industries. These conditions create an interesting environment for building AI products.
The opportunity should not be limited to becoming a large market for AI products developed elsewhere.
Indian companies and startups have the potential to build technology around problems that require local context, scale and a deeper understanding of how people and businesses operate in the country.
That requires more than capital.
It requires strong research, patient product development, experienced founders and organisations willing to work with early-stage companies. Initiatives such as CARS24 Labs can play a role by creating more pathways for experimentation and collaboration.
The question leaders should be asking
The conversation around AI is gradually becoming more practical.
Instead of asking only, "Which AI tool should we use?", business leaders need to ask broader questions.
Which processes were designed for a world that no longer exists?
What could a small team accomplish today that would have been difficult two years ago?
Where are people spending time because of outdated workflows rather than because the work genuinely requires it?
And perhaps most importantly, if we were building this organisation from scratch today, what would we do differently?
There will not be one answer for every company.
A manufacturing business, a software company and a financial services firm will each find different applications for AI. But the underlying challenge is similar. Technology is changing what teams are capable of doing, and organisational structures will eventually need to catch up.
Looking ahead
CARS24's $20 million commitment is a meaningful example of the direction some companies are beginning to take.
The value of AI will not come from adding it to every product or process simply because it is the latest technology trend. It will come from identifying where it can genuinely improve outcomes and being willing to change the way work is organised around those capabilities.
At Optivus Technologies, we believe that this is where much of the next phase of AI adoption will take place.
The technology will continue to improve. That part is inevitable.
What remains to be seen is how quickly organisations adapt.
The companies that experiment, learn and make thoughtful changes to the way they build and operate may find opportunities that are difficult to see from inside traditional structures.
CARS24 Labs is one example of that shift.
It will be interesting to watch what follows, not only from CARS24, but from the wider Indian technology ecosystem as more companies move from simply adopting AI to actively building around it.
Source: Introducing CARS24 Labs: CARS24's $20 million bet on AI