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

Gupshup, a company that began as an SMS service provider, is undergoing a significant transformation by shifting its focus towards conversational AI. This shift is rooted in the company's extensive experience in helping businesses communicate with customers through messaging and voice channels.

CEO and co-founder Beerud Sheth revealed that Gupshup's revenue has grown to roughly $350 million and has become profitable, with 25% of that revenue now coming from AI-related offerings. The transition has also resulted in some workforce reductions, but Sheth believes that Gupshup's track record in communication and messaging gives it a competitive edge compared to other AI startups.

Gupshup's journey has paralleled the evolution of customer engagement. It started with SMS and basic messaging in 2004, expanded to include WhatsApp and richer two-way conversations, and later embraced Rich Communication Services (RCS) and other channels. Now, Gupshup is entering the AI-powered conversations space, having launched its voice AI offering in February 2025.

The company's voice AI platform is a self-serve solution that allows businesses to deploy AI agents for handling customer calls, resolving support issues, qualifying leads, and automating operations like scheduling, verification, and payment reminders. Priced at $0.035 per minute, it is significantly cheaper than the industry average, which ranges from $0.05 to $1 per minute.

Gupshup is also experimenting with specialized models for faster and cheaper inference tailored to specific use cases. The platform supports integrations with various large language models, including Deepgram, ElevenLabs, and Cartesia, and is evaluating open-weight and Indian models.

The company's existing voice infrastructure, acquired from Knowlarity in 2022 for $100 million, handles around 500 million calls per month. Gupshup is now adding an AI layer to this infrastructure and integrating it with its broader platform. In April, Gupshup introduced Super Agent, an orchestration layer designed to bring together multiple customer engagement functions into a single interface, such as messaging channels, campaigns, customer journeys, AI agents, CRM systems, payments, catalogues, human escalation, and analytics.

Gupshup's strategy is built on the idea of "incumbency and innovation," leveraging its existing customer base, messaging infrastructure, and enterprise relationships. The company serves over 50,000 businesses and positions itself as the layer that connects different models, APIs, and enterprise integrations.