Archive · 15 Nov 2025
Elastic CEO on AI's Impact on Search and India's Growing Role
Imagine search engines like Google, but supercharged with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI helps search engines understand what you really mean when you ask a question, not just the exact words you type.
This means you can ask things in a more natural way, like talking to a friend.
AI also helps computers learn and do more complex tasks, which is why companies are calling this 'agentic AI'.
For AI to work well, it needs to be fed accurate and up-to-date information, much like a chef needs good ingredients.
Elastic, a company that makes search and AI tools, sees this as a huge opportunity.
They are also looking at India as a very important place.
India has lots of smart people who can help build these AI tools, and many Indian businesses are already using AI for practical things like making shopping easier or improving online security.
This makes India a key partner for Elastic's future.
AI is transforming search by enabling it to understand user intent beyond keywords through Large Language Models (LLMs).
The concept of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is evolving into 'context engineering' for more precise AI applications.
Impactful use cases include semantic search for food delivery apps, visual search in e-commerce, and AI agents for job portal interview preparation.
Elastic sees significant growth opportunities in India across digital natives, enterprises, and the public sector, particularly for cybersecurity and AI applications.
India is crucial for Elastic's global strategy due to its large market potential and strong pool of engineering talent, with India already being its second-largest employee base.
- Who
- Ashutosh Kulkarni, CEO of Elastic
- What
- Discussing the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on search, the evolution of search technologies like RAG and agentic AI, and the growing importance of the Indian market for Elastic.
- When
- Recent interview, with ongoing trends and future outlook.
- Where
- Discussion on global trends with a specific focus on India.
- Why
- To explain how AI is redefining search capabilities, the necessity of accurate context in AI applications, and India's strategic significance for Elastic's growth and talent acquisition.
Traditional Search
AI-Enhanced Search
Keyword-Based vs. Intent-Based Understanding
Traditional Search
Relies on matching keywords to find information.
AI-Enhanced Search
Understands the user's intent through natural language questions.
Reactive Information Retrieval
Traditional Search
Answers specific questions asked by the user.
AI-Enhanced Search
Proactively surfaces relevant context and information.
Accuracy Tolerance
Traditional Search
Can tolerate lower levels of accuracy in simple queries.
AI-Enhanced Search
Requires high accuracy and reliability for systems performing meaningful actions.
- Company
- Elastic
- CEO
- Ashutosh Kulkarni
- Company Origin
- Dutch-American
- India's Ranking
- Second-largest employee base
- Key AI Concepts
- LLM, RAG, Agentic AI, Context Engineering
- Key Indian Markets
- Digital natives, enterprises (telcos, banks), public sector
- Indian Focus Areas
- Cybersecurity, observability, AI applications