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about 20 hours ago · Pune

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A second-year student walks into a house full of founders

Harshal Kharde on attending How Founders Use AI in Pune as a student, and what changed when he saw founders using AI rather than talking about it.

Harshal Kharde Brand partnership • Student at Savitribai Phule Pune University 25 Aug 2026

Attended “How Founders Use AI Tools – Pune Edition” by eChai Ventures, held at DevX, Baner, Pune 🚀

As a second-year student, walking into a room filled with founders, CEOs, and startup leaders was a completely different experience for me.

What stood out was seeing how founders are actually using AI — not just talking about it as a trend, but applying it to solve real problems, move faster, experiment, and build smarter.

A few things I took away from the meetup:

→ AI becomes powerful when it's applied to a real problem.
→ Small teams can use AI to execute much faster.
→ There is no single “perfect” AI tool — experimenting and finding what works matters.
→ Conversations with people actually building startups can teach you things you won't always find in a classroom.

Being one of the younger people in the room also made me realize something:

You don't have to wait until graduation to enter the startup ecosystem.

Show up. Listen. Ask questions. Meet people. Keep learning.

Grateful to eChai Ventures, DevX, and all the founders and startup leaders who shared their experiences and insights.

A lot more to learn — and hopefully, a lot to build. 🚀

#eChaiVentures #DevX #Pune #AI #Startups #Entrepreneurship #ArtificialIntelligence DevX

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