Evening well spent — was at Elsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for eChai Ventures x Tech Expo Gujarat session on AI and M&A.

One thing that hit me early: most founders are heads-down in AI, or heads-down in M&A — rarely both at once. That gap is basically where the next wave of growth is hiding.

Two panels, no pitch decks, just real talk:

🔹 AI inside the business — not the shiny demo version. The actual one. What got automated, what it costs to keep running, and (my favorite part) where teams tried it, hit a wall, and quietly went back to doing it the old way. Refreshing to hear people admit that on stage instead of pretending everything's a success story.

🔹 M&A outside it — buying or getting bought isn't some far-off milestone anymore, it's just... a growth move. What actually makes a company worth acquiring, how deals get valued, and what changes the morning after you sign. Way messier in real life than it sounds on paper.

Good energy in the room, sharper questions from the audience than from the moderator half the time — which is always a good sign.

Huge thanks to Jatin Chaudhary for hosting, and to the panel for showing up with real answers instead of safe ones — Bhavesh Patel, Harshal Shah, Mitesh Shethwala, Rushabh Shah, Shrijay Sheth, and Taral Shah.

If you're building something in Ahmedabad and still haven't been to an eChai meetup — you're missing out. Go.

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