Podcast Summary: The Digital Executive

Episode: Krishna Gupta on the Future of Vertical AI and Voice Automation (Ep 1076)
Date: June 26, 2025
Host: Coruzant Technologies
Guest: Krishna Gupta — AI founder, investor, and co-founder of Presto

Episode Overview

This episode features Krishna Gupta, a pioneering investor and entrepreneur in the field of AI, best known for co-founding Presto, the leading voice AI automation solution for restaurant drive-throughs, and founding Remus Capital, a venture firm dedicated to vertical AI startups. The conversation explores Krishna’s early journey into AI, the unique challenges of deploying AI in fast-paced industries, the case for specialized (vertical) AI applications, and his vision for the next five years in AI-powered business.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Krishna's Early Journey Into AI Investing

[01:14 – 02:07]

• Krishna was introduced to AI early, via his mother, a computer science graduate who studied AI in the 1980s.
• While at MIT, he witnessed a “renaissance of machine learning” and was inspired by its potential with big data.
• His first investment as a venture capitalist was Presto, a company he co-founded to apply AI to practical industry challenges:
  • Quote [01:45] – Krishna Gupta:
    “I was reading machine learning papers and pretty quickly realized the power of ... big data ... to create insights that could be beneficial to man and machine.”

2. Challenges & Breakthroughs in Voice AI for Drive-Thrus

[02:43 – 04:58]

• Restaurant drive-thrus present a noisy, complex environment—noise varies by location, and systems are chaotic and interconnected (menus, loyalty platforms, POS, etc).
• The need to process orders quickly and accurately is paramount: 40 seconds per order.
• Presto’s unique approach: combining large language models (LLMs) with natural language processing (NLP), instead of using one technique exclusively.
  • Quote [04:25] – Krishna Gupta:
    “We had two different teams, one working on LLMs, one working on NLP ... The marriage is what makes this work ... neither one really works [alone].”
• Emphasizes the importance of keeping “human in the loop”, especially during the early adoption phase, to ensure customer satisfaction.

3. The Case for Vertical AI Over General Purpose (Horizontal) AI

[05:44 – 07:31]

• While not every situation favors vertical AI, certain industries—including restaurants and logistics—require deep, tailored solutions.
• Three core reasons for vertical AI success:
  1. Messy, unstructured data and complex integrations unique to each industry.
  2. Necessity for deep, domain-specific understanding to deliver ROI that fits the actual business needs (labor, revenue, customer experience).
     • Quote [06:50] – Krishna Gupta:
       “In each industry, you may have a different ratio of ROI between labor savings, revenue optimization and customer experience optimization.”
  3. Go-to-market requires focused industry relationships and trust-building, often necessitating direct interaction with stakeholders (e.g., franchisee meetings).
     • Quote [07:14] – Krishna Gupta:
       “If you’re not focused like that, you’re not going to win.”

4. The Next Five Years: Real-Time, AI-Native Businesses

[08:16 – 10:46]

• Many industries are just beginning their AI journey, using tools like Presto’s voice AI as the first step to becoming “AI native.”
• Future platforms will be comprehensive, integrating voice AI, computer vision, and robotics to enable dynamic, real-time business management.
• Traditional lag between data, decision, and action will shrink; AI will enable near-instantaneous feedback loops and automation.
  • Quote [09:37] – Krishna Gupta:
    “What AI will enable us to do is turn those lags into a much more real time dynamic thing ... you’ll be getting data from the voice AI, you’ll be getting data from computer vision, and you’ll be able to feed it into robotics.”
• The vision: automate routine decisions so management can focus on higher-level priorities.
  • Quote [10:32] – Krishna Gupta:
    “Now the management team can actually focus on what’s important without getting in the way of this dynamic management style.”
• Voice remains a powerful “first adoption tool” for AI instrumentation across industries (e.g., home services, healthcare, financial services).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Krishna attributing his early interest in AI to his mother:
  “I grew up learning or hearing about Marvin Minsky and that approach to AI.” [01:17]
• On the difficulty of drive-thru voice AI:
  “You can't be sitting there for three minutes taking an order. You've got to do it in 40 seconds and then do it again in 40 seconds...” [03:54]
• On the necessity of domain knowledge in vertical AI:
  “It's really easy to speak in abstract and very challenging to deliver a product that works on the ground consistently...” [06:36]
• Real-time AI management vision:
  “The lag is way too long for you to actually have any real chance of managing the success....” [09:10]

Important Timestamps

• [01:14] – Krishna’s AI background and Presto’s founding.
• [02:43] – Unique challenges of AI in restaurant drive-thrus.
• [04:25] – The LLM + NLP “marriage” solution.
• [05:44] – Why vertical AI is often superior for certain industries.
• [08:16] – The evolving vertical AI ecosystem & vision for real-time, AI-native business operations.
• [10:32] – Automating business decisions and the future role of leadership teams.

Tone & Language

The episode is conversational yet deep, with Krishna offering technical yet approachable insights. The dialogue reflects optimism about AI’s power but maintains realism about the need for industry knowledge and strategic relationships.

Final Thoughts

Krishna Gupta’s appearance highlights the real-world hurdles and transformative opportunity of vertical AI, especially in sectors like food service. His emphasis on deep industry integration, true ROI, and the evolution towards real-time, “AI native” businesses offers a blueprint for how automation and intelligence can empower companies—provided they take a tailored, hands-on approach. If you’re interested in the real stories and strategies behind AI-driven disruption, this episode is a must-listen.