Startups Navigate Enterprise AI Procurement and ROI

Inc42 reports that selling AI to enterprises is no longer about flashy demos; startups must navigate procurement hurdles, build trust, prove ROI, and address risk concerns. According to Inc42, Praveer Kocchar, cofounder of KOGO AI, said his first enterprise deal "could never see the light of day" because the buyer preferred ready-made point solutions over a horizontal AI stack. The article highlights procurement, security and measurable business outcomes as the primary barriers founders must address when moving from pilot to production, per Inc42.

Inc42 published a feature arguing that selling AI to enterprises is no longer primarily won by flashy demos. Inc42 reports that startups now face procurement hurdles, trust and risk concerns, and pressure to demonstrate measurable ROI. The piece includes an anecdote about KOGO AI: Inc42 reports that Praveer Kocchar, cofounder of KOGO AI, said his first enterprise deal "could never see the light of day" because the buyer wanted a ready-made point solution rather than a horizontal stack.

Industry-pattern observations: enterprise buyers commonly prefer solutions that map directly to an immediate operational need rather than general-purpose stacks. For practitioners, that raises trade-offs between building configurable platforms and shipping verticalized, deployable point products. Sales teams and product managers typically need to convert technical capability into a prescriptive, low-friction deployment path.

Editorial analysis: The article places these sales frictions in a broader market phase where procurement and risk teams have become gatekeepers. For startups, the implication is that buyer workflows, integration readyness, and documented ROI increasingly determine conversion from pilot to contract. This shifts required go-to-market skillsets toward compliance, measurable KPIs, and buyer enablement.

Industry context: observers should track whether startups shorten product scope to win initial contracts, how vendors document ROI in standardized templates, and whether third-party risk assessments become a product differentiator. Inc42 did not quote enterprise customers directly in the excerpts reported, and the publication does not provide a company-issued rationale beyond the founder anecdote.

This story matters to practitioners selling or deploying AI in enterprises because it highlights go-to-market frictions-procurement, risk, and ROI-that materially affect adoption. It is notable but not a frontier technical development.

Practice interview problems based on real data

1,500+ SQL & Python problems across 15 industry datasets — the exact type of data you work with.