CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Ajay Yadav, Co-Founder of Simplified
Can you start by telling us a bit about your background and what inspired you to co-found Simplified?
I originally came from India to the States at 17 for college. Inspired by my entrepreneurial father and the founders I met here, I launched two successful companies, one of which landed me on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. My journey with Simplified began during a conversation with my now co-founder, Keshav, when I was figuring out what to do next in my life. I understood that I shared his vision for a marketing-focused design platform. The idea instantly resonated with me, and I jumped on board. I joined the company as co-founder and years later, Simplified stands as an all-in-one AI powered content creation platform.
As a first-generation Indian immigrant, how has your personal journey shaped your approach to entrepreneurship and innovation?
Immigrating means starting over: parting from loved ones, learning a new language, completely rewiring the necessities like shelter, employment, health insurance, and community. Starting anew in a different country parallels starting a business—both demand resilience and adaptability. My immigrant experience taught me to navigate new environments and challenges, which is a lot like entrepreneurship. Both experiences necessitate extraordinary resourcefulness and we Indians are, in so many ways, shockingly resilient. This background has infused a cultural sensitivity into every project I undertake, influencing my entrepreneurial style significantly.
What was the key problem or pain point that you set out to solve with Simplified?
We created Simplified as a streamlined alternative to existing platforms like Canva, which we felt were becoming too cluttered. There were too many moving parts and options for a user who was probably not looking for that much. Our goal was to simplify the design process, making it more intuitive and collaborative. Today, Simplified has grown into an all-encompassing platform that supports the full spectrum of content creation, powered by AI.
How did you go about validating the market need and demand for an all-in-one AI-powered content creation platform like Simplified?
We started to realize that there were too many AI tools that offered singular capabilities, but they came and went away. So we sat down to think what exactly is missing and, especially for the booming creator economy, how can we differentiate ourselves from this clutter. The answer was simple: offer an end-to-end solution that helps users go from ideation to execution.
This also came out of personal observation about the struggle of switching between multiple platforms to execute simple tasks.
Can you walk us through the core AI-powered capabilities and features of the Simplified platform? How do they help streamline the content creation process for users?
Simplified brings together a variety of AI-powered tools under one roof—You can use our AI writer to write anything from blogs to post captions, our AI Designer to design graphics or even generate images, AI Video to edit and generate AI videos with simple text prompts, and even our Social Media AI to efficiently link and manage scheduling and posting content from within the platform across all your accounts. Our platform simplifies the workflow by integrating content creation with management tools, making it seamless for users to move from one task to the next without switching tools.
How does Simplified differentiate itself in the rapidly evolving AI content creation market? What are some of the unique value propositions you offer to your customers?
What sets Simplified apart is its ability to consolidate multiple competitive content creation capabilities into a single platform, drastically reducing the time it takes to go from an idea to a finished piece of content. We’re constantly fine-tuning our features based on direct feedback from our users, ensuring that Simplified isn’t just a tool, but a vital part of their creative process.
What have been some of the biggest technological and market challenges you’ve had to overcome in developing Simplified?
The biggest challenge with technology is keeping the technology updated; AI is moving at a pace that we’ve rarely seen before and there’s always something new to learn and integrate into our offerings. We have to keep R&Ding and keep updating, so that is a challenge we battle everyday.
Market-wise, our challenge has been to provide more than just fun tools—we focus on delivering effective workflow solutions that genuinely help users meet their content creation needs. Simplified has always been in the market where we help our customers get their job done with whatever they may need in the content creation space through AI. So our challenge is to stay in that lane, stay in that market and expand.
Simplified has achieved impressive growth, reaching 10 million users worldwide. What has been the key to your rapid user acquisition and adoption?
We’ve never talked about this number before but we’re very excited to share this news. Our approach to user acquisition is staying away from the ‘fomo’, focus on understanding and responding to user intent rather than following market fads. We’ve leveraged organic growth and smart social media strategies rather than throwing money at the problem, which has allowed us to grow sustainably and connect meaningfully with our users. These are sometimes non-traditional ways to grow a company where not a lot of money but hard work, time and patience is required. We’re finally reaping the benefits of our hard work now.
Simplified has been recognized as a top Generative AI Tool and received prestigious awards. What do these accolades mean for the company and how do you plan to build on this momentum?
All of the awards and recognition are just fuel to the fire—they tell us we’re on the right track. Being recognised as one of the top AI companies means that we are not just building something that customers need but love as well. Going forward, we’re committed to keeping our momentum by continuously improving our offerings, ensuring our pricing aligns with what our customer needs, and giving more and more people access to AI.
Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for Simplified? Where do you see the company and the AI content creation space evolving in the next 3-5 years?
In the next few years, I see Simplified making AI tools even more accessible, helping users not just perform tasks but complete meaningful projects. We are seeing a world where we’re moving away from “who does the job” to the “job being done”. The AI content creation sector will likely shift towards more integrated and user-friendly solutions, and we plan to be at the forefront of this evolution. We strongly believe that workflow is the underlying glue of a solution that holds it all together, so a circular full-goal achievement is what we aim to provide our users with.
As a multi-successful entrepreneur, what have been some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned on your journey with Simplified?
My biggest lesson from my journey with Simplified is that I can’t afford to stop being a learner. What I learned a year ago is not relevant today, which is kind of the biggest lesson one learns in starting companies today. Keeping pace with change, being willing to adapt, and sometimes even unlearn things are crucial.
It’s also vital to push the envelope on how quickly we can develop and bring products to market. While you might think that you’re moving fast enough, the thing is that you can actually push yourself to move even faster. We’re living in a world where anyone can start anything with the help of AI, so we need to make sure that not only do we start something, but we can take it to the finish line as quick as possible.
What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, who are looking to build innovative, high-growth businesses?
Focus on creating real value for your customers. Removing the noise and excitement of fundraising is sometimes very difficult because we get lost in that world and start feeling like that’s the reality that matters. What truly matters is building a business that delivers solutions people are willing to pay for and continue using. Stay grounded in these fundamentals, and you’ll build a business that lasts.
How do you maintain a work-life balance and stay motivated as a founder? What are some of the strategies you’ve developed to manage the demands of entrepreneurship?
I swear by taking lots of breaks. Yes, I work long hours, but I make sure to step away regularly. Staying active is another big one—I try to work out, take walks, or just grab a coffee outside. As long as I do this, I am able to find some balance and actually come out of my work to enjoy time with my family and do the things I love.
