Indian tech tycoon bets $30M of his own money to build AI alternative to Microsoft Office

What has Bhavin Turakhia actually announced?

Indian entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia, 46, is putting $30 million of his own money into Neo, an AI-native workplace suite designed to compete with Microsoft Office. He is self-funding it rather than raising outside investment, which is unusual for a project of this size.

Neo combines documents, file storage, project management and AI in one platform, and it is model-agnostic, meaning it is not tied to a single AI provider such as OpenAI or Google. Turakhia's team built the first working version in three months, a timeline he says would have taken over a year before AI-assisted development existed. Neo launched internally in April 2026 and is being tested across Turakhia's own companies, including Zeta, ahead of a wider rollout to mid-sized businesses.

Why does this matter if my business doesn't even use Microsoft Office properly?

It matters because of timing, not because you need to switch software. Microsoft is raising commercial Microsoft 365 prices from 1 July 2026, with UK increases of between 8% and 33% depending on plan, and Copilot Business rising from £13.80 to £16.10 per user per month after 30 June 2026.

If you renew before that date, you can lock in current pricing for up to 36 months. For a business with five staff on a mid-tier plan, that price gap adds up over three years, so it is worth checking your renewal date now rather than after the increase lands.

Should I switch to Neo or wait for an alternative to Microsoft Office?

No, not yet. Neo is still rolling out to mid-sized businesses in technology, consulting and professional services, not local trades, salons or hospitality. There is no meaningful evidence yet on price, reliability or support for the kind of small business Braynex Services works with.

The useful takeaway is not "switch software." It is that a credible, well-funded challenger to Microsoft Office now exists, which means genuine competition is coming to a market that has had very little of it. That is good news for prices and features over the next two to three years, even if it changes nothing about what you do this month.

What's the real lesson for small businesses here?

The real lesson is about who owns the tools you depend on, not which company makes them. Turakhia built Neo to be model-agnostic on purpose, so his business is never locked into one AI provider's pricing or roadmap. That is exactly the mistake most small businesses make with far smaller, everyday tools.

We see this constantly at Braynex Services. A nail salon we worked with was paying Fresha around £1,800 a month in commission for bookings it never owned. Moving to its own booking system at roughly £35 a month saved it about £21,000 a year, and it kept its customer list instead of renting access to it.

A Facebook page, a Linktree, a booking platform, or a directory listing like Yell all work the same way: you are renting a presence you do not control. The platform can change its price, its algorithm, or its terms overnight, and you have no say in it.

What should I actually do this month?

Check your Microsoft 365 renewal date and lock in current pricing before 30 June 2026 if you use Office at all. Then look at every other tool your business rents but does not own, and ask what it would cost to hold that data yourself instead.

• Check your Microsoft licence renewal date. Renewing before 30 June 2026 locks in current pricing for up to 36 months.
• Audit what you rent versus what you own. Booking systems, customer lists and your website are the three worth owning first.
• Don't chase new AI tools yet. Only 11% of UK SMEs use technology to a meaningful extent to automate operations, despite 54% saying they have adopted AI in some form in 2026, up from 35% in 2025. Adoption without a plan wastes money.
• If you're a micro business (5 to 9 staff), start smaller than you think. Adoption in this group sits at 14%, against 36% for larger firms, so competitors your size are mostly not ahead of you yet.

What is Braynex Services' view on this?

Competition between AI workplace tools is a side story for most small businesses. The main story is that being found and recommended by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews is becoming the new local SEO, and that only works if you own a real website and a verified Google Business Profile, not a rented profile page.

We saw this with a salon in Leeds that had zero online presence and no Google Business Profile. Within three weeks of verifying and properly optimising it, the salon was getting more than 40 calls a month directly from Google Maps, at no ongoing platform cost.

Whoever wins the Office wars in three years' time, the businesses that come out ahead will be the ones that own their website, their bookings and their customer data now, not the ones that switched software the fastest.

If you want a clear picture of what you're renting versus what you actually own in your business, and what that is costing you each year, book a free audit at braynexservices.com.