Together Fund’s Manav Garg joins Emergent as executive chairman

Manav Garg, co-founder of Together Fund and a long-time entrepreneur and investor, is returning to an operating role as executive chairman of AI company Emergent.

The move marks a notable shift for Garg, who has spent recent years backing early-stage technology startups through Together Fund. However, he described the decision not as a departure from investing but as a response to what he sees as a major technological inflection point.

“Some platform shifts are too important to observe only from the sidelines,” Garg wrote while announcing his appointment. “For me, that is what brought me closer to Emergent.”

The decision is rooted in a belief that has guided his work across multiple ventures, including Eka, SaaSBoomi, AIBoomi and Together Fund. According to Garg, India has the potential to produce globally significant technology companies, and AI may represent the biggest opportunity yet to prove that thesis.

In his LinkedIn post, Garg outlined a broader view of how AI is evolving.

“The first wave of AI reengineered content creation permanently. The second wave (now) is about software creation. The next wave (very soon) will be about business operations,” he said.

That view reflects a growing debate within the technology industry about the future role of AI. Much of the recent attention has focused on tools that generate text, images and software code. Garg’s argument is that the larger opportunity may lie in replacing or reshaping complex business processes that currently depend on multiple software applications, consultants, agencies and manual workflows.

He suggested that AI could blur the traditional boundaries between software, services and labour, allowing businesses to operate through increasingly intelligent systems rather than disconnected tools. If realised, such a shift could redefine how organisations are structured and how work is performed.

Garg said that after spending around eighteen months working closely with co-founders Mukund Jha and Madhav Jha and the broader team, he became increasingly convinced by the company’s mission.

“What impressed me was not simply the growth trajectory or execution speed. It was the clarity of the mission. While much of the industry is focused on helping people build software faster, Emergent is focused on helping businesses operate differently,” he noted.

As executive chairman, Garg said he will work with the leadership team on strategy, partnerships, governance and long-term company building as the company enters its next phase.

At the same time, he stressed that he remains committed to Together Fund and its portfolio companies. He said he will continue to actively support founders backed by the firm’s first two funds.