The AI Consultant: How Rocket is Disrupting the High-Priced Strategy Game
An Indian startup called Rocket is betting that the real money in AI isn’t in writing code, but in deciding what to build in the first place. For years, big companies have spent millions of dollars on high-end consulting firms to tell them how to run their business. Now, Rocket wants to give you the same level of insight for a tiny fraction of that cost. Based in Surat, India, the company just launched its new platform, Rocket 1.0. This tool brings research, product building, and competitive intelligence into a single workflow, allowing users to generate detailed strategy documents in seconds.
Rocket co-founder and CEO Vishal Virani believes that writing code has become a commodity. With tools like Cursor, Replit, and Claude Code, almost anyone can generate a codebase now. But running a successful business is about much more than just having working software. You need to understand your pricing, your unit economics, and your plan for reaching customers. Virani says the part of the process that happens before any code is ever written is the next big opportunity for AI. Rocket is designed to help founders and product managers skip the guesswork and get straight to a professional plan.
The platform creates consulting-style reports that look like they came from a top-tier firm like McKinsey. It pulls data from more than 1,000 different sources, including Meta’s ad libraries and Similarweb’s API. It can even track what your competitors are doing on their websites in real time. When people tested the platform before its launch, they found it could turn simple prompts into complex PDF documents. These reports cover everything from product requirements to go-to-market strategies. It is a massive leap forward for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the business side of a new project.
Of course, the system isn’t perfect. Some of the analysis feels like it is pulling from existing data patterns rather than creating brand new ideas. This means you still need a human in the loop to validate the information before making big financial decisions. Rocket knows this, which is why they offer human support when users run into complex issues. They aren’t trying to replace human intelligence, but they are trying to give everyone access to the kind of data that used to be locked away in expensive boardrooms.
The pricing for Rocket is designed to be affordable for startups and medium-sized businesses. Subscription plans start at just $25 per month for basic building applications. If you want the full strategy and research capabilities, you can step up to a $250 plan. For companies that want the absolute best competitive intelligence, the full platform costs $350 per month. At the $250 level, the company says you can generate two to three “McKinsey-grade” research reports every month. Compare that to the thousands of dollars a human consultant would charge for a single document, and you can see why this is a massive shift in the market.
Rocket is already seeing huge growth. Since raising a $15 million seed round back in September, the startup has grown to over 1.5 million users across 180 countries. They have a team of 57 employees and are even expanding their operations to Palo Alto. By making high-level business strategy accessible to everyone, Rocket is leveling the playing field for entrepreneurs everywhere. You no longer need a massive bank account to get a world-class business plan. All you need is a good idea and a subscription to Rocket.