We Are Working Towards Delivering Responsible AI: Co-Founder, Awiros

The need for technology to intervene in human business is prevalent and has led to the growth of Video Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. It includes various offerings like security, monitoring and automation. It has been used in various sectors such as Manufacturing,  Automobile, IT, Retail and others.

Video AI is the science of extracting meaningful information out of video data using artificial intelligence, and then using it to trigger action, wherever necessary. To know more about the business, Sector and the current happening we talked to Yatin Kavishwar Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder at Awiros.

What will be the impact of the 5G launch on the business?

The sheer magnitude of the launch itself showed that this will bring change in terms of video AI technology. The maximum impact of 5G will be on edge deployment architecture. It will bring a huge change and will increase the adoption of video analytics, due to improved response time and reduced bandwidths.

What was your vision when you started Awiros in 2015?

The vision is to bring the power of video Intelligence to everyone; right from developers to end users. Awiros is an android equivalent for video AI where our customer has to adopt the tech once and then he/she can switch between different applications according to their need. Developers can develop their applications and also monetize them on the Awiros platform. 

How was your experience working on government projects?

It was a great experience, which allowed us to deploy our technology at a large scale, especially the smart & safe city projects. There were not many challenges as our projects were backed by the government. However, there were certain impediments like logistics in Tier 2 cities especially. Seeking permissions from govt authorities and our on-ground team had to work at odd hours.

What are the apps you have added to the platform?

We have apps for safety & security, intelligent traffic management, retail inventory management etc. We are now adding applications like critical infrastructure monitoring which can map or count parts of an aircraft engine. Currently, we have 60+ ready-to-use apps on our marketplace and our target is to have 1000+ apps in the future It is not that Awiros will be developing all the applications. A third-party developer can come and publish their applications in the marketplace.

What is the vision behind creating a third-party platform?

Our vision is to create a large marketplace for Video Analytics applications. We plan to scale from 60 to 1000+ apps in the next few years. Our focus is to make our platform developer friendly. Awiros is an OS similar to the one on our phones that enable developers to build their applications. They get 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the building blocks ready and only need to add their video AI models to create apps that can be monetized. This cuts down the time to market by 50-70 per cent.

How would you use the funds that you have raised recently?

We are a startup registered under the DPIIT Program under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. Awiros aims to utilize the funding towards product enhancement, building its developer community, and business growth in India and overseas markets.

How can the retail business owner use the Awiros?  

Retail owners can deploy many Awiros apps to understand customer demographic for better sales & marketing, to manage their inventory better, or to collect vital information to be shared with brands about customer consumption.

What are the factors that will affect Video Analytics in future?

There are a couple of ingredients for the growth journey such as the availability of low-cost computing which is still not that affordable. We are in partnership with companies like Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia and Kinara are trying to bring down the overall cost. Enabling 5G is another factor and the third could be providing developers with a platform like Awiros to develop the applications.

How do you see as an entrepreneur the apprehensions for Video analytics as surveillance?

Surveillance has two aspects, general monitoring and monitoring of a specific set of individuals from a law and enforcement perspective. It intends to recognize offenders or people who are in the database of the National Crime Record Bureau or State Crime Record. We are working towards delivering responsible AI and will never allow our algorithm or applications for mass surveillance.

What are the challenges you faced while building a business?

As an entrepreneur of a startup, one of the biggest challenges is around building a core team. Having the right people to support your business in every aspect like sales, finance, technical, engineering and others is a must. The second is finding the first customer who believes in your product. The next challenge was finding the right investors for our 1-10 journey who support our vision.