AI and machine learning are transforming almost every aspect of life whether it be our communication, information acquisition, shopping, social interactions, or professional activities. Mihup Communications Pvt.
Ltd., is one of the leading Conversational AI platforms in India. Founded in 2016, Mihup enables enterprise developers to create automated voice interfaces with complete control over their brand identity and privacy.
Mihup is driven by the vision to create a platform which would allow conversations between humans and almost anything and everything such as home appliances, gadgets, vehicles, and home automation systems, etc. Mihup aims to build a platform which will allow enterprise developers to create customised voice interfaces with full control over brand identity and privacy. Let’s find out more about what Mr. Tapan Barman, the Co-Founder and CEOof Mihup Communications Pvt. Ltd. has to say about the dynamics of the AI industry in the following interview:
Please brief our audience about your organization, its values, vision, and mission.
Mihup offers three B2B SaaS products.
- VIA (Virtual Interaction Analyst) – 100% analysis of customer interactions across calls, emails and chats to derive insights. VQA can significantly improve sales, collection, and overall customer satisfaction.
- AVA – Call Center – A customer interaction platform for automated and accurate handling of customer queries through conversations with a human sounding virtual customer care executive to improve user self-service management and eliminate IVR’s complex menu tree.
- AVA – Auto – for passenger and commercial vehicles for controlling in-vehicle functions simply by speaking naturally.
Mihup is fundamentally altering the conversational AI space and its platform can work on edge devices and in low-connectivity environments. This makes it suitable for use cases such as car control, media and entertainment and customer call analysis. Mihup’s mission is to make technology inclusive and accessible to all regardless of theirlanguage, accent or dialect. Conversational AI platforms have predominantly been based onUS English accent conversations with some development in the field of natural languageprocessing. However, we are modifying the conversations by integrating Hindi,Hinglish and other mix of regional languages. Our language development roadmap includesthe 22 major languages of India out of which we have covered Indian English, Hinglish, Benglish,and Tamilish as of today.
 Brief us on how you have made an impact in the tech space through your expertise in the market?
We have now entered an era of automation and conversational AI powered devices. Mihup is bringing about a transformation in the technology sector through development of cutting-edge solutions. By creating the platform that can work on edge devices and very low connectivity environments, we have been able to change the landscape of the voice AI deployment. Today,our solutions are ideal for usage in car control, media and entertainment as well as customer call analysis etc.
Multilingual and Vernacular – Our product is a transformational technology platform offering unmatched innovation in the field of voice AI. Until now, the conversational AI platforms have been based predominantly on US English accent conversations with somedevelopment in the field of natural language processing. However, what we are doing is altering the conversations by integrating Hindi, Hinglish, and other mix of regional languages into the conversation.
Voice AI on the Edge – The product doesn’t necessarily need internet connection at all times and can seamlessly work in low-connectivity areas and even offline to make it a superior companion for usage in vehicles and rural areas. Thus, it is going to be a great choice for use cases such as car control, media, and entertainment etc. Our solutions are finding increasing usage in media, entertainment, consumer electronics, Internet of Things, retail, ecommerce, automobiles, BFSI and various other sectors. Coupled with a low carbon footprint, the product is built in India to solve for India.
Vocal for local Mihup replaced Nuance (an American technology company with more than $1billion in revenue) which was being used by Tata Motors for their smart assistant in vehicles. The core technology stack ofMihup and the NLP capability is far superior to the limited dictionary coverage provided by incumbents like Nuance for higher pri. Our language models are so built that we can scale it to adopt any language in the world in no time at all. This equips Mihup’s products with not only the potential of import substitution but also export promotion.
Brief us about the featured person(s) and their professional journey.
I am Tapan Barman, the Co-Founder and CEO of Mihup. I lead the general management, sales and product portfolios at Mihup. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from the West Bengal University of Technology and have spent over 14 years in building world class products. I chose entrepreneurship over a coveted public sector job and among my major ventures was Nectar Consulting Services Pvt.Ltd., that I had co-founded with Biplab Chakraborty, who is also a Co-Founder of Mihup. At Nectar, I supported IT initiatives of various large enterprises such as Balmer Lawrie, Coal India Ltd, CESC, NALCO, Shrachi Group, SREI, Hindustan Copper, INX Media etc. I also forged a high-value partner network with Oracle, PWC, IBM, Sybase and Novell.
I always had a vision to create something that would provide solutions at the grassroots – a solution that could be brought to scale. I got into a public sector job immediately after my engineering degree. However, since day one, I wanted to get out from that place because every time I tried to do things differently, I was always discouraged. To top that, I come from Coochbehar, a small town in West Bengal. Kolkata has never gained recognition as a city of startups which made me all the more determined to establish a company there, to provide an avenue for innovation to the young talent still residing in this city. I have always imagined a society where every human being is empowered by the knowledge of the rights of equality and dignity. Luckily, I found enough reasons to take my vision forward and also the right partner to get into this journey in Biplab.
What are the challenges you and your team come across in your day-to-day operations?
As an early-stage start-up, we do feel the pressures of being one, on somedays. We are working with a team of 65+ members, spread across the country, and sometimes remote co-ordination acts as a hindrance. There are of course the challenges associated with attracting the right kind of talent, generating awareness about the niche products we are building, but we manage to sail through them with collective effort being put in by each and every member of the team.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the technology and innovation space?
We are on the cusp of a technology driven transformation of lives. The post-pandemic world is going to be a great opportunity for consumption of greater tech advancement. India is already an IT powerhouse and we have plenty of talent as well as opportunity to create solutions that can turn the country into an even bigger IT and voice AI superpower. As long as you focus on innovation and engineer socially relevant technologies, there is going to be a lot of business success for all.
Where do you envision your organization to be in the long run and what are your future goals?
At Mihup, we are dedicated to transformation the process and scope of human – machine interactions. We have leveraged NLP and AI technologies to solve various problems. We aim to contribute towards making India, a global voice automation powerhouse in the years ahead. The country is presently dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is time that we focus on making India self-sufficient and a global supplier for technology.
We are an innovation driven company that Is developing indigenous conversational AI tools and there is a vast potential yet to be tapped. We offer best-In-class solutions driven by native Indian languages and this ability is going to make a great impact on the Indian business landscape in the years to come. We are already in a partnership with Tata Motors to bring digital AI transformation to the Indian drivers.
Our platform has already been introduced in some of their top end variants for cars like Nexon. Soon, Mihup will go live in select Tata truck models too. Apart from that, we have various private sector banks, fintech players, edutechand unicorns among our partners in the journey of automation and transformation.
