CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Mr. Tapan Barman, Co-Founder & CEO, Mihup.ai
1) What kind of challenges is your Conversational Intelligence platform solving today?
Founded in 2016, we started Mihup.ai with the belief that human-machine communication should be intuitive and seamless. Mihup.ai has harnessed cutting-edge AI technologies to create a dynamic platform that understands and responds to natural language with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. Our focus was on making technology inclusive and accessible for all, emphasising seamless interaction between humans and the digital world, regardless of language, accent, or dialect. The company has evolved since then to become a leading Conversation Intelligence platform, having handled over 1 billion interactions across industries like BFSI, BPOs, e-commerce, logistics, automobile, healthcare and travel.
In the dynamic business landscape, call centers serve as pivotal hubs for agent-customer interactions. Mihup.ai facilitates real-time audit and analytics of these interactions, enabling organisations to enhance operational efficiency and glean insights into customer preferences.
Some of the key examples of the work done by Mihup.ai include:
Insurance: In Insurance, real-time analysis of the agent-customer interactions results in formulating strategies for improved lead conversion, 100% compliance monitoring to reduce the penalties from regulatory escalations and proactive handling of customer grievances.
Banking: Advanced speech recognition and analytics result in deciphering subtle cues in tones and sentiments of the customers, enabling organisations to gain deeper insights into borrower behaviour, fraud detection, etc. Strategies can be accordingly planned for better NPA recovery and collections, optimising recovery prospects, better compliance, and regulatory management.
Automotive: In the automotive sector, our Automated Voice Assistant (AVA) enhances the driving experience with functions like voice-controlled car operations and hands-free commands. Mihup.ai provides unparalleled voice command support, enhancing passenger car experiences with its vernacular, natural and mixed language capability. The level of localisation in dialects that Mihup.ai has achieved is unparalleled. This level of localisation helps a native Tamil speaker communicate with his car using Tamil, English or a mix of both, thereby enhancing his experience.
2) What are Mihup.ai’s primary goals for the next five years, and how do you plan to achieve them?
While we have short-term tactical goals related to product advancement and up-gradation, our ultimate objective is to develop an interface that can handle verbal, non-verbal, written, or visual interactions between humans and machines, aligning with our vision of bridging the gap between human and machine communication.
We are evolving a voice interface that is accurate and accessible for users worldwide, particularly in regions where technology adoption faces barriers due to the complexity of the man-machine interface. This vision includes overcoming language and dialect differences to make technology more user-friendly and approachable. Mihup.ai aims to create platforms where developers could leverage their technological prowess to build products tailored to the specific requirements of internet users worldwide, transcending language and cultural differences.
Mihup.ai’s plan for the future involves both national and international expansion, focusing on empowering businesses and developers. By introducing international language support and AI enabled voice for devices, Mihup.ai aims to solidify its presence in key markets.
3) How does Mihup.ai.ai differentiate itself from competitors in the AI space, and what unique value do you provide to your customers?
Mihup.ai’s journey from an early entrant in the AI space to India’s foremost conversational intelligence platform underscores its pioneering spirit and adaptability to market trends. Mihup.ai differentiates itself with a proprietary tech stack developed entirely in-house ensuring security, scalability & affordability for our users. Our approach is vocabulary-based, considering phonetic imprints and modulation. This allows us to detect not just keywords but also the intent of interactions. Our technology focuses on speech-to-intent and meaning, providing a horizontal platform that spans various industries.
Our in-house development of AI models also allows us to tailor solutions specifically for our clients, which is a differentiating factor from generic AI platforms. Our accuracy in mixed languages, in the Indian context, stands out in comparison to the industry. It gives us a competitive edge, especially in markets where vernacular and context-specific language understanding is crucial.
4) Given the rapid evolution of AI technologies, how is Mihup.ai staying ahead of market trends and customer expectations?
Mihup.ai remains at the forefront of the AI landscape by embracing a culture of continuous innovation and adaptation. Through in-depth research and monitoring of market trends, Mihup.ai evolves its solutions to meet changing needs and expectations, leveraging its proprietary tech stack to incorporate cutting-edge advancements in AI technologies swiftly.
Mihup.ai’s customer-centric approach ensures that its solutions evolve in tandem with the evolving needs of its target audience. By actively engaging with customers and conducting comprehensive research, Mihup.ai gains invaluable insights into emerging trends and expectations, thereby enabling the platform to tailor its offerings accordingly.
5) Could you share a success story where Mihup.ai’s solutions have significantly impacted a client’s business?
One of Mihup.ai’s most compelling success stories revolves around its collaboration with a fintech startup targeting multiple regional populations. By focusing on empathetic customer interactions and ensuring 100% compliance monitoring, Mihup.ai enabled the startup to revolutionise its customer experience and retention strategies. Through meticulous tracking of agent behaviour and development of empathy scores, Mihup.ai facilitated a culture of genuine connection and understanding, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty. In difficult times like Covid, our multilingual voice platform has been leveraged to enable distribution of key communication at scale using AI voice, to maintain the contact less approach.
6) Where do you see the AI industry heading in the next decade, and what role will Mihup.ai play in shaping its future?
The next decade will be all about hyper-personalized, multi-lingual AI that revolutionizes the way we interact with technology. As the AI industry evolves rapidly, Mihup.ai is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping its future. With a commitment to innovation and customer empowerment, Mihup.ai will continue spearheading advancements in AI technologies, driving industry-wide innovation and setting new benchmarks for excellence.
