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• EB-10: Growth Strategy

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EB-10: Growth Strategy

Who

Pratik Desai (Twitter; LinkedIn), founder of Kissan, an agricultural AI assistant, is building voice-based AI solutions for farmers in India and other developing nations.

What

When

April 23, 2024

Highlights

• On the initial awkwardness of human-AI interaction. "Farmers would just say hello... they don't know what to ask."

• On the emotional impact of AI on users. "Some just started recording but then don't say anything at all because they are just overwhelmed."

• On balancing growth and sustainability. "We cannot keep expanding the user base... I'm trying to kind of mellow down the growth on the consumer side before we actually start generating revenue."

• On the challenges of monetizing in emerging markets. "Farmers cannot be monetized in any developing nations... it's mostly the businesses that you have to work with."

• On the disconnect between research and implementation in agriculture. "The people on the top do like very, maybe, cutting edge research and creating some climate resilient fertilizers or seeds and things like that. But then the farmers are like, very, very far away from the reality for them."

• On the complexities of agricultural regulations in India. "Agriculture is a very touchy topic... It’s a state subject, not a federal subject. Every time a state government changes depending upon the vote bank, a lot of politics actually get played on agriculture and farmers."

• On the future of AI agriculture. "Think about it like a farmer having a personal drone instead. Just take a picture from the sky every few days. Just then pass this image to, let's say, our next version of of our AI and ask what's going on. And then it will just describe the whole farm."

• On the impact of AI on the software development industry. "India is going to get affected as well; there are very good engineers too, but there is a whole mid- and low-layer of developers that India produces, which works the outsourcing companies who can easily get replaced.”

• On the potential of AI for preserving memories and connections. "My grandmother wanted to meet my daughter... and she died like two weeks before we reached her, and this is the kind of thing where I wish my daughter could meet an AI version of her."

• On the limitations of AI in replicating human complexity. "...your weather changes, your mood, your hungry hunger changes, your mood, and your answer for one question will be different if you're hungry or not. So those things are going to be very difficult to kind of replicate."

Listen On

EB-10, the tenth episode of our podcast, dropped this week. Before I continue, the rules of the game are:

• Pods that CHART stay alive

• Pods that get a Follow on Apple Podcasts CHART

So FIRST, CLICK on the link below (opens up your Apple Podcasts app) and click “+Follow” (in the upper right-hand corner)

Then go ahead and listen to the podcast any way you want to on your preferred app, capiche mon ami?

Listen on

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Youtube

• RSS

Why:

• Motivation: Pratik's personal connection to agriculture and his understanding of the challenges faced by farmers, especially in accessing and implementing critical knowledge.

• Goal: To empower farmers with accessible AI tools, improving their productivity, profitability, and decision-making.

• Impact: Potential to revolutionize the agricultural industry by democratizing knowledge, promoting sustainable practices, and creating new opportunities for farmers.

How:

• Multilingual and Multimodal Approach: Developing AI models that understand and respond to farmers in their local languages, incorporating voice and image recognition capabilities.

• Fine-tuning Language Models: Utilizing existing large language models like QN and adapting them specifically for agricultural knowledge and conversational interactions.

• Data Curation and Trustworthiness: Emphasis on high-quality, curated data sets to ensure accurate and reliable information for farmers.

What are the limitations and what's next:

• Challenges: Overcoming the economic limitations of monetizing directly from farmers and navigating the complex regulatory landscape for AI in India.

• Future Development: Expanding language support, incorporating real-time information like weather and market data, and exploring the potential of AI for farm management and decision support systems.

Why It Matters:

• Kissan's work has significant implications for the future of agriculture, especially in emerging markets.

• By leveraging AI to bridge the knowledge gap and empower farmers, Kissan is contributing to food security, economic development, and sustainable agricultural practices.

• Their approach highlights the potential of AI for social good and demonstrates the importance of developing inclusive and accessible technology solutions.

Additional Notes:

• Pratik shared a heartwarming story of a farmer who used Kissan's AI to become an Agripreneur, creating air fresheners from agricultural waste.

• The interview also touched upon the ethical considerations of AI, particularly regarding data privacy and potential misuse of technology.

• Pratik's vision for the future includes a world where every farmer has access to a personalized AI assistant, providing them with the knowledge and support they need to thrive.

Transcript

Background

Introducing the first version of Kissan in March 2023

On immediately finding an audience outside the core farming target

On the March 2024 Indian AI regulation announcement

On the Bay Area AI bubble, October 2023

On Indian migration, past, present, and future

On emulating humans in the afterlife

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