In an interview with R. Chandra, Apoorva Kumar, founder of Inspeq AI, shares his journey from a senior manager at Microsoft to launching his own startup in Q4 of 2023. Inspired by the potential and challenges of generative AI, Kumar’s Inspeq AI aims to evaluate and optimize AI applications for reliability. The startup was propelled by feedback from over 250 industry professionals and received initial funding through a prestigious accelerator in Ireland. The company is HQed in Ireland and has subsidiary in Bangalore India called Inspeq AI Labs India Pvt Ltd. Recently, Inspeq AI closed a $1.1 million fundraising round and won the Startup World Cup at the Dublin Tech Summit, gearing up for further product development and market expansion.
R. Chandra: Can you tell us a bit about your background and the journey that led you to found Inspeq AI?
Apoorva Kumar: Thank you, Raamesh. It’s indeed an exciting time for startups in India. There’s a noticeable shift in mindset among fresh graduates who are now more inclined to work for fast-growing startups or start their own ventures. This shift is influenced by government policies, the ecosystem in places like Bangalore and Gurgaon, and the urge to create jobs rather than just do a job.
As for my background, I founded Inspeq AI in Q4 of 2023. Before that, I was living in Ireland for nine years with my family. I worked at Microsoft as a senior manager of product management, leading teams for OneDrive and SharePoint. My role involved launching Microsoft’s first digital signing product, competing with DocuSign and Adobe Sign, and working on SharePoint Syntex, a content AI service. Before Microsoft, I was a product lead for Microsoft Teams, focusing on growing its usage and enabling frontline workers.
R. Chandra: That’s impressive. What were some key highlights from your time before Inspeq AI?
Apoorva Kumar: One of the key highlights was working at AWS Lambda in Europe. When I joined, Lambda was a multi-million dollar business; now it’s a multi-billion dollar business. A significant project was collaborating with the Government of India on the Aarogya Setu COVID application, ensuring it could handle the scale needed for India’s population.
I also worked at SAP, starting in Bangalore and then relocating to Ireland and the US for critical projects. My role at SAP Analytics Cloud sparked my interest in machine learning, a consistent theme in my career. I also had a stint at Informatica, working on data quality products.
R. Chandra: What inspired you to start Inspeq AI, and what problem are you addressing?
Apoorva Kumar: The idea for Inspeq AI was long-term and well-thought-out. I always wanted to build a company with a global impact. The turning point was recognizing the massive potential of generative AI and the issues with large language models. We noticed significant AI reliability problems, as seen with cases like DPD’s bot, Snapchat’s inappropriate recommendations, and Gemini’s inaccuracies. These issues underscored the need for a solution to evaluate and optimize AI applications for high reliability.
R. Chandra: How did you go about starting Inspeq AI?
Apoorva Kumar: We began by interviewing over 250 developers, data scientists, and other stakeholders. The consistent feedback was the difficulty and expense of evaluating and optimizing LLM applications. This feedback validated our problem statement, and we set out to create a robust LLM ops platform. We got into a prestigious startup accelerator in Ireland, received our first 100,000 Euros check, and quickly built a proof of concept.
R. Chandra: Can you tell us about your recent achievements and future plans?
Apoorva Kumar: Recently, we closed our first fundraising round of $1.1 million. We’ve built an MVP, launched it with select customers, and gathered valuable feedback. We also won the Startup World Cup at the Dublin Tech Summit and will represent Europe in San Francisco for the grand finale.
Looking ahead, we’re focusing on product development and customer acquisition. Our goal is to launch the next version of our product, achieve a strong product-market fit, and potentially raise the next round of funding by the end of the year.
R. Chandra: That’s quite a journey. Thank you, Apoorva, for sharing your story. We wish you and Inspeq AI all the best in your future endeavours.
