In the rapidly evolving world of AI, an Indian startup is making waves by outperforming global giants like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in key benchmarks. Sarvam AI, founded in Bengaluru, has emerged as a frontrunner in developing sovereign AI models tailored for India's diverse linguistic landscape. At the helm is Pratyush Kumar, a visionary entrepreneur whose innovative tools are not only challenging international competitors but also democratising AI access for over a billion people in India.
Who is Pratyush Kumar?
Pratyush Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Sarvam AI, has built a reputation as a pioneer in Indian-language AI technologies. Born and raised in India, Kumar's early life details remain largely private, with no public information available about his family background or personal life beyond his professional achievements. His journey into AI is rooted in a strong academic foundation. Kumar holds a B.Tech in electrical engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and earned his Ph.D. in computer engineering from ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
Kumar's professional experience spans over 15 years in research and development. Before launching Sarvam AI, he worked at Microsoft Research and IBM Research, where he honed his expertise in systems engineering and AI. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at IIT Madras, contributing to advancements in the field. Kumar's entrepreneurial spirit shone through in his earlier ventures. He co-founded AI4Bharat, a research lab at IIT Madras focused on open-source AI tools, datasets, and models for Indian languages, which secured significant funding including Rs. 36 crore from the Nilekani family in 2022 to establish the Nilekani Centre for AI. Additionally, he co-built PadhAI, an affordable online learning platform that educated 50,000 students in deep learning for as little as Rs. 1,000 per course between 2016 and 2023.
When was Sarvam AI born?
The inception of Sarvam AI marked a bold step toward India's AI independence. Kumar co-founded the company in July 2023 alongside Vivek Raghavan, with a mission to create a full-stack generative AI platform focused on voice-enabled applications and efficient models for India's multilingual needs. Raghavan, the other co-founder, brings complementary expertise from his role in building India's digital public infrastructure, including contributions to Aadhaar, the world's largest digital identity program. Together, they aimed to address gaps in global AI models by prioritising local languages and affordability, positioning Sarvam as a 'sovereign AI' player.
Sarvam AI beat Gemini, ChatGPT
Under Kumar's leadership, Sarvam AI has achieved remarkable feats. Its Sarvam Vision OCR tool leads benchmarks with 84.3 percent accuracy on olmOCR-Bench, surpassing Google's Gemini 3 Pro, DeepSeek OCR v2, and ChatGPT, while excelling in complex layouts and math formulas. The Bulbul V3 text-to-speech model offers natural-sounding voices in 11 Indian languages, competing with global leaders like ElevenLabs at lower costs. Other innovations include the open-source Sarvam 2B model (trained on 2 trillion tokens, 40 percent in Indian languages) and Shuka, an 8-billion-parameter voice model that's six times faster for regional languages. The company has raised $53 million in funding and collaborates with Nvidia to customise AI for sectors like finance, FMCG, and real estate.
According to data from startup intelligence platform Tracxn, Sarvam AI employs 114 people as of August 2025, marking a 226 percent year-over-year growth from the previous year. This rapid expansion reflects the startup's momentum in a competitive landscape.
Looking ahead, Sarvam AI's future plans are ambitious and India-centric. The company aims to expand its Bulbul TTS to cover all 22 official Indian languages. It is developing multi-modal, multi-scale foundation models from scratch under the Rs. 10,000-crore IndiaAI Mission, including the Sarvam-M 24-billion-parameter open-source model fine-tuned for math, programming, and 10 Indian languages. Sarvam has launched Sarvam Labs in the San Francisco Bay Area for foundational research, inviting AI experts to join its efforts. Products like Sarvam Agents offer enterprise voice interactions at Rs. 1 per minute, with a focus on powering citizen services in rural areas and revolutionizing industries through AI adoption. Kumar envisions AI consumption as a future indicator of national development, emphasizing privacy and accessibility for all.
