In our weekly column ‘A Day In The Life Of’, we step into the shoes of different techies from different industries who are working in some of the most sought after technologies like big data, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, the internet of things etc.
This week we got in touch with a brilliant mind who has achieved a lot at a very young age and continues to make a profound impact on the technology industry. Aarushi Nema, a 17-year old techie who has built an AI-based virtual personal assistant called AARU — inspired by J.A.R.V.I.S. Nema is also the founder and CEO of The Smart Interface, a company that builds innovative and effective communication technologies and bring it at an affordable cost to everyone.
Meet the 17-year-old student entrepreneur
Nema who is studying in Delhi Public School in 12th standard, starts her day at 5:45 am boards her school bus and comes around 6:30 pm.“On weekends I get to sleep in a little longer, my day starts off at around 8:30 am,” said Nema.
Being an entrepreneur is tough but being a student and an entrepreneur at the same is tougher. When we asked how she manages her studies and work, she revealed she plans her day ahead and what she needs to do the next day as it gives her an idea of how to approach her work and studies.
Nema ensures she spends around 4 hours on studies and 3 hours for work on school days. “I usually do my startup work after dinner and finish it by 10:30 pm after I am finished getting updates from my team,” said Nema. During the holidays, she gets to spare more time for work. She has also said that there are days when she has to miss school to attend meetings or any important event.
While she walked us through her day, we also asked her about the most interesting and boring part, and she said that there isn’t any boring part. Rather, she believes that the whole venture is a new experience for her, and she is learning new things every day.
“The best part of my working day is when I sync up with the team for their daily progress reports. We also have fun chats about how we dealt with problems that we faced on that day or any interesting incident that took place that day,” said the 17-year old entrepreneur.
Talking about Nema’s work process, she mostly works on the technical side which consists of programming and also, on the side of integrating AI interfaces to the platform and development on the platform. At present, Nema and her team is building an app for the AARU Robot.
Being a student who also runs a company, the process of building a team is not an easy task. However, Nema had figured out ways for that as well, “I got some freelancers through references from friends and family. Also, LinkedIn helped me connect to many awesome people out there.”
The AARU Bot
AARU is an AI-based personal assistant that can help a variety of other sectors to delegate routine and administer simple tasks, that helps in increasing efficiency. The bot is basically a software that can exist in the cloud or can be infused within an actual robot.
“It is different for different users depending on preference. So it can either be used by a parent to inquire about their child’s fee, bus location, timetable in school or used at home to know your electricity bill or even used by a BPO to help customers,” Nema explained.
Moreover, AARU can speak multiple languages and solve customer queries 24×7, handling millions of queries simultaneously. To top all the features, Nema’s bot also ensures data privacy and provides a system where only the user can access the information.
Talking about the bot’s integration, Nema said “one doesn’t need to create a user interface such as a website or an app to speak with Aaru. It can be easily accessed through commonly used AI-interfaces such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Google Home, Microsoft Cortana, and many more.”
Work-Study-Life Balance
Striking a perfect work-life balance is definitely tough for someone who is in a 9-5 day job. And Nema being a student and an entrepreneur is no exception. Amid all her startup work she does miss out on school at times. However, according to her, as of now, it doesn’t really have a very big impact on her personal life. In fact, she said that the discussions about her product with her parents are sort of a bonding moment.
Talking about hobbies, she has started to learn to play the guitar a few months back. “Also, sometimes I watch movies or TV Shows or bake with my mom,” said Nema.
When asked about her social life, she said that she is not an extrovert, so her social life at school is quite average. “But at entrepreneur events, I’m usually quite interactive. I like meeting people who are passionate about something — it could be anything music, tech, science, etc.,” said Nema.
The Roadmap Ahead
Looking into the future, Nema said that there are a lot of things that need to be done for the Business build-up.
- Integrating New interfaces to the platform
- Get AARU to speak to people through holograms
- Expanding the user base of the platform
- Enter into various other fields
And talking about the short term goals, she and her team are focusing on pilot in a few schools, give AARU physical form and tech validation.
