Name: Uday; age 15; education: class 8 (dropout); and he runs an AI startup in Kerala's Kochi

Kochi: At 15, Uday Shankar is a school dropout and the chief technical officer of a startup. Yes, you heard it right. Doubtful yet? Not the delegates at the two-day International GenAI Conclave which began in Kochi on Thursday. The teen techie’s GenAI products are among the major attractions of a startup exhibition held alongside the conclave.

A native of Vyttila in the heart of Kochi city, Uday Shankar runs Urav Advanced Learning Systems, a startup founded for him by his father, Dr Ravikumar, after he realised his son’s passion and vision.
Uday’s tryst with robotics started during the summer holidays after Class 4.

“My mom told me either I should go for swimming or robotics courses. I chose robotics. That’s why I got into all this technology stuff. Once the pandemic started, I learned Python programming online from an assistant professor in an institute. And then, by 2021-22, I got interested in app development and I got into all of this. The company was started in 2020,” Uday, sporting long hair, says as he manages the tech enthusiasts who throng his stall at the expo.

Urav’s products include clinAIka, a vernacular conversational AI avatar-based clinical decision support system, hAI! Friend, an AI chat companion, Miss Vani – AI remote teacher, and medAIka – AI personalised medical and clinical assistant. ClinAlka, using the MultiTalk Avatar AI suite, helps one easily talk to any native speaker in their chosen language.

Uday has received an Indian patent for his maiden invention on a humanoid AI Kiosk with extensive Indian language support with the Bhashini App. It was a phone call to his paternal grandma that led to the patent achievement. When Uday made the call, his grandmother was busy and promised him to call back. He, however, was not ready to wait. He decided to create a digital avatar of his grandma and make her talk using AI. All this made his parents believe in him and allow him to chase his passion.

After he quit school, thanks to the Covid lockdown, he completed Class 10 through the National Institute of Open Schooling and passed the Board exam this year. Asked why did he quit school, Uday had a clear answer: “To work more for the company and do things that I like to do. In school, you have to learn a lot of subjects you might not be interested in. For example, I’m doing software development. Why should I learn Geography?” He said he would write the 12th exam also through open schooling and then pursue engineering in software development if he finds it necessary.

He said his parents – Dr Ravikumar who is a faculty in Orthodontics and Sreekumari Vidyadharan, an engineering graduate, have always been very supportive.

Uday has developed an app for blind people to use public places, 3rdAI, which is available for free download. The Multitalk Avatar can create 3D images using AI from any photo. By downloading the app, you can create anybody you like and communicate with them using the AI talk bot.

So far, Uday has 15 apps to his credit like TridiForAll, FAINanza, ARMiniGolf, FarmSim, BoxfulVR, MedAlka, Miss Vani AI Teacher, Advisa, HiFriend, Khonojha VS The Virus VR, Kodbhasha, Dr Khonojha VS The Virus VR, Portable Interpreter and Vyo Voice Your Opinion.

Dr Ravikumar, who accompanies Uday at the expo, is proud that he supported his son’s unconventional approach to education and freedom to select his career path. “The best thing I could do was give my son full support when he changed his mind and opted out of the traditional education system,” Dr Ravikumar said.
Their company is registered with the Kerala Startup Mission.