PTR launches IIT-M incubated MakeGPT from Kochadai Technologies

CHENNAI: The IIT-M incubated new generative AI platform from Kochadai Technologies, MakeGPT, aimed at accelerating the use of the sophisticated Internet of Things (IoT) by using natural language prompts, was launched by TN minister for IT and digital service, P Thiaga Rajan, here on Friday.

Kochadai Technology Solutions founder Naveena Swamy talked about the days when building prototypes was extremely complex. The eureka moment happened at the Boston Museum of Science, when a kid questioned her on the rationale of teaching the “dirty, dull and dangerous” stuff (like soldering that could sometimes lead to burns on hands) when it should be done by robots.

“But then the assembly and manufacturing robots were just coming up in the marketplace, which were super expensive and hard to find. So that's when it started, the journey.” Her experience of working in many labs showed making prototypes generated a tremendous amount of e-waste (testing chips or reusing boards).

“And that's when it hit me that if we can reduce the prototyping to a single system where 200 million ideas can be tested easily without wiring a single component and get your ideas faster to the marketplace, then we would have done something to reduce the e-waste problem,” Naveena elaborated.

The MakeGPT platform aims to go beyond generic chatbots to build domain-specific solutions for industries ranging from manufacturing and pharma to renewable energy and architecture. “With MakeGPT, we want to help MSMEs, corporates and startups build market-ready prototypes, reduce costs and shorten go-to-market timelines,” Naveena said, dwelling on the product that is being positioned as an Indian alternative in a fast-growing field dominated by global players.

Speaking at the launch event, the minister lauded the innovation. He also recalled the days of those seeking $100 million worth of computing power, having to invest a capex of $100 million. But, “now somebody on the cloud has it and you can rent it for $20,000 an hour. So the ability to access this kind of processing power for innovation has greatly expanded, somewhat democratised.”

While the democratisation is still a work-in-progress, Thiaga Rajan said the level of automation is on the rise, with machines automating some of the more mundane things that are being performed by human beings. The rate of the evolution of AI is at an interesting inflection point. “The ability to create specific automation, and I'll use automation for now as a substitute for AI. Very specific automation with very limited kind of bandwidth of what is the intent and the kind of data from which it learns that is very, very successful,” he said.

TN’s strong MSME base and pool of engineers provide fertile ground for AI-led adoption, provided its benefits are widely disseminated, he added.