Tech Solutions Powered by AI

Jagriti Dabas, a Nexus Startup Hub alumna and founder of start-up Arms4AI, at the International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan. The start-up builds tailored AI-based geospatial solutions to strengthen national security. (Photograph courtesy Jagriti Dabas)

Jagriti Dabas developed an interest in geospatial and space technology while pursuing her master’s degree in geoinformatics from the TERI School of Advanced Studies in New Delhi. “Right after my master’s, I, along with two of my batchmates, started a consulting firm in the field of geospatial services, where I worked for more than three years,” she says.

Dabas soon realized there was an urgent need for new technologies in the field. “I thought artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be one of the most crucial technologies. I stopped my consulting work and enrolled in some courses where I learned about machine learning and deep learning and applied some of the algorithms,” she says. Dabas’ start-up venture, Arms4AI, builds tailored AI-based geospatial solutions to support strategic decision-making and provide information to strengthen national security. Arms4AI was part of the 15th cohort at the U.S. Embassy New Delhi’s Nexus Startup Hub.

Excerpts from an interview with Dabas.

What inspired you to work in the field of AI?

I believe that using AI is the need of the hour. I’ve been in this industry since 2015 and have interacted with both small and large companies. After analyzing numerous market trends, I realized why AI is important, especially the automation part. We are still wasting 0 percent of our time and effort on just manual tasks or data preparation. Automation will help us spend more time on the analytics or decision-making rather than on data preparation. This is what inspired me to work in the field of AI.

Why and how did you start Arms4AI?

I started Arms4AI because I realized what impact AI is going to have on this industry, especially when satellite data handling is such a computing-intensive task. Manual efforts are not going to be enough. Speaking of government organizations alone, we are getting terabytes and petabytes of satellite data daily. However, it is not being fully utilized. Even after putting in money, effort and time, we are still not able to get the maximum output. We are not able to extract even two percent of the images received daily. This realization underscored the importance of technological innovation for business growth.

That is why Arms4AI came into being in 2019. Before launching it, I worked on my skill enhancement in integrating geospatial technology, satellite data, AI and machine learning algorithms. I also explored what kind of solutions or products could be developed through the integration of these technologies.

Because of our name, Arms4AI, we are often mistaken for an ammunition company. But we are actually the supporting hands behind AI technology. We are not limited to only one sector. As of now, we are focused on four domains: agriculture, infrastructure, defense and environment.

What does Arms4AI do in the field of defense and security?

For defense and security organizations, we use high-resolution satellite data to extract important information like topographic features, the condition of roads, railway tracks and vehicle movement. This information is useful for monitoring and surveying activities as data is collected continuously. For defense and security organizations, such information is very handy when there is a need for urgent or actionable decision-making.

What AI-based solutions do you offer, and why are they important?

Our target customers are both B2B (business-to-business) and B2G (business-to-government). We are not focused on B2C (business-to-consumer) right now. Currently, we are working with the government of Kazakhstan to track multiple crops in different regions within the country, providing valuable agriculture-related insights. In infrastructure, we are working with the Maharashtra government to provide information for road quality monitoring. We give updates through our one-click geospatial AI platform users can find out what’s the current condition of the roads without any need for a manual survey.

How was your experience at the Nexus Startup Hub and what are your key takeaways from the training?

The Nexus incubation program was incredibly intense and immensely beneficial. We highly recommend more people to participate in training at the Nexus incubator. The best part is that it is free of cost, and they only select a very small cohort, ensuring personalized attention and support.

What would be your advice to women who want to enter the field of tech entrepreneurship?

Personally, I have not encountered any gender disparities, so it’s been a very positive journey for me. The start-up ecosystem has been very transparent. So, to all aspiring female entrepreneurs, my advice is that there’s nothing to worry about if your work is good. The start-up ecosystem is very supportive. There are a lot of platforms and challenges launched just for women, so come forward and make the most of them.

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