From Chef's Knife to AI Edge: Preksha Kaparwan's Journey with Alphaa AI & Super AI
Meet Preksha Kaparwan, the chef-turned-AI entrepreneur democratizing data with Super AI's private LLMs. Discover her inspiring journey & vision.
Preksha Kaparwan’s path from the high-pressure kitchens of five-star hotels to the demanding world of artificial intelligence and co-founding Alphaa AI (now evolving into Super AI) is anything but conventional. It's a narrative of bold pivots, relentless learning, and a deep-seated desire to solve complex problems, making sophisticated technology accessible to everyone. Her story is a powerful testament to how diverse experiences can forge a unique and formidable entrepreneurial spirit.
Check out the video of the conversation here or read on for insights.
🍳 The Unconventional Ascent: From Culinary Arts to Coding
Preksha Kaparwan's early career was steeped in the discipline and creativity of the hospitality industry. A graduate of the prestigious Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi, in 2010, she honed her skills as a Sous Chef for two years, managing a team of 28 and sometimes working 18-22 hours a day. This intense period instilled in her a profound understanding of operational efficiency and customer-centricity.
However, the demanding lifestyle led to parental concern and personal reflection. Preksha shares openly about this phase:
"I used to spend anywhere between eighteen to twenty-two hours in my hotel... For parents who are like, you know, it will be difficult for you to have a family if you keep a schedule like this up." (Paraphrased from podcast)
This led her to transition into education, teaching at the Institute of Hotel Management, Chandigarh, and Pearl Academy, where she taught subjects like consumer behavior and financial services. Alongside teaching, she gained foundational experience in marketing, unknowingly laying the groundwork for her future role as a Chief Marketing Officer.
The real pivot into technology was catalyzed by recognizing an unmet need and her own proactive spirit. While at a data science startup focused on hospitality clients, she saw a strong demand for new digital tools. When the owner of a multi-chain restaurant approached her to create a food delivery website, Preksha, without formal coding training, took matters into her own hands:
"I took a month... and I started to learn coding... I just, like, created a nice website for him. And I discovered that I was good with design."
She successfully developed the first version within a week using YouTube tutorials. This initiative was a clear indicator of her entrepreneurial drive and marked her true entry into the tech world. It was during this period she began her long-standing collaboration with Saurabh Moody (also known as Saurabh Verma ), an innovative technologist with prior experience at Microsoft. Together, they would go on to co-found three startups: Realbox (a real-time data analytics company), Cashless (a payment technology platform), and ultimately, Alphaa AI/Super AI.
💡 Alphaa AI to Super AI: Democratizing Data & Building Enterprise Brains
The entrepreneurial journey of Preksha Kaparwan and Saurabh Moody has been one of constant evolution, responding to market needs and technological advancements.
The Genesis: Realbox & Early Learnings Their venture, Realbox, focused on real-time data analytics for the hospitality industry. A key pain point they identified was that "every product platform needs a different kind of connector for a different kind of database". This challenge spurred the development of a universal database connector, a technology that even attracted interest from companies like Zomato. Realbox achieved notable traction, making ₹1 crore in its first year of operations and winning the TechSpark Tech30 award.
Alphaa AI: Conversational Analytics for All Alphaa Ai Data Private Limited was incorporated in India on May 13, 2019, with Alphaa AI Inc. also established in the US (Delaware) the same year. The mission of Alphaa AI was ambitious: "to create data accessibility and awareness for individuals and organisations to achieve effective collective progress," aiming to empower the "next billion Citizen data Scientists".
The platform was designed as an augmented analytics solution that allowed business users, regardless of their technical skills, to access and understand data through conversations driven by AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP). It worked on top of existing Business Intelligence (BI) tools like Tableau and PowerBI, offering a no-code interface accessible via web, mobile, or even platforms like WhatsApp and Excel.
"If people want to chat with their data... they will, ask their business intelligence team... I have a meeting with the bosses... you will change it... Finally, you will have a dashboard... We can simply ask something like this. So let's build this further."
Super AI: The Evolution to Private, Enterprise LLMs The journey continued with Super AI, reported as founded in 2021 or launched in 2022. This evolution sharpened the focus on sophisticated enterprise AI solutions, particularly private Large Language Models (LLMs). Super AI helps organizations generate insights from both structured and unstructured data, allowing users to ask questions in natural language and automatically generate data stories.
The shift was partly catalyzed during the COVID-19 pandemic. While running a data upskilling program, the founders recognized that existing data tools were often too complex and expensive.
Key Differentiators of Super AI: 🚀
Proprietary Native LLM: A cornerstone is their in-house developed LLM, an endeavor reportedly six years in the making. This allows for enterprise-specific AI training within a private environment, ensuring data security and customization without relying on external APIs like OpenAI's.
"Training-Less" System: Designed for ease of use, Super AI doesn't require end-users to pre-train it with specific questions or data formats. Its sophisticated semantic engine dynamically creates fresh queries for each natural language question.
Deterministic AI Elements: Super AI is referred to as a "deterministic AI platform designed to analyze enterprise data with precision in a secure environment". This suggests a hybrid approach, potentially combining business logic with language models for higher reliability, aligning with Preksha’s view that 2025 will see a shift to more focused AI applications generating tangible value.
Accessibility & Integration: True to its roots, Super AI remains no-code and user-friendly, integrating with existing BI tools and a wide array of data sources.
Funding & Growth Milestones: 💰
Alphaa AI: Initial reports indicated around $314,000 from investors like Hyderabad Angels and 10,000 Start-Ups. Later, Pitchbook detailed a total of $1.75 million raised for Alphaa AI Inc., including a $1.5 million Seed round on June 4, 2021, with investors like Venture Catalysts, 7Square Ventures, Desai Ventures, Mars Shot Ventures, and 100Unicorns.
Super AI: Secured $1.8 million in funding in 2022, with key investors including 100Unicorns and Venture Catalysts. The overlap in investors suggests continued backing for the founding team's evolving vision.
Revenue Growth (Indian Entity): Alphaa Ai Data Private Limited reported revenue of ₹1.77 Crore (approximately $212,000 USD) for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, representing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 105% over the last year. Founders held a 69.61% stake as of December 2021.
Clientele: Super AI works with 14 large enterprises, including prominent names such as DAMAC Group, Incorta, Procter & Gamble, MiQ, and Accenture, along with companies in the pharmaceutical sector. Early customers also included Nobel Hygiene and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Proof of Concepts (POCs) have been conducted with Spotify and ABInBev.
Global Ambitions & Scaling Strategies: 🌍 From its early days, the company aimed globally, with Alphaa AI establishing offices in Noida (India), San Francisco (USA), and London (UK). Super AI is reportedly based in San Francisco. A core strategy has been community building, nurturing over 8,000 "citizen data scientists" through the Alphaa AI Fellows community, fostering data democratization from the ground up. Strategic partnerships, notably with Accenture, are key to extending their reach.
🎤 The Founder's Voice: Insights from Preksha Kaparwan
Preksha's journey and leadership are characterized by transparency, resilience, and a people-centric approach.
Building in Public & The Power of LinkedIn: One of Preksha’s most impactful strategies has been "building in public," openly sharing development updates on LinkedIn.
"When I put this video... my first video I want to connect and, you know, like, this is what we are doing sort of... that video, went, viral for some reason. I don't know why. So I had, like, one point five lakh views... and some seven, eight hundred comments."
This transparency generated millions of views, created significant buzz, attracted talent, and even led to discussions with major tech companies like Apple and Google. She emphasizes that founders should be the face of their product's vision:
"A lot of founders do not put their themselves out... When they have to market, they did not do it. They don't see the value their face brings to the product... When people connect with you online, they expect you to give solutions of the problem they are facing and not give a technical description of the product you are making."
Resilience, Burnout, and Leadership: Her path hasn't been without immense challenges. She speaks candidly about early career struggles, the difficulty of assembling the right team, lack of initial support, and enduring 18-hour workdays that led to burnout. This experience prompted a crucial restructuring of her life to prioritize well-being and family, learning from work-life balance practices observed in the U.S.. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she faced the painful decision of letting her team go, handling it with such responsibility that some members later returned. She also recalls early financial hardships, including skipping meals to meet potential clients.
Her guiding philosophy:
"If you focus on the challenges that life and society throw at you, you'll miss out on the places you were meant to go."
She firmly believes that with patience, resilience, and persistence, anyone can achieve their dreams.
Vision for the Future: Enterprise General Intelligence 🧠 The ultimate ambition for Super AI is the creation of "Enterprise General Intelligence" – a live AI brain for businesses capable of diagnosing situations and suggesting actionable insights based on past market conditions. Preksha indicates that elements of this vision are already being executed. She foresees AI becoming deeply embedded in society, and anticipates that 2025 will be a pivotal year where the industry gains clarity on Al's best applications, shifting towards focused, value-generating business use cases.
🚀 The Road Ahead
Preksha Kaparwan's journey from chef to AI innovator is a compelling narrative of adaptability, grit, and a relentless pursuit of simplifying complexity. With Super AI, she and Saurabh Moody are not just building a company; they are aiming to redefine how enterprises interact with and leverage their data. As they push towards "Enterprise General Intelligence," their focus on data privacy, ease of use, and powerful, proprietary AI positions them as a significant player to watch in the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence. The combination of a unique founder story, strong technological differentiation, and a clear vision for the future makes Preksha Kaparwan and Super AI a fascinating case study in modern entrepreneurship.
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