Episodes
Seda Papoyan, founder of FemInno, a female innovation conference and platform, joins us to discuss her efforts in advocating for greater engagement from women in STEM fields. Seda shared the fundamental barriers girls face in entering STEM fields in Armenia. We also spoke about how FemInno has grown into an international initiative, with events taking place in San Francisco and Sydney, in addition to Armenia.
Published 04/23/24
Published 04/23/24
Hrant Davtyan, founder and CEO of Metric and Pinsight, joins us to discuss how his company is building open source LLMs that are able to conduct analytics and extract insights from documents. Pinsight’s product, Anania, allows users to speak directly with their data – asking questions such as how much revenue the company generated last month, or when was the last time a certain customer placed an order. Hrant also shared with us the journey of finding a product that can gain market traction...
Published 04/16/24
Lilit Margaryan, the operations manager of Gituzh, joins us to discuss what the initiative has managed to achieve over the last three years. We also dive into the concept of national research and innovation systems, and discuss the prioritization of strategic scientific directions. Lastly, Lilit shares with us their upcoming initiative called Science Week, a week-long series of events that aims to promote science in Armenia.
Published 04/02/24
Vahe Nigoghosian, the founder of EngineerX, joins us to discuss their efforts in building a mechanical engineering ecosystem in Armenia. Vahe shared their recent achievement of becoming an official partner of engineering software provider SolidWorks in Armenia, and the importance of building up a talent pool with expertise in using the system. We also spoke about Vahe’s experience doing business in Armenia, and what it would take to attract a Fortune 500 engineering firm to open an office in...
Published 03/19/24
Martin Mirakyan, founder and CEO of Profound Academy, joins us to discuss how their educational platform helps institutions deliver personalized computer science education for their students. Martin explains how Profound Academy utilizes an interactive approach to education, including their use of AI to provide personalized help to students when they’re struggling to understand difficult concepts or complete challenging assignments.
Published 02/27/24
Karine Martirosyan, the founder and CEO of Wearify, joins us to discuss her start-up’s vision for helping online consumers try on clothes virtually before buying them. Karine shares how Wearify builds 3D avatars of their users so that they can see how clothes look on them while shopping online, just as they would in a real store. We also spoke about the role that 3D avatars will take on in the coming years as digital environments become increasingly used for a variety of use cases. Lastly,...
Published 02/13/24
Mikayel Khachatryan, the cofounder and CEO of Wirestock joins us to discuss their company’s increased focus on generative AI for stock content. Mikayel shared the trends he has seen in generated images becoming more common in stock marketplaces, and the products Wirestock is building to enable creators to make money in the age of generative AI. Lastly, he spoke about the capabilities of image and video generation models, and what he expects to see in the coming years.
Published 01/30/24
Tigran Nazaryan, co-founder of 10Web, joins us to discuss how their platform allows users to build websites using AI. Tigran shared with us the founding story of the company, and how their product’s popularity has grown over the last few years. Lastly, Tigran spoke about how AI-built websites will evolve as the capabilities of large AI models continue to develop.
Published 01/16/24
Samson Avetian, the founder and CEO of Eqwefy, joins us to speak about how the platform they’re building is helping enable non-traditional investors to invest in Armenian start-ups. Samson also shared his thoughts on the importance of educating society on personal finance, and encouraging more investing throughout society.
Published 01/09/24
Sona Veziryan, Director of the Business Angel Network of Armenia (BANA), joins us to provide a review of the progress and developments in Armenia’s tech ecosystem throughout 2023. Sona offered insights into the variety of companies she encounters as an investor, and the kinds of companies she aspires to see more of in Armenia in the future. She also shared with us her thoughts on the state of the investment landscape both in Armenia, as well as globally, and what she expects in 2024. Lastly,...
Published 12/19/23
Arman Atoyan, founder and CEO of ARLOOPA, joins us to discuss all things augmented and virtual reality. We discussed how his company enables anyone to build augmented reality (AR) experiences and content using the ARLOOPA platform. Arman also shared with us the history of AR, how it’s developed over the last decade, and what capabilities can be expected in upcoming releases from the major players in AR.
Published 12/12/23
Adam Bittlingmayer, co-founder and CEO of ModelFront, discusses how machine translation has evolved and improved over the last 15 years. Adam explained how his company aids human translators by identifying sections of machine-translated text in need of human review, enabling them to concentrate on specific areas rather than the whole text. Finally, we delved into the ongoing debates within the AI community regarding the acceleration versus deceleration of AI development, and explored Adam’s...
Published 12/05/23
Anna Shahinyan, co-founder and CEO of Fivebrane, leads a platform designed to streamline the development of AI models in healthcare. Fivebrane provides tools that enable data scientists and healthcare professionals to collaborate while working with the data critical to developing their models. It also provides analytical tools to evaluate the quality of their data. Anna shared with us how AI is used in medical imaging and healthcare today, and the potential it has to help doctors drive better...
Published 11/28/23
Christian Posse, the Vice President of Data and AI at ServiceTitan, joins us to discuss his long career in the world of data science, and how data practices inform decisions and influence product development at the world’s largest companies. We also spoke about how start-ups should best utilize the generative AI technologies that have been released over the last few years, and how ServiceTitan has been building them into their products.
Published 11/21/23
Mushegh Gevorgyan, the co-founder and CEO of Dowork.ai and Rumors Monitoring, discusses his entrepreneurial journey and the work he and his teams are doing at his two companies. Mushegh began by sharing his path with Rumors Monitoring, a platform that provides insights into how companies are perceived across the media sphere and his most recent venture, Dowork.ai, an AI agent for customer service applications. Mushegh also spoke about pivoting ideas and building defensible businesses on top...
Published 11/07/23
Gevorg Poghosyan, the founder and CEO of reArmenia, joins us to discuss how their platform has facilitated collaboration between Armenians globally over the last two years. Through reArmenia, projects can raise funds or find collaborators who can serve as advisors for projects. Gevorg spoke about reArmenia’s curated “Expert Community'', a group of professionals worldwide who are matched with projects on reArmenia that they can contribute their expertise to. Lastly, Gevorg shared what he has...
Published 10/24/23
Adrine Naslyan, the General Manager of QaylTech, joins us to discuss how her company enables remote rehabilitation using virtual reality. QaylTech’s devices, such as MetaGait, allow people with disabilities to imitate gait (a person’s manner of walking) while being immersed in a virtual environment using VR headsets. Adrine shared how QaylTech’s idea emerged after the April 2016 war, and how their products have helped wounded soldiers, and other people with disabilities in continuing their...
Published 10/17/23
Irina Ghazaryan, Co-founder and CEO of Doctor Yan, joined us to talk about how her startup simplifies the process of scheduling and managing appointments for doctors and patients in Armenia. Ghazaryan also spoke about Doctor Yan's additional initiatives, such as educating the public about specific treatment protocols and offering guidance on the recommended frequency of medical check-ups. Lastly, we discussed creating venture-backed startups for the Armenian market, and the potential for...
Published 10/10/23
Sargis Karapetyan, the interim CEO of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE), joins us to discuss the tech community’s role in building a prosperous and secure future for Armenia. Karapetyan explained his vision for UATE and the role it needs to play in talent building, fostering connections in the industry and advocating for a regulatory framework under which companies in Armenia can solve hard tech problems. We also spoke about Digitec 2023’s reboot, and its emphasis on...
Published 10/06/23
Avetik Grigoryan, the CEO and Co-Founder of Bazoomq Space Research Laboratory, and Masis Kumrigyan, the Technical Director of Space Programs at the Center for Scientific Innovation and Education (CSIE), join us to discuss the upcoming launch of Hayasat-1. Developed in a partnership between Bazoomq and CSIE, Hayasat-1 is a CubeSat. Grigoryan and Kumrigyan explain what CubeSats are, their uses, and the current trends in satellite technologies. We also talk about the development process of...
Published 09/12/23
Mariam Torosyan, the CEO and founder of Safe YOU, joined us to discuss her platform's mission to empower women by providing tools to report cases of sexual and domestic violence, seek help, and to create a virtual safe space for women. We delved into the progress Safe YOU has made since its inception three years ago, including the thoughtful consideration of various cultural factors that guide their implementation strategies. Lastly, Mariam shared her insights on the current state of women in...
Published 09/05/23
In this episode, Narek Aslikyan, co-founder and CEO of Armenian Code Academy, provides insight into the Armenian tech industry's talent infrastructure. He explains how the Academy prepares individuals for employment in both technical and non-technical roles. We also discussed what is required to create employment opportunities outside Yerevan, and the strategies to encourage various stakeholders to expand into different regions of Armenia.
Published 08/15/23
Gevorg Karapetyan, the co-founder and CTO of Zero, joins us to discuss the development of generative AI solutions for augmenting knowledge workers. We explore the company’s platform, Hercules, which delivers generative AI solutions for enterprise customers and the productivity benefits it brings. Gevorg also shared his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in building sustainable and defensible businesses in the era of foundational AI models, as well as the future of co-pilots for...
Published 08/08/23
In this episode, Davit Baghdasaryan, the co-founder and CEO of Krisp, discusses how his start-up has grown to be a leader in the voice productivity AI space. He shares his thoughts on AI product development in the age of large AI models, and what the newest developments are in the field of voice AI. Davit also talked about his journey of founding BigStory VC, an early-stage venture capital fund in Yerevan and Bazoomq, a non-profit space research lab where Davit is an advisor.
Published 08/01/23