Armada sees a future beyond R&D in India

In the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley startups, few companies have cornered as much attention in such a short time as Armada AI. Founded in late 2022 by former DataRobot CEO Dan Wright and General Counsel at Okta, Jonathan Runyan, the startup quickly became a darling of high-profile investors.

The startup describes itself as the provider of a full-stack solution that is deployable across on-premise and cloud infrastructure to deliver state-of-the-art edge computing, connectivity, and AI capabilities to the world’s most remote areas.

Armada emerged out of the blue in December 2023 when it announced a 55 million US dollar funding, led by the prestigious Founders Fund. This venture capital firm, co-founded by PayPal and Palantir Technologies creator Peter Thiel, is known for backing game-changing startups like Facebook and SpaceX.

The involvement of Founders Fund, coupled with a subsequent 40 million US dollar investment led by Microsoft's venture fund M12, has defined Armada as a force to be reckoned with.

At the heart of Armada’s appeal is its revolutionary approach to bringing advanced data processing capabilities to the world’s most remote and challenging environments. The company's flagship product, the Galleon, is a mobile data centre that leverages SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to provide high-speed connectivity, high-end compute, and cutting-edge AI applications to places where traditional infrastructure is non-existent or unreliable.

As a report by SpaceNews says, these products aim to give oil rigs, battlefields, and other off-the-grid sites real-time data processing capabilities, including access to the latest generative artificial intelligence technologies based on LLMs (Large Language Models are the technology behind models like the highly popular ChatGPT) and computer vision.

Global Footprint

This innovative approach has already attracted the attention of major players in industries that operate in challenging environments. Energy giant Halliburton, for instance, has partnered with Armada to explore ways of enhancing its operations.

As Armada’s global footprint expands, the company has set its sights on India as a key location for research and development. With Trivandrum-native and Microsoft veteran Pradeep Nair heading the company’s technology functions as Founding Chief Technology Officer, Kerala has become a natural fit for the company’s plan.

With that in mind, Armada roped in Sarath Chandran to lead its India R&D function. Chandran was on a career break in Trivandrum after working with firms like Infosys, EY, Maersk, and IndiGo, a career that took him across the globe, from New Zealand to the US.

So when Armada recently announced the establishment of an R&D centre in Trivandrum’s Technopark, it generated a lot of excitement in the Kerala tech community.

Sarath Chandran says Armada sees tremendous potential in the country, and its choice of Technopark was natural.

“We found Trivandrum Technopark ideal for us with its world-class green environment, comprehensive support services, significant cost advantages, and access to exceptional talent. The industries department and Minister Rajeev also extended all the help for us to make it a reality.”

Search for Skills

However, building a world-class R&D team in India comes with its own set of challenges, he says. “We’re looking for specific skills that are not abundant in India. When we say we need an AI engineering lead, we’re getting queries from data science experts. But what we need are core AI people who have built LLM and computer vision models from the ground up, which is a different skill set. So, there's a lot of sifting to do to find the right fit for us.”

Expectations about the emoluments (“asking for a 50 percent rise on the basis of six months’ experience”) and the company’s strict work-from-office approach are also factors that have forced Sarath Chandran to take a cautious approach.

Despite these hurdles, he remains optimistic about the potential of the Indian operation. “What we’re offering is a rare opportunity to work with a world-class team in Silicon Valley that is working with the latest, greatest cutting-edge technology. That's not easy to come by in India,” he says.

Armada’s ambitions in India extend beyond just R&D. The company sees the country as a significant market for its services, particularly in areas where traditional connectivity solutions fall short.

“For a vast country like India, there are many areas where connectivity is problematic,” Sarath Chandran says. “What Armada is looking at is solving that handicap by allowing clients to optimise their available resources to get the advantage of cutting-edge technology.”

Potential Uses

The company’s solutions have potential applications across a wide range of sectors in India, from enhancing rural education and healthcare to monitoring mines and offshore oil platforms. Armada also envisions its technology being used to quickly restore communication links in disaster zones, enabling more effective search, rescue, and relief operations.

“Take the example of the recent landslide that happened in Wayanad. In such instances, we could set up a station to bring immediate connectivity and provide computing power to set up a war room-like operation within hours of such disasters,” says Sarath Chandran.

Armada has developed portable communication and data-crunching machines that can be airlifted to a disaster zone.

But two things loom large over such ambitions of Armada: the cost and the non-availability of the Starlink network in India.

While India’s reputation as a cost-sensitive market could pose challenges for a high-tech company like Armada, Sarath Chandran sees it differently.

“If you look at different sectors like defence or mining, India’s spending is on par with other countries. Even in areas like rural education and health, India spends large amounts of money to upgrade facilities. It may not be cost-driven always as the aim is the upliftment of society. It’s a value-driven process.”

“It is not to say our connectivity will be cheaper than 5G and fibre connections. But Armada will help you manage satellite connectivity in a cost-efficient manner.”

Chinese Shadow

While Armada has built its products on top of Starlink coverage, it has tie-ups with other satellite internet providers like UK-based OneWeb, which already has a presence in the Indian market.

But Starlink has the most satellites in low orbit and provides the best coverage among the companies in this field. With China also building its own satellite constellation, countries like India will be forced to counter such technologies with the help of firms like Starlink.

Another area where Armada can play a vital role is in environmental monitoring and assessing climate change impact. It has already undertaken surveillance of the Alaskan mountain range using drones. The data obtained from the drones is analysed at regular intervals, and it alerts about avalanche possibilities from that real-time data.

Such data collection and real-time analysis can be used in remote areas like oil rig operations and mines. If a worker enters a danger zone or unauthorised area, the system can give an immediate alert. Even adventure sports, where action takes place in terrains that are difficult to provide blanket coverage, can use their tools.

As Armada foresees a growing presence in India, the company is keenly aware of the need to develop the local talent ecosystem. “One company can’t do it alone,” says Sarath Chandran. “A cluster of companies coming into India will provide the needed thrust to make it happen.”

As the company establishes its foothold in India, both as an R&D hub and a potential market, it is pursuing its motto to bridge the digital divide – even in the remotest corners of India.

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Waiting 21 hours in the queue to buy something is the kind of frenzy that Apple evokes when they launch a new iPhone. According to the Hindustan Times, this is what happened in Mumbai last week. But Apple has not seen such a response in its largest market, which is China. In fact, a report by research firm Counterpoint indicates that Apple will see a fall in Chinese demand soon. User response to the iPhone 16 has also been lukewarm, as the model's new camera button and AI capability failed to impress many people. Some are even wondering if a new model was necessary for such minor tweaks.

What makes it even worse for Apple is the comparative response that Huawei received in China with its foldable triple-screen model, the Mate XT. Over 6.5 million people signed up for the phone within hours despite its hefty price tag, with the top-end model costing 19,999 yuan (2.36 lakh rupees), double the price of the iPhone 16. The clamour for the tri-fold phone has skyrocketed, leading to resellers of the phone now asking 70,000 yuan for the 256-gigabyte model of the Mate XT, reports the South China Morning Post. Even more bad news for Apple is that more Chinese phone makers like Xiaomi and Honor are now planning tri-fold smartphones.

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Prediction by polling AI bots

Election surveys are controversial, as India witnessed during the parliament poll earlier this year. Allegations of deliberate manipulation and unscientific models have plagued the sector globally. But two 19-year-old college dropouts in Manhattan, Cam Finkand Ned Koh, conducted a poll that accurately predicted the results in a recent Democratic primary, reports Semafor. They say the problem with polls is not the model or method but the people who lie about their choices. So the duo did a survey without interviewing a single person. Instead they used census data to replicate voter districts, creating AI agents essentially programmed to think like the voters they are copying. Their costs were less than 10 percent of a normal survey, and predicted the winner accurately. Now they are working on a model to predict everything, from a local election to the oil market and global trade.

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