Young group aims to disrupt job scenario

After obtaining a degree in electrical engineering from Barton Hill Engineering College in 2011, Arun Krishnan secured a position with the American data analytics firm MuSigma, where he discovered the magic of data analysis. After a few years, a desire to join the millions attempting the Indian Civil Service Exams gripped him, prompting him to leave his job.

However, the confident young engineer was in for a shock when the results were announced. “I had followed all the guidelines provided by my coaching center, but it still wasn't good enough. That perplexed me.” Naturally, he turned to data analysis to figure out what had happened, leading to some startling revelations.

He realized that millions are caught in the loop of writing competitive exams year after year, sacrificing some of the most productive years of their lives in pursuit of a government job. This phenomenon is not limited to specific educational backgrounds; it affects a broad spectrum of individuals in Kerala, ranging from professionally qualified B Tech graduates competing for prestigious civil service ranks to those with only school-level education aspiring to secure lower-grade jobs.

Around that time, he forged a friendship with Kiran S Babu, an engineer who had graduated from CUSAT, Thrikkakara campus, and had established a platform to teach engineering students and others seeking job-oriented skills. Kiran was well aware of the challenging circumstances faced by job-seeking youths, having witnessed one of his childhood friends succumb to the pressure and take his own life.

“I never attempted competitive exams myself, but I observed exceptionally bright minds repeatedly failing to clear these exams. That indicated something was amiss,” says Kiran, who was employed at UST in Trivandrum when he and Arun crossed paths.

“The situation turned even bleaker when I discovered that the second tier of job aspirants were pursuing their dreams at a significant cost. Some of them invested a fortune they could hardly afford. Many traveled long distances to study at reputable academies, resided in hostels, and dedicated months to preparation. However, only a microscopic minority achieved success. The majority remained trapped in the cycle for six or seven years.”

Arun joined Kiran as a co-founder, and together with their friends Nithin Kunneparambil, Nithun Chandran, and Rohan Ali Khan, they formed the core team. Soon, their company, named KAS Mentor, began taking shape in Trivandrum as an academy to assist young job seekers. However, Nithin left the team after successfully clearing his IFS exam.

Another college mate of Kiran, Hashir Abdullah, resigned from his well-paying job in Qatar to become a co-founder in 2023, contributing to the development of a software system based on their data analysis and other inputs. Their objective was to establish a scientific approach to aid young job seekers.

Government jobs are among the most coveted positions in Kerala, and even for lower-level posts, 22 lakh aspirants appear for tests in the state.

Thousands of B Tech graduates spend years attempting to navigate civil service exams. After several unsuccessful tries, desperation drives them to shift their focus and take tests for lower-grade jobs. Unfortunately, this often results in psychological scars that manifest as problems later on.

The KAS Mentor team soon realised that, despite a crowded market catering to millions of hopefuls, there was very little effort to leverage sophisticated tools like data analytics and devise an optimal solution. Even some renowned organisations with an array of star tutors were merely selling dreams to aspirants rather than enhancing their chances.

The KAS team began gathering and analysing data, dedicating hours to explore different methods. All their expenses were bootstrapped, with support from their families and some friends.

"It was tough work, and whatever we earned from our full-time jobs was invested in this venture. Our family members understood our mission and fully supported us. I will always be thankful for the unflinching support my wife gave during some of the toughest times we went through," says Kiran.

He even enrolled in several institutes as a student to gain real-time experience of how they approached each aspect of education.

“We didn’t have a mentor nor a business plan. All we had was determination.” The co-founders say they could see the damage this was doing to some of the best minds among their friends.

“We used data analytics and technology for this; we assessed the candidates' capabilities in each subject. Through extensive research and analysis, collecting question models from across India, we examined how top winners approached their exams to extract the DNA of their success,” says Arun.

The team states that they analysed various exam models with the help of technology to develop a platform for finding the right product mix for each aspirant. This enabled them to guide each candidate, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, determining the most suitable tests for them, and presenting a time-specific plans.

“It is like training a top athlete, which comprises several components like physical and mental training, rest, and diet. Those appearing for tough competitive exams also need to be honed in that way. We devised a scientific model by analyzing their inputs with daily tests, mock exams, and interactions,” says Arun.

The approach was not limited to students alone. After creating modules for each subject at different levels, the KAS Mentor team ensured that the tutors they hired were well-informed. Each tutor was briefed about the specifics of each module and made aware of the importance of imparting knowledge about specific aspects. They were also instructed on maintaining optimum levels to avoid overloading students.

Once they developed a satisfactory prototype, the KAS team attempted to shake up the system in 2020 by initiating training for candidates preparing for the first Kerala Administrative Service exams, styled similarly to the all-India IAS exams. They actively reached out to groups of aspirants, offering them free familiarisation classes.

That worked well, and soon a fair number of candidates signed up for the course. The results of their new approach surprised even the founders, as 73 out of 105 students from KAS Mentor were among the top rankers.

“We initially thought only a few of our students would succeed, but we were astounded when the results were published. That was a great boost for us and gave us confidence in our model,” the duo says, speaking from their cramped office room surrounded by files and cabinets.

This newfound confidence made them bolder, and soon they started training students to prepare for other competitive exams like the Common University Entrance Test and other PSC exams. The KAS team says this meant employing more researchers to obtain data for each module.

Over the next few tests, hundreds of candidates joined their coaching classes, and the success rate they achieved attracted even more students to join KAS Mentor. Currently, the institute coaches over 3,000 aspirants for different jobs.

By the end of 2023, the number of people employed by this institution had risen to 85, with 36 of them engaged in research in offices scattered around the Kowdiar area of Trivandrum. The cofounders mention that their revenue last year had touched 6 crore rupees.

However, unlike many well-known edtech startups or academic institutions, this group stayed away from glitzy ad campaigns to attract students.

“The success of our KAS students, many of whom publicly acknowledged it, gave us a lot of visibility. Moreover, almost every student we had ensured that their friends also came to us. That is how our growth came about,” says Kiran.

The cofounders state that they never spent a lot of time developing a business model. “It was the joy of the students and the way some of them expressed their gratitude that touched us and kept us going.” 

The KAS Mentor team suggests that the model they have developed is a plug-and-play system that can be used by anyone, whether it's an institute, university, or company looking to train or assess the capability of their staff.

They have developed a complete package for this, including a mobile app. "When we presented the model at the Tech in Asia conference in Jakarta last year, some of the investors expressed their willingness to back us straightaway," say the cofounders.

“We have always shied away from running after funding as we wanted to fine-tune the formula into a perfect platform that can work seamlessly across subjects and countries.”

The cofounders feel that with the rapid advances made by AI and computing power, their model could scale up into a much larger one that can provide individualised coaching.

"But our primary focus remains on salvaging the situation in Kerala first," they say.

Get ready for the GPT store 

Predictions of artificial intelligence disrupting more sectors could well become true, as OpenAI has indicated that it will launch GPT stores this week. This means those who created new AI models using ChatGPT can share and profit from their creations through GPT stores. Some experts say this will be as impactful as the app store moment when Apple introduced it in 2008. Just consider how many apps you have on your phone and how essential they have become in just over 15 years.

Meanwhile, a report on The Verge says Google is working to release a powerful version of its AI model, Bard, to subscribers. According to PC Magazine, it will have features that allow the use of AI to improve prompts, a bot creation tool, and the ability to create background and foreground images.

Put on your thinking cap

A team of researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has developed a portable, non-invasive device capable of translating thoughts into text. The device records electrical brain activity through an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap. The primary goal is to assist individuals who have lost their ability to speak due to injury or illness. Additionally, it holds promise for the development of a method to control robotic limbs. Notably, researchers at Cornell University in the US have also made strides in this field, unveiling DeWave, an AI system that decodes brain signals to convert silent thoughts into text without the need for invasive implants or expensive MRI machines.

App to help detect TB from cough sound

Researchers based in the US and Kenya have developed an app designed to distinguish tuberculosis from other diseases based on the sound of a patient’s cough, reports MIT Review. Although it failed to detect TB in about 30% of cases, the app offers a simpler and more cost-effective alternative to traditional diagnostic methods, such as collecting phlegm and testing it. The concept of using sound to diagnose tuberculosis has been around for decades, but the past five years have witnessed a significant surge in interest, thanks to the rise of AI.

What happens in Las Vegas…

All eyes now turn to Las Vegas as the CES 2024  opens its doors today. It is a massive, four-day-long bustling bazaar of tech, with expo halls filled to the brim with new gadgets, hopeful startups, and prototypes that reach for the stars, as the Wired magazine describes it. This year, many of the products debuting are going to be garnished with heaping globs of AI, says the magazine.