Microsoft's AI push includes funding a college student's innovative startup

Imagine you're a college student working on something exciting and Microsoft comes up with a big fat check to help you get it all off the ground. That's exactly what happened to Abdul Rahman Majid, a UK-based college student building an AI project known as Kallabot.

As reported by local press, Telegraph and Argus, Majid applied for Microsoft funding dedicated to AI projects, and was successful. This allowed Majid to get the company off the ground with the necessary digital infrastructure to power the project.

But what is Kallabot? The short version is that it's an AI-powered call center solution, which to many may not sound exciting, or even the exact opposite. But the story of how it came about is interesting, and actually details how AI has been deployed to create a solution to a first-hand problem. Upon moving to Bradford, UK, Majid found it hard to communicate with the local utility companies to discuss bill payments.

We've all been there, but the problem is especially difficult when connecting to a call center where language is a barrier. That's where Kallabot can really make a difference.

From Kallabot's website, the product is described as:

"Ditch those clunky IVR systems! Kallabot's AI agents handle calls like pros, from sales and support to appointment setting. And yeah, they speak over 36+ languages at the same time!"

The language support alone is a big deal, and one of the areas that AI can be useful for everyone. It shouldn't be a barrier, but let's face it, learning languages is hard and time-consuming, so why not deploy AI in this scenario to remove those barriers?

The project is clearly in the early stages, and details on what powers it seems to be limited. However, the website does reference OpenAI, so we can assume, at least, that Microsoft's largest AI investment is at least in some way responsible for the background tech making Kallabot possible.

What Kallabot also shows is that it's a brave new world out there and while AI could be replacing humans, in this case, call center operatives, it also presents a new frontier for software development.