EkStep Foundation

Building for Billions

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

The 17th of Feb, 2026 will always be remembered as a landmark day for farmers across India. ‘BharatVISTAAR’ enables farmers to access necessary agri-advisory services with a single call via their smartphones and feature phones in multiple languages.
It is a proud day for the community that has been shaping the vision of BharatVISTAAR and it is deeply rewarding for @EkStep_Org and @COSSforImpact to be part of this initiative.

[Agriculture INDIA @AgriGoI]

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare appreciates the diverse community shaping Bharat Vistaar — research institutions; weather & soil science bodies; pioneering agriculture & livestock departments; agri-tech startups; market players; philanthropies & technology partners. We acknowledge EkStep Foundation, COSS, Gates Foundation, PXD, IIT Ropar, Openagrinet & Sarvam. This marks the beginning of a great national journey for our farmers.

@Openagrinet

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

Education for Social Empowerment: Building Resilient, Inclusive Learning Systems

Please join us for an essential conversation on reimagining education through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and AI-enabled adaptive learning in Room 15, Bharat Mandapam, at the AI IMPACT SUMMIT, 2026.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Time: 1:30 PM - 2:25 PM IST

In this session leaders across government, international development, AI innovation, and philanthropy will explore how technology can make education more inclusive, resilient, and responsive to rapid change.

Please register: https://t.co/S2j2ydtDy4

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

When AI becomes part of how children are raised, whose values are being built into those systems? And who gets to stay in that conversation as it unfolds?

@BachpanManao is holding space for this discussion at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi on February 18. If you're thinking about childhood, technology, and what must stay human, join the conversation.

Register for the panel: https://t.co/o9z6b5ck8w

Please note: If you’re registering for the panel, you must also register for the AI Summit: https://t.co/UXMOgUhTzA

.

[Artificial Intelligence, AI, Early Childhood Development, India AI Summit, Delhi, AI Ethics, Play-Based Learning, Responsible AI, AI Builders, Policy Makers, AI Governance, Social Impact, Education Technology, EdTech]

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

🎙️ You’re Invited | The Voice Era Begins
Join us for the launch of VoicERA — an open-source, end-to-end Voice AI stack built for inclusive and scalable voice solutions.

📅 18 February 2026 | 🕒 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM

📍 People+Possibilities Pavilion, Hall 3, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
🔹 Unveiling of the VoicERA Voice AI stack
🔹 Deployed on @_BHASHINI – National Infrastructure

🔹 On-Prem & Cloud-ready architecture
Honoured to have Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO – Digital India @_BHASHINI Division, as Chief Guest for the launch.
Sign up here: https://t.co/OCS6J4OSDi

.

#VoicERA #VoiceAI #AIImpactSummit #BHASHINI #OpenSourceAI #EkStep #DigitalPublicInfrastructure

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

Education for Social Empowerment: Building Resilient, Inclusive Learning Systems

Please join us for an essential conversation on reimagining education through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and AI-enabled adaptive learning in Room 15, Bharat Mandapam, at the AI IMPACT SUMMIT,2026

Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Time: 1:30 PM - 2:25 PM IST

In this session leaders across government, international development, AI innovation, and philanthropy will explore how technology can make education more inclusive, resilient, and responsive to rapid change.

Please register: https://t.co/S2j2ydtDy4

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

🔴 LIVE NOW | Voice AI – Making the Best Work for India

We’re live with a first-of-its-kind showcase of India’s most impactful Voice AI deployments - systems already operating at population scale, solving real problems across sectors.

🎙️ Happening Now — Fireside Chat

India Needs AI. AI Needs India.
What a Voice-First Nation Can Teach the World About Deploying AI at Scale.

Nandan Nilekani in conversation with Vishal Dhupar, moderated by Pankaj Mishra

What you’ll see live:
🚀 Production-grade Voice AI demos
🌾 11 Curated Use cases showcase across agriculture, citizen services, judiciary & enterprises
💬 A panel with builders shaping India’s AI ecosystem
If you couldn’t join us in person, you can still be part of the conversation 👇

🔗 Watch live: https://t.co/5Cw1JVlAbG

Grateful for the incredible response from the ecosystem - and excited to showcase how India is not just adopting AI, but showing the world how to build it right.

#VoiceAI #AIForIndia #EkStep #LiveNow #IndiaAI #ConversationalAI #DigitalPublicInfrastructure
#VoiceAIMakingTheBestWorkForIndia

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

In the Carnegie India article https://t.co/gGjHwIHwsm Shalini Kapoor (@shalinikap), Chief Strategist, Data & AI, @EkStep_Org and Tanvi Lall, Director, Strategy, @PeoplePlusAI discuss how AI isn’t just a technology problem—but a systems design challenge.

The value of AI is revealed only when people actually use it—and that means moving from pilots to widespread, everyday adoption. Connecting real-world AI use cases across health, education, agriculture, and livelihoods can help policymakers, innovators, and institutions align around a common goal: making AI work at population scale.

This piece offers a thoughtful framework for moving from invention to impact, ensuring that AI works for everyone.

📖 Read the article by Shalini Kapoor and Tanvi Lall:
👉 https://t.co/5HCqk0cTEO

.

#AIAdoption #ResponsibleAI #SystemsThinking #PublicGoodInfrastructure #AIForGood #PopulationScale

@EkStep_Org | @CarnegieIndia

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

“AI has the potential to be a great leveler. When AI speaks in every Indian language, it brings the power of technology to all citizens, not just the digitally fluent.” - Nandan Nilekani

A voice answers a call. Across India, Voice AI is now getting embedded in everyday workflows—handling conversations at scale, reaching large populations, supporting decisions, and enabling access in Indian languages. This shift is already underway.

At the ‘Voice AI – Making the Best Work for India’ event, experience how Voice AI is actually being deployed across contexts and at scale. The event which will be hosted on the 28th of January, 2026 in Bangalore, will commence with a ‘Fireside Chat’ between Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Chairperson, EkStep Foundation and Vishal Dhupar, MD, NVIDIA, South Asia. This will be followed by teams across sectors and businesses who will take the stage to demonstrate how their Voice AI works in production, share what it took to build it, and let others interact with it live.

If you’ve deployed a Voice AI solution at scale that:

🔹 Runs customer support and outbound engagement
🔹 Reaches large populations for surveys and feedback
🔹 Qualifies leads and supports business growth
🔹 Powers citizen services & advisory
🔹 Enables learning and assessment

This is the stage your work deserves to be at. Be a part of a national demo-first showcase of India’s best production-grade Voice AI deployments—not concepts or pilots, but systems running in the real world.

Apply now: https://t.co/4Fo6McZ2p7

.

#VoiceAIMakingTheBestWorkForIndia #VoiceAI #IndicAI #NVIDIA #EkStep #AIInProduction #AppliedAI #DemoDay

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

If your Voice AI is in production, then this is the stage for it.

We’re excited to announce Voice AI – Making the Best Work for India — a curated, demo-first showcase of India’s best production-grade Voice AI deployments.

📍 Bengaluru
🗓️ 28th January 2026 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
⏳ Application Deadline: 18th January, 2026
🚀 An initiative by EkStep Foundation (Technology partner NVIDIA)

This event is designed to visibly celebrate real Voice AI work—not slides, not concepts, but systems running in production.

Who can apply?

We’re seeking applications from:

- Startups building Voice AI products, platforms, or infrastructure
- Corporates & Big Tech teams deploying Voice AI in real-world workflows
- Social sector & government teams using Voice AI for scale and inclusion

Who will be in the room?
- Voice AI builders and product leaders
- Enterprises adopting AI at scale
- VCs and investors tracking applied AI
- Researchers, policy makers, and AI enthusiasts shaping India’s AI future

What will happen at the event?
- A large conference-stage showcase format
- Each selected team gets 10–15 minutes on stage to demo their live Voice AI system, real use cases and scalable learnings.
- Interactive demo booths where attendees can directly talk to deployed voice bots
- High-quality, in-person networking with a deeply curated audience

This is not a pitch competition. It’s a national platform to showcase the real Voice AI work which is happening in India—across startups, enterprises, Big Tech, government, and the social sector.

🔗 Apply now to showcase your work: https://t.co/tRdRkRBSSW

.

#VoiceAIMakingTheBestWorkForIndia #VoiceAI #IndicAI #NVIDIA #EkStep #AIInProduction #AppliedAI #DemoDa

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

‘Listen at Scale’ — Announcing the Next Shortlisted Use Cases

The EkStep Foundation, @ai4bharat , and @SarvamAI have come together to launch Listen at Scale — a program supporting high-impact Voice AI solutions for social, government, and non-profit use cases.

Under this initiative, 20 selected use cases will receive 5 lakh (500,000) Voice AI minutes each to build and deploy vernacular, voice-based solutions at population scale.

We’re excited to share the next set of shortlisted use cases:

🔹 Bharat Intelligence is a social enterprise working in the agritech domain. They have built a voice bot to help farmers discover labour availability in their local areas. Through ‘Listen at Scale’, they will scale this pilot beyond Nashik, Maharashtra.

🔹 @Civis_Vote is an NGO enabling governments to engage citizens on draft laws and policies before decisions are finalised, with active work in Maharashtra and Telangana. Through ‘Listen at Scale’, Civis is scaling Voice AI-enabled public consultations, allowing citizens to learn about policies and share feedback in their own language, with responses structured and mapped to policy clauses for government teams.

Why this matters:

In agriculture, workers and farmers face coordination and information gaps. In governance, public consultations are growing, yet many citizens remain excluded due to language and time barriers. Voice AI helps lower these barriers for discovery, access, and participation.

Your turn is next.

If you’re building a high-impact Voice AI solution that can scale to millions while solving a critical discovery or access gap, apply by January 10th to become the next ‘Listen at Scale’ opportunity winner.

🔗 Apply here: https://t.co/vhnMGwzYhl

.

#ListenAtScale #VoiceAI #AIforIndia #SocialImpact #DigitalPublicGoods #EkStep #AI4Bharat #Sarvam

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

The ‘Listen at Scale’ program co-created by @EkStep_Org , @ai4bharat, and @SarvamAI supports high-impact Voice AI solutions for social, government, and non-profit organisations. 20 shortlisted use cases, who intend to build and deploy vernacular, voice-based solutions at population scale will receive 5 lakh (500,000) Voice AI minutes each, from this program!

Introducing the first shortlisted ‘Use Case’ of ‘Listen at Scale’! @ONEST_Network!

@ONEST_Network is redefining how jobs and welfare become discoverable! It is using vernacular Voice AI to create ‘Blue Dots’ at population scale. @ONEST_Network is the anchor initiative under which this discovery layer is being built, so that every youth, worker, MSME, beneficiary and local service provider can show up as a “Blue Dot” on a map and be reached in time.

In this use case, ‘Voice AI’ calls, job seekers and MSME employers to capture their job profiles, converting them into ‘Blue Dots’ so that local jobs and local talent can find each other in districts across Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Why does this matter? Across India, people and opportunities exist—they just don't discover each other in time. Voice AI changes that.

@ONEST_Network's "Blue Dots" Initiative:

📍 Job seekers & MSMEs create "Blue Dots" of opportunity

🎯 ‘Vernacular voice calls’ capture intent, location, availability

🚀 Live in 2 states | Scaling to Maharashtra, Jharkhand and other states
And you’re next! If you're building a high-impact Voice AI solution that can scale to millions while solving a critical discovery or access gap, submit your application by January 10th and become the next ‘Listen at Scale’ opportunity winner.

→ Apply now https://t.co/vhnMGwzYhl

.

@Shankar4EkStep @jagadishbabu @dmogilishetty

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

This is an ‘Open Call’ for High-Impact ‘Voice AI’ Use Case Submissions!
‘Listen at Scale’, is a joint initiative by @EkStep_Org, @ai4bharat, and @SarvamAI.

We are looking for organisations (including startups) who are adopting ‘Voice AI Solutions’ to address societal challenges across sectors like learning, livelihoods, health, agriculture, benefits, services delivery, water, transport and more!

20 use cases will be selected to receive “5 lakh (500,000) Voice AI minutes”* each, to help build and deploy their Voice AI-based solutions. Applicants can deploy their solutions using the @SarvamAI platform.

Excited to participate? Have questions? Click here to know the details and APPLY*: https://t.co/vhnMGwzYhl

*Terms and Conditions Apply

.

@Shankar4EkStep @jagadishbabu @santoshkev @MiteshKhapra @dmogilishetty

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

EkStep will be co-hosting ‘charcha 2025’, India’s largest collaborative convening. In our session “Jobs Next Door: Unlocking India’s Local Economy,” we will be joined by,

Ms. Vandana Gurnani, Secretary, @Ministry of Labour & Employment
Mr. Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, @CaretCapital
Mr. Madan Padaki, Founder & CEO, @1Bridge_one
Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Chief Growth Officer, @EkStep_Org
Ms. Shriya Sethi, Operating Partner, The Convergence Foundation
Mr. Manu Chopra, Co-Founder and CEO, Karya

This session will explore how local job ecosystems as ‘Blue Dots’, can transform the way we think about India’s employment landscape by connecting previously invisible local talent to local opportunities. Powered by AI-driven profiles, job maps, digital credentials, and community-led platforms, this shift could redefine how India works and grows.

So, join us on the 13th of November from 3-4 PM at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi to explore India’s “UPI for Jobs”.

🎟️ https://t.co/P77YUeiGsw

@Shankar4EkStep @pramodkvarma @ONEST_Network

#charcha2025 #IdeastoAction

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

Please share your feedback through the form below:
https://t.co/oLVejb7psA

Your inputs will help us improve and strengthen open-source ‘Voice AI’models for Indian languages. For queries or collaboration, please reach out to [email protected]

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

🎙️Contribute to Indic ‘Voice AI’!

We invite professionals, developers, researchers and any other users in the ‘Voice AI’ field who have explored or used AI4Bharat’s ‘Voice AI’ models — including ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) and TTS (Text to Speech) — to share their valuable feedback.

Your insights will directly contribute to enhancing the performance, usability, and impact of ‘Open-source, Sovereign Indic Language models’, supporting the growth of India’s multilingual ‘Voice AI’ ecosystem.

🔹 Why Participate?
▪️Contribute to improving open-source Indic language technologies.
▪️Join a network of experts working on ‘Voice AI’ for Indian languages.
▪️Get an opportunity to attend EkStep & AI4Bharat’s upcoming event on ‘Sovereign Voice AI models’ this quarter.

🕓 The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete.

📋 Submit your feedback here:
https://t.co/QiHUZ3waVL

We appreciate your continued support in advancing ‘Voice AI’ innovation for Indic languages. For any queries or collaborations, please reach out to us directly.

- [email protected]

.
@Shankar4EkStep, @jagadishbabu, @ai4bharat, @PeoplePlusAI
.
#VoiceAI #SovereignAI #ConversationalAI #EkStep #PeoplePlusAI #IITMadras #AI4Bharat #ASR #TTS #OpenSource #TextToSpeechAI #DigitalIndia #IndianAI #TechForGood #SpeechToText #Bhashini #Indic #IndianLanguages #SpeechRecognition #TextToSpeech #LanguageTechnology #AIInnovation #MultilingualAI #DataForIndia

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

Digital transformation is not about technology alone — it’s about leadership design. Read about how India’s social sector can reimagine leadership in the digital age in "The Social Sector’s Digital Future Hinges on a Leadership Redesign I India" CSR, authored by Shankar Maruwada (@Shankar4EkStep) , Co-founder and CEO of the EkStep Foundation and Anu Prasad, Founder and CEO of @ILSS_Official - India Leaders for Social Sector.

Read here: https://t.co/RqC2wrsVLY

[EkStep Foundation @EkStep_Org]

As part of the @ILSS_Official “Digital Transformation for Social Impact Program” which aims to empower NPOs’ to craft their own digital transformation journey, our Co-Founder and CEO, @Shankar4EkStep was invited to conduct a session on the power of “Transformational Thinking and Digital Transformation” at TERI Gram, Gurgaon, on the 5th of October.

Sharing some insights and moments from the session!

.
@Shankar4EkStep @archana1211 @Hiya__Banerjee