We believe humanoids like RIA are set to redefine how learning is delivered and experienced. RIA is not just a robot—it’s a multilingual, AI-powered educator that can understand and respond to students in languages like English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Spanish. This bridges the gap for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds and ensures inclusivity in classrooms like never before. Sreekanth K Arimanithaya, CEO of Xarpie Labs; Entrepreneur in Residence at The Machani Group & Co-Founder – Mantrika.ai, Visara Partners, and Communios.ai, shared in an exclusive interaction with Kaanchi Chawla of Elets News Network (ENN). Edited excerpts:
With over 30 years of leadership experience, how do you see AI reshaping the workforce and enterprise strategy in the coming years? And what excites you the most about leading this AI-driven digital transformation journey?
Having spent more than three decades in leadership roles across human capital and business operations—including as CHRO, CEO of Britan Industries, and Global Head at DXC Technologies—my belief has always been rooted in one truth: human potential is limitless. Yet, despite major technological revolutions—from industrialization to big data—no innovation has truly unlocked this potential in its entirety.
Today, with AI, we stand at the edge of a transformative era. For the first time, we have a tool powerful enough to understand, quantify, and amplify the intangible aspects of human capital—things like leadership, aspiration, collaboration, and culture. These are qualities that were traditionally seen as unmeasurable, yet they hold the key to exponential growth.
In business, we often evaluate tangible attributes—like years of experience—as indicators of capability. These are easily measurable, numeric values. But the real game-changers are intangible: the way people lead, how they align with a company’s purpose, how teams collaborate, or how culture fuels performance. These elements were always seen as qualitative, abstract. AI allows us to quantify the unquantifiable—and that’s where its real power lies.
Xarpie has been at the forefront of AI-driven business transformation. Can you share how AI is specifically revolutionising the education sector?
AI is disrupting every industry we know—be it IT, manufacturing, FMCG, or even traditionally static spaces like religious institutions and education. Education, in particular, is undergoing a significant transformation, and this disruption is long overdue.
The current curriculum and pedagogy in many educational institutions were designed for an older industrial economy. Today, with the advent of AI and other disruptive technologies, the world of work has changed dramatically—but education hasn’t kept up. This disconnect is one of the primary reasons we’re seeing a shift.
There are three core areas where AI is reshaping education:
1. Relevance of Curriculum Content
Most academic content—whether it’s STEM or liberal arts—is rooted in legacy frameworks. To prepare students for the future, we need to move beyond siloed disciplines like mechanical, civil, or computer science and embrace converged technologies.
Take robotics or humanoids, for example—these fields bring together mechanical engineering, electronics, computer science, AI, ML, and more. Education must evolve to teach applied, interdisciplinary knowledge, not just standalone subjects.
2. Personalised Learning & Pedagogy
In our time, education followed a one-size-fits-all approach. A single professor taught an entire class the same way, regardless of individual learning styles. AI changes that.
With AI, learning can be personalized—tailored to a student’s personality, learning agility, and aspirations. Adaptive learning platforms can now design unique paths for each learner, transforming how we engage with content. This is the beginning of a more student-centric education model.
3. Preparing Future-Ready Professionals
At RP Labs, we’re collaborating with academic institutions to not only redesign content and pedagogy but also redefine career pathways for students. We believe the professionals of tomorrow will fall into three categories:
- Job Makers (Entrepreneurs):
We’re helping universities set up Venture Studios, where students learn entrepreneurship and ideation from the very beginning. By the time they reach their final year—or even earlier—they’re equipped to start their own ventures.
- Intrapreneurs:
As AI eliminates transactional roles, companies are left with innovation and transformation jobs. These roles require entrepreneurial thinking. We’re preparing students to become intrapreneurs—individuals who drive change within organizations like Amazon, Google, or emerging startups.
- Solopreneurs:
With 5G and AI tools reaching even the remotest parts of the world, students from small towns and villages can become high-value freelancers or solvers of global challenges. Platforms like Kaggle and Topcoder are examples where such solopreneurs can thrive.
AI is not just enhancing education—it is redefining its purpose. We’re moving from producing job seekers to nurturing creators, innovators, and self-starters. At RP Labs, we see this transformation as a mission—to unlock the untapped potential of every learner, no matter where they come from.
With RIA, the humanoid robot teacher you’ve developed, how do you see AI-powered humanoids shaping the future of learning?
We believe humanoids like RIA are set to redefine how learning is delivered and experienced. At Xarpie, we’ve already piloted RIA in renowned institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and several community colleges across the U.S., and the response has been phenomenal.
RIA is not just a robot—it’s a multilingual, AI-powered educator that can understand and respond to students in languages like English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Spanish. This bridges the gap for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds and ensures inclusivity in classrooms like never before.
One of RIA’s standout features is its ability to monitor classroom participation in real time. With integrated cameras and AI-driven analysis, it can observe body language, attentiveness, note-taking, and question-asking patterns to evaluate engagement—something that’s extremely difficult for a human teacher managing a large class.
More importantly, RIA personalises content delivery based on each student’s learning pace and cognitive ability. It offers 24/7 availability for one-on-one sessions, ensuring no student is left behind. RIA is not meant to replace human teachers but to work alongside them, handling the repetitive and instructional components so that educators can focus on mentoring, coaching, and nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship.
The future of learning is going to be personalised, inclusive, and AI-augmented—and RIA is helping bring that future closer.
Xarpie Labs has partnered with Singularity University and ExO in India. How do these collaborations enhance your AI-driven solutions in education?
Absolutely, these collaborations are central to our mission of transforming education through exponential technologies and mindset shifts. Our partnership with Singularity University—one of the most renowned institutions for exponential thinking and disruptive innovation—has opened the doors to a global ecosystem of visionary faculty, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who’ve made remarkable contributions across space tech, agri-tech, food tech, AI, and beyond.
Singularity doesn’t just teach technology—it focuses deeply on mindset transformation, which we believe is the foundation of future-ready education. In today’s unpredictable, high-disruption world, traditional thinking doesn’t serve us anymore. Singularity equips students and leaders with a mindset of abundance over scarcity, and encourages moonshot thinking—envisioning bold, transformative ideas that can change how we live, work, and learn.
We’re leveraging this partnership to bring mindset-focused learning into classrooms and boardrooms alike, alongside tailored training programs for schools and universities—programs we’ll be showcasing soon in Dubai.
Similarly, our work with ExO (Exponential Organizations) focuses on enabling 10x thinking rather than incremental 10% improvements. Through ExO’s structured playbook, curriculum, and tools, we’re helping students and professionals learn how to approach complex global challenges—be it eradicating poverty, mining in space, or solving urban congestion—with exponential strategies.
Together, these partnerships are helping us not only build powerful AI-driven tools like RIA, our humanoid teacher, but also ensure that the human mindset evolves in parallel, so the next generation is not just technologically equipped, but visionary and fearless.
AI is often met with skepticism in education. What steps is Xarpie Labs taking to ensure ethical and responsible AI adoption in classrooms?
That’s a very important question—and one we take seriously at Xarpie Labs. Every new technology brings with it both opportunities and challenges. While AI offers transformative potential in education, we also recognize the need to proactively address issues like bias, hallucination, and data privacy.
Through our work—whether it’s with RIA, our humanoid teaching assistant, or other AI interventions coming out of our Venture Studio—we are building robust governance frameworks. We’re constantly refining our models to ensure fair, unbiased decision-making, especially in areas like student evaluation and feedback. We’re also investing in systems that minimize hallucination—so when a student asks a question, they receive a response grounded in accuracy, not guesswork.
But let’s also acknowledge something deeper: many of the flaws we worry about in AI—like bias or hallucination—already exist in human-led classrooms. Teachers, being human, also carry unconscious biases. They sometimes make assumptions about students or attempt to answer questions they may not fully understand. So while we’re right to scrutinize machines, we also need to recognize that we’re holding AI to a higher standard, which is a good thing.
At Xarpie, we’re bringing in domain experts, data scientists, and ethicists to rigorously monitor our systems. We’re following evolving global frameworks around ethical AI governance, and I believe certain use cases should be restricted until we have greater assurance around safety and fairness.
But here’s the key message—we shouldn’t let these challenges become excuses to delay adoption. Let’s acknowledge the risks, address them head-on, and keep moving forward. Machines are learning fast. Humans must, too. And with the right approach, we can ensure that AI becomes a powerful, responsible ally in shaping the future of education.
How does Xarpie Labs ensure its AI solutions remain adaptable and scalable for different education systems across various countries?
I think the EdTech sector went through a phase of overhype in recent years. Several players focused more on aggressive growth than genuine learning outcomes, and that approach failed students and parents alike. But with the advent of AI and emerging technologies, we now have an opportunity to reset and reimagine how education can truly become inclusive, personalized, and future-ready.
At Xarpie, we approach scalability and adaptability in four distinct ways:
- Multi-Modal AI Tools
We’re not limiting ourselves to just one AI format. Whether it’s RIA, our humanoid teaching assistant, or simple AI-powered apps that students can access on their mobile phones, our solutions are designed to reach every learner. Students can now interact in their own language, ask questions without hesitation, and get real-time, contextual answers—bridging gaps that traditional systems couldn’t.
As someone who studied in a vernacular medium, I know how intimidating English or complex subjects can be. AI can now personalise learning to the student’s context—language, pace, and style.
- Immersive Learning Technologies
We’re leveraging AR, VR, and Metaverse environments to democratize access. Imagine a child in rural Karnataka having the same immersive science class experience as a student in New York or Singapore. That’s the power of XR—and we’re building these platforms to work on even basic devices, because inclusion is a non-negotiable for us.
- Blockchain and Skill Mapping
We’re also working on blockchain-based credentialing systems. As students pass exams or learn new skills, their achievements are securely tracked and validated. Then comes iKA AI—a tool that assesses a student’s resume against job descriptions, conducts avatar-based mock interviews, identifies skill gaps, and recommends personalized learning paths to close those gaps.
It’s not just about preparing students for jobs—it’s about empowering them to shape their own learning journeys.
- Gamification and Edutainment
Through our Superhero Studios, we’re transforming education into engaging games. We believe learning shouldn’t be a burden. It should be exciting, fun, and motivating. That’s why we’re integrating game-based learning for core subjects as well as innovation tracks like entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving.
Our vision is to make next-gen learning accessible, personalized, and future-focused—whether you’re a farmer’s child in a remote village or a city student with access to top-tier infrastructure. We’re building tech that scales, but more importantly, tech that adapts to each learner’s reality.
What are your thoughts on the future of AI in education by 2030, and how is Xarpie Labs preparing for this transformation?
The way I see it, by 2030, AI will completely redefine the very identity of a “student.” I believe the concept of being a student will no longer be restricted to a certain age or stage in life. We are all students—lifelong learners—and AI will be the great enabler of this mindset.
Here’s how we see AI transforming education by 2030 and how we’re preparing for it:
1. From Students to Industry-Ready Talent
AI will accelerate the transition from learners to doers. The narrative that students lack skills or motivation is being flipped. Through project-based, AI-enabled learning, students are already solving real-world problems before graduation. We’re working closely with universities and institutions to embed this talent-centric approach.
2. Democratisation of Education
Whether you’re in Bangalore or a remote village in Odisha, English-speaking or not, AI will level the playing field. High-quality education will no longer be a privilege. We call this the three Ds of transformation:
- Democratisation – Making it accessible for all.
- Dematerialisation – Breaking physical and infrastructure barriers.
- Monetisation – Helping learners turn skills into opportunities, not just degrees.
3. Hyper-Personalisation
Let’s be honest—no two learners are the same. But our education system has been one-size-fits-all for decades. AI will finally allow us to personalize learning paths based on a learner’s pace, style, cognition, and even emotional readiness. This is one of the most powerful promises of AI in education, and we’re investing heavily in building adaptive, personalized learning environments.
4. AI-Powered Companions and Avatars
Here’s where it gets fun—and deeply human. Imagine building your own AI tutor—not just in function, but in form and emotion. You didn’t like your old math teacher? No problem. Make one that looks like your favorite sibling, your mom, or even a beloved fictional character. Education becomes emotional. It becomes engaging. It becomes personal.
When I was growing up, my mother helped me with Hindi, and my sister taught me science. Imagine having their avatars guide you through those same lessons today—that’s the kind of emotional learning experience AI can create.
At Xarpie Labs, we’re not just building for the future—we’re building with the future. Our platforms are designed to empower learners, wherever they are, and whatever stage of life they’re in.
AI won’t replace teachers or students—it will empower them to be more human, more capable, and more connected than ever before.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Xarpie in the education sector and beyond?
At Xarpie Labs, we believe the future of education isn’t just about creating job seekers—it’s about nurturing creators, thinkers, and entrepreneurs.
Of course, not everyone will become an entrepreneur, and that’s perfectly fine. But the world today desperately needs more job creators, not just job fillers. It needs exponential thinkers, disruptive innovators, and fearless doers. That’s the space we’re building for.
Also Read: AI and Edtech as catalysts for Educational Transformation in India
So what’s next for us?
1. Igniting Entrepreneurship on Campuses
We’re working actively on a model to incubate startups within colleges and universities. We’re turning educational institutions into launchpads—not just for careers, but for companies. The idea is to identify raw talent, equip them with the tools of AI, tech, and creativity, and let them build solutions the world hasn’t even imagined yet.
2. Building Exponential Leaders
We want students to think beyond the linear path. We’re focused on embedding exponential thinking—how to leverage 10x tools, how to solve global-scale problems, how to innovate like it’s second nature. We’re working on immersive programs to turn students into thought leaders, solopreneurs, and digital creators.
3. Democratising World-Class Content and Access
Our mission is to bring Stanford-level content to every corner of the world—from a top-tier metro to the most remote village. With AI, AR/VR, metaverse, and mobile-first solutions, we are collapsing the education divide. That’s the kind of equity we’re excited about.
4. Making Learning Fun, Immersive, and Human
We’re building tools where learning feels like gaming, where textbooks come alive, and where students can co-create their learning journeys. Education should not be stressful—it should be joyful, interactive, and deeply personal.
At the heart of it, our next chapter is not just EdTech—it’s EdRevolution.
We’re not just preparing students for the world—we’re preparing them to shape it.
