How CAMB.AI Co-Founders Mix Family Ties With Startup Success

In June this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) – which, for the uninitiated, has been “the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud” since 2006 – announced a US$230 million commitment for startups around the world to accelerate the creation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

The company also revealed then that part of this commitment would be used to fund the second cohort of the AWS Generative AI Accelerator – a program that would see 80 early-stage startups from around the world that make use of generative AI to solve complex challenges gain access to hands-on expertise as well as up to $1 million in credits. With a less than 2 percent acceptance rate, AWS revealed the 80 startups that made the cut in September – and one of them (and the only one from the Middle East) was Dubai-born CAMB.AI.

Founded in 2022 by father-and-son duo Avneesh and Akshat Prakash, CAMB.AI calls itself “the world’s most advanced AI speech synthesis and translation company,” and it’s able to back up this claim with the steady stream of wins it has to its name, which range from its platform being used to translate post-match interviews at this year’s Australian Open in January, to it live-dubbing a two-hour-long major league soccer game in four languages at the same time in March.

Given all of the success CAMB.AI has been seeing since its inception, co-founders Avneesh (CEO) and Akshat (CTO) are thus certainly defying the common notion that one must never mix family with business, and so, Inc. Arabia asked them to share insights into how they get their relationship with each other to, well, work. For instance, in terms of advantages, the entrepreneurs point to the blind faith they have in each other – as they put it: “There’s no need to mention it, but we know that either of us can never give up on each other, no matter what.” Their complementary skillsets are also a boon to the company- Avneesh is an expert in the business arena who’s perfectly placed as CEO, while Akshat’s technological prowess is why he’s the CTO for CAMB.AI. Plus, the family-first nature of the CAMB.AI co-founders extends as a culture to the rest of the team as well.

These benefits illustrate why Avneesh and Akshat advise others in business — whether only contemplating or already collaborating with family — to disregard the skeptics and instead concentrate on leveraging the distinctive advantages such relationships provide. “Always use it and show it as a strength,” the co-founders say. “People are quick to form an opinion; so, make sure you always project working as a family as a strength, which it is.”

In terms of challenges that might arise, Avneesh and Akshat suggest that it’d be best to keep “work at the office, and dinner at home – easier said than done, but work on personal versus professional time-slotting.” At the end of the day, the co-founders say, always remember that you’re working with family – and that’s a bond that goes beyond business.

This article first appeared in the October issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.