Gnani.ai & Inya.ai: Engineering India’s Sovereign Voice-to-Voice AI
Published on February 20, 2026 by Wasim Shaikh
Note: Exclusive coverage from the DD India segment on the AI Impact Summit 2026.
The way we interact with machines is about to undergo a tectonic shift. For decades, our relationship with technology has been mediated by touchscreens, keyboards, and mice. However, Gnani.ai, a leading Indian AI startup, believes the future of human-machine interaction is not tactile—it’s vocal.
In a recent interview for DD India, Ananth Nagaraj, founder and CTO of Gnani.ai, discussed their role as one of the four startups selected by the IndiaAI Mission to build the nation’s first sovereign foundational voice model, powered by the Inya.ai platform.
Beyond Text: The Rise of Inya VoiceOS (Saraswati OS)
At the heart of Gnani.ai’s mission is the development of a voice-to-voice foundation model, initially referred to as Saraswati OS and now part of the Inya VoiceOS ecosystem. Unlike conventional AI systems that convert speech to text and back again, this 5-billion-parameter model processes audio directly in acoustic and semantic space.
"At Gnani, we are powering the next future of human-machine interaction through our foundation model," Ananth explained. By processing audio natively, the model captures nuances like tone, emotion, and pacing, enabling it to handle interruptions and overlapping speech seamlessly. This direct processing creates more empathetic and responsive AI than text-based systems like ChatGPT routinely achieve.
Inya.ai: Democratizing Agentic AI for Enterprises
While Inya VoiceOS provides the foundational intelligence, Inya.ai serves as the Agentic AI platform that brings this technology to the enterprise world. It allows businesses to build and deploy intelligent voice and chat agents without any coding expertise.
Key Features of the Inya.ai Platform:
- No-Code Agent Building: Visual workflows allow business users to curate sophisticated AI agents using natural language.
- Contextual Memory: Unlike basic chatbots, Inya agents remember past interactions, adapting their tone and responses based on the history and emotional state of the user.
- Omnichannel Automation: Seamlessly deploy agents across voice, WhatsApp, SMS, and over 100 enterprise integrations like Salesforce and HubSpot.
- Multilingual Fluidity: Support for 40+ languages, including 10+ Indic languages, with the ability to switch languages mid-conversation.
This combination of foundational reasoning and high-level application helps businesses across healthcare, retail, and finance move toward a builder mindset.
The Nuance of Context: A Lesson from PM Modi
During a meeting with AI startup founders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the critical importance of context and local ethics. Ananth recalled the PM's example of the phrase "Ram Naam Satya Hai."
"The way it is said in a funeral versus the way it is said in a different context completely changes," Ananth noted. Inya VoiceOS is engineered to understand these nuanced contexts, ensuring the AI remains trustworthy and ethically aligned with Indian values. This level of cultural sovereignty is a recurring theme among Indian AI leaders like Soket AI and Chariot AI.
India as an AI Exporter: Sovereignty at Scale
The AI Impact Summit 2026 marks a transition for India: moving from being a net technology importer to a net AI exporter. Ananth believes that because India’s linguistic diversity is so vast, a model that succeeds here is naturally "Global South ready."
This journey is powered by the Intelligence Infrastructure championed by labs like Avataar AI and supported by the massive compute resources of the IndiaAI Mission.
Conclusion: The Voice-First Future
Gnani.ai’s work on Inya VoiceOS and the Inya.ai platform represents a fundamental change in cognitive computing. By prioritizing voice as the primary interface and removing the complexity of coding, they are enabling a future where technology is as inclusive as a simple conversation.
