Karya is a Bengaluru-based AI data and evaluation organization that creates multilingual datasets while providing paid digital work to underserved communities. Established independently in 2022 after originating as a Microsoft Research project, it offers speech data collection, transcription, translation, annotation, multimodal dataset creation and AI model evaluation. Its smartphone-based platform distributes data tasks to workers, particularly in rural communities. Karya works with organizations including Microsoft, Google, Anthropic and India's IndiaAI Mission. Its projects include Project Vaani, Samiksha and Project Apollo, which address Indian-language speech data and AI evaluation. As of July 2026, Karya reported onboarding more than 200,000 workers, building datasets in over 115 languages and distributing USD 4.42 million in worker wages across its Indian operations.
Karya offers opportunities to work on multilingual AI, speech datasets, model evaluation and digital platforms designed for underserved communities. Its projects include Samiksha, Project Apollo and AI evaluations developed with Anthropic and Microsoft. As of July 2026, the organization reported more than 200,000 workers onboarded, datasets covering over 115 languages and platform deployments in seven countries. Karya received an AI for Humanity Prize at MIT Solve in 2026 and has a formal collaboration with India's IndiaAI Mission. Its public GitHub repositories demonstrate work involving Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Python, TypeScript and real-time audio systems. Current hiring announcements include engineering, AI evaluation, research, partnerships and operations roles, with several Bengaluru positions described as hybrid. Compensation and benefits require role-specific verification.
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Co-founder and CEO of Karya. Studied Computer Science and AI at Stanford University before joining Microsoft Research India. With Vivek Seshadri, he began developing Karya as a research initiative in 2017 and helped establish it as an independent organization in 2022. His work focuses on ethical AI data creation, digital employment and improving economic opportunities for underserved communities.
Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer of Karya. Holds a master's degree in Evaluation and Applied Research. Previously worked with organizations including 3ie, UNHCR, UNFPA, UNESCO and STiR Education. Joined Karya in 2022 and helped develop its research, monitoring and evaluation framework. Leads initiatives focused on worker wellbeing, learning opportunities and measuring social impact.
Co-founder and CTO of Karya. Previously served as a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India. Holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from IIT Madras and a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. His research includes efficient computing systems and technology for underserved communities. Co-developed the original Karya research project with Manu Chopra and leads its technology development.
Listed on Karya's official leadership page as Head of Engineering. Leads engineering activities supporting the organization's software platforms for AI data collection, processing and evaluation.
Listed on Karya's official leadership page as Head of Language Technology. Her work focuses on language technology initiatives within Karya's multilingual data and AI evaluation activities.
Listed on Karya's official leadership page as Vice President of Execution. Holds a senior operational leadership role supporting the execution of Karya's data creation and evaluation initiatives.
Leads public policy and government engagement at Karya. Her responsibilities relate to government relationships and policy initiatives supporting inclusive AI development and digital work opportunities.
Listed on Karya's official leadership page as Head of Operations. Responsible for operational activities supporting Karya's distributed digital workforce and AI data projects.
MIT Solve
MIT Solve recognized Karya among the winners of its 2026 10th Anniversary Global Challenge. Karya received the AI for Humanity Prize supported by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation for its work creating fair-wage AI data opportunities in underserved Indian communities. MIT Solve reported that each selected team received USD 100,000 in unrestricted prize funding.
Read articlePress Information Bureau, Government of India
The IndiaAI Mission under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Karya. The collaboration covers multilingual and multimodal dataset development, AIKosh data infrastructure, model evaluation frameworks, dataset quality standards and capacity-building initiatives.
Read articleAnthropic
Anthropic announced a collaboration with Karya and the Collective Intelligence Project to evaluate AI systems on locally relevant tasks in Indian languages. The work involves community participants and domain experts, including specialists in agriculture and law, and is intended to inform improvements to AI models serving Indian-language users.
Read articleKarya
Karya launched Project Apollo in the first quarter of 2026 to develop conversational speech datasets across India's 22 Scheduled Languages. Its project page reports 100,000 hours of transcribed speech, participation by 60,000 workers and USD 2 million in wages distributed to date. The datasets are intended to support speech recognition, translation, voice interfaces and multilingual AI research.
Read articleKaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaLocation not specified
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
KaryaBengaluru, India
