Puneet Singh: Driving AI Innovation and Transformation in Telecommunications

Interviewer: Puneet, you’ve been a leader in AI and product management for over a decade. Could you share your journey and how you got started in this field?

Puneet Singh: Growing up in a middle-class family in India, my path was profoundly influenced by my parents. My father worked in the UP Irrigation Department, and my mother was a dedicated homemaker. They instilled in me a deep curiosity about scientific discoveries and a belief that education was the key to overcoming societal constraints.

After high school, I received my first computer, which opened the door to the world of technology. I spent countless hours dismantling motherboards, building robotics applications, and learning to code. This passion for technology led me to pursue a career in engineering, where I could experiment and innovate. Inspired by technology’s potential to drive change, I dreamed of coming to the United States to address humanity’s most significant challenges through AI.

Over nearly two decades in product management, I’ve had the privilege of working with cutting-edge technologies at companies like Walmart Group India and FleetPride. These experiences allowed me to develop AI-driven solutions, deepening my expertise and passion for innovation.

Interviewer: Your AI-driven solutions have significantly impacted telecommunications. Can you discuss specific innovations or breakthroughs that have particularly influenced your work?

Puneet Singh: We are implementing and actively working on AI-driven solutions poised to revolutionize telecommunications. One key project is our AI-driven Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system for telecom troubleshooting. This system provides real-time updates to millions of customers during critical events like outages and natural disasters.

The AI-driven IVR system aims to automate customer service processes, reduce response times, and enhance network reliability while achieving substantial cost savings. By leveraging advanced AI techniques, the system understands customer issues and guides them through the necessary steps to resolve problems without live assistance. The use of graphics and voice in these conversational systems empowers customers to fix issues independently.

We’re also exploring innovations in large language models (LLMs), which have greatly influenced our work. These models enable us to develop more intuitive and responsive AI systems, improving the overall customer experience and setting new standards in telecommunications.

Interviewer: In previous discussions, you’ve emphasized the importance of starting with user problems in product development. Can you share an example of how user feedback directly influenced a major feature or pivot in your projects?

Puneet Singh: User feedback is crucial to our development process. For example, feedback revealed that users struggled with follow-up questions when interacting with our chatbot. In response, we introduced a “Follow-Up Questions” feature where the chatbot suggests question options to help users continue the conversation. This feature has been well-received and highlights the importance of listening to user needs to develop effective solutions.

Interviewer: Where do you see the future of AI-powered communication apps heading in the next five years, especially in terms of user interaction and engagement?

Puneet Singh: AI will increasingly serve as a proxy between users and the outside world. Its ability to comprehend human speech and generate tasks will evolve to become more like a digital personal assistant. We’re already seeing models develop multimodality, accepting text, images, video, and sound as inputs and generating new content based on these. This opens up promising possibilities across various domains, including content creation and processing vast datasets in medicine and science.

Interviewer: In a fast-evolving field like AI, how do you ensure that your projects stay ahead of market trends and competitor developments?

Puneet Singh: There isn’t a universal recipe for staying ahead, but understanding user needs, challenges, and aspirations is key. We thoroughly analyze user data to address underlying issues that improve our products. Keeping abreast of technological advancements and monitoring competitors also helps us explore innovative ideas and refine our strategy. My approach is to chart our course while staying aware of industry developments.

Interviewer: As an expert in AI and product management, what emerging technologies or trends in AI are you most excited about, and how might they impact the future of apps?

Puneet Singh: I’m fascinated by the evolution of large language models and the potential to run them on mobile devices without internet connectivity. This advancement will enhance user data security and reduce service costs. As AI capabilities grow, apps will address tasks previously thought impossible, transforming from handy tools to digital personal assistants that simplify life and allow users to focus on what truly matters.