A Journey of Building Connections
For Swithin technology has never been just a set of features. His career, which began at Samsung Electronics in 2001, has always revolved around the idea that technology should speak people's language. After Samsung, Swithin worked with various technology companies before co-founding iBrit, a mobile phone brand that he ran for nearly seven years. His interest in AI eventually led him to Yango.
Being in technology, the next big thing is AI. I've done IoT products, smart watches and so on. And when the Yango opportunity came, I think it was perfect, because the vision was to grow this business in the MENA region in a big way, and establish almost a new category in the region, which are smart devices.
If technology hadn't been his calling, Swithin says he would have pursued investment banking due to his passion for financial markets. "I'm very passionate about investments, financial markets, stock markets. I love to read about what's happening in the world – crypto, stocks in the US, stocks in India."
The Yangoer Philosophy
When we asked what it means to be a 'Yangoer', Swithin references the company's core philosophy: “The DNA which every Yangoer embodies is fundamentally translocal. As a global technology company with teams across continents, we maintain a global perspective while always acting with local relevance.”This approach combines Yango's global technological excellence with deep local cultural understanding – a value that particularly resonates with Swithin."For me, honestly, the best value is managing to act translocal, because we're such a big global tech giant, but at the same time, we act local in so many ways – for the community, CSR initiatives that we do with so many opportunities which keep arising."His leadership philosophy reflects this balance through its collaborative nature, giving team members space to develop and perform."I believe in people a lot. Teams and the way they interact, teams behave and work together – things can scale 10x, 20x just based on the cohesiveness and competency of the teams."
Crafting an AI that Helps during Ramadan
Swithin explains that it took three years and a half to adapt and localize Yasmina, involving hundreds of people including professional linguists to work on its language capabilities. Tailoring the AI-assistant specifically for the MENA market required significant investment and attention to cultural nuances.While Yasmina understands various Arabic dialects and English, she speaks in one standardized Arabic dialect accessible to the entire region. The team paid extraordinary attention to details like selecting the right voice: "To choose the voice of Yasmina took a long time to get the right voice, the right tone, the right kind of person who speaks English fluently and at the same time is a native Arabic speaker, who will appeal to the culture and the tone of this whole region."This cultural sensitivity is particularly evident in features designed for religious practices. Swithin notes how Yasmina was developed to understand the sensitivities of the Islamic region, offering features like prayer time reminders and "Adhkar and Dua" playlists for different parts of the day. For Ramadan, she provides special features including Ramadan Dua playlists and 30+ Quran reciters so users can hear recitations by their preferred voice.
Yasmina: A New Family Member
Yasmina, the human-like AI assistant, won "AI Product of the Year 2024." When discussing Yango's range of smart speakers powered by the human-like AI assistant, Swithin shares that his personal favorite is the Yasmina Midi model: "I like it because of the build factor of the product. It's very robust, it's beautiful looking as well. Even the colors that we've used. Sound quality is exceptional."What makes Yasmina AI assistant truly feel like a family member is how it integrates into family routines. It can help wake up children for school and remind them to do their homework or prepare their backpacks for the morning.Beyond reminders and answering questions, Yasmina serves as a smart home hub. It can connect with various smart devices throughout the home, allowing users to control them through simple voice commands. Swithin shares how this has become part of his morning routine: "Early in the morning, if I say 'Yasmina, can you please make a coffee,' she triggers the coffee machine and prepares the coffee, which is, I think, a very amazing feature."This personalization resonates with users of all ages. Swithin noticed this first-hand: "I was in Dubai Mall, and there was a small girl telling her parents, 'Do you know Yasmina speaks and whispers?' And it was so nice to hear, because Yasmina does speak even in whispers."
From Living Rooms to Classrooms
The real-world applications of Yasmina extend far beyond personal use. The team is receiving numerous inquiries from B2B partners who see potential in different sectors:"Yasmina is actively expanding its smart home capabilities by establishing partnerships with an increasing number of device developers. She is going to integrate with their devices – switch off lights, thermostats, pet feeder, for example – and Yasmina will be the center of the home."The education sector presents another promising application. Swithin mentions conversations with partners interested in "using Yasmina in classrooms to help the teacher and keep the kids engaged in discussing multiple things, mathematical issues."He shares an example of how Yasmina can adapt complex information for different audiences: "We asked Yasmina, 'What is nuclear physics?' And she gave a very textbook kind of answer, and then we asked her 'Explain it to us as if we were just five years old,' and she broke it down in a very simple, easy way to understand."
How Yasmina Will Surprise Users in 2025?
Swithin sees Yasmina changing how people in the Middle East interact with technology by making it more integrated with their daily lives and cultural contexts. One upcoming feature is translation capabilities:"With the technology that we have, and the way Yasmina is so well evolved in terms of Arabic and English as a bilingual speaker, and we have a big community of expats in the region, so there's a high influence of English requirement for the speaker."The team is also working on integrating Yasmina with local services and brands to make it even more useful in daily life. Partnerships with radio channels and newspapers will allow Yasmina to deliver news in multiple languages including English, Arabic, and Hindi.The ultimate goal is to integrate various services that touch people's daily lives, so that "Yasmina becomes a part of their daily lives."
Advice from Swithin
We asked Swithin for an expert advice for professionals working across global teams while maintaining cultural relevance:"All global companies would need to combine their global tech with local insights and cultural empathy. Cultural empathy is the word that we need to underline, because that is what gets to people."His recommendations include conducting intensive market research, building strong local teams who understand different demographics, and partnering with established local brands that resonate with consumers."Partnering with locals and retailers and adapting global approaches to the local communities – that would be my advice for other global companies as well."
Vision for the Future
Swithin's vision for Yasmina extends beyond just creating a successful product to transforming how technology integrates into Middle Eastern society:"The vision is basically to have a Yasmina in every connected home. And we're talking about millions of connected homes across MENA. It's a big vision."Through this approach that balances technological innovation with cultural understanding, Yasmina aims to become more than just a smart speaker – a helpful, culturally-aware companion for households across the MENA region.We're rolling out our newsletter monthly, featuring interviews with our leaders from around the globe. Make sure to check our blog to stay in the loop!
