Kruti explained: The AI assistant that books cabs, orders food — but can it monetise?

Krutrim, one of India’s earliest AI unicorns, has launched its first agentic AI assistant — Kruti — that can book cabs, order food, and make payments, all through voice or text prompts. Designed to handle everyday tasks without requiring micro-management, Kruti aims to be the go-to assistant for users juggling busy schedules.

At its core, Kruti is powered by Krutrim’s language models and built to function inside a chat interface. “When a user asks Kruti something like, ‘Book me a cab,’ or ‘Order food,’ Kruti's natural language processing understands the intent, connects directly with Ola's backend (in this case, for food, ONDC and for ride, Ola Cabs), and completes the booking within the chat interface,” explains Navendu Aggarwal, SVP and Head of Business at Krutrim, and Group CIO at Ola Electric, in a conversation with Business Today.

The system is deeply integrated with service providers like Ola and ONDC, allowing it to interpret casual or even vernacular language. Payments are processed through a secure layer using saved UPI or card details — with Kruti even auto-applying discounts or coupons where applicable.

Over time, the assistant learns user behaviour such as commonly visited locations or preferred food choices to further personalise interactions. For now, its capabilities are limited to a few partners, but Krutrim plans to turn Kruti into a universal assistant compatible across multiple apps and websites. Future monetisation is expected to come through transaction commissions or premium subscriptions.

The concept echoes some functionalities of Amazon’s Alexa, which can place food orders through voice commands, albeit within certain constraints. However, this kind of autonomous, voice-led agent is relatively new to the Indian context. Adoption remains a key challenge, where Krutrim’s earlier version of the app reportedly saw only around 14,000 downloads.

Aggarwal, however, is quick to clarify: “The previous app was just something we showed as a proof of capability. But we’re an evolving company. We’re building now. This is the app (Kruti) that will truly begin its agentic journey — first to millions of users, and eventually, to billions.”

While proof of concept and widespread adoption are still in progress, Krutrim is already working on expanding its reach. “We are actively pursuing multiple integrations with companies across various sectors — like in education, in technology partnerships, and in communications. These collaborations will ultimately benefit India by being reflected in the cost structure, making it more accessible for the Indian market," says Aggarwal.

Launched in beta in 2023, Krutrim now has a workforce of around 1,000 employees, including 400 data annotators and linguists, and 600 to 700 engineers of various disciplines.

With over ₹2,000 crore already invested and plans to pump in ₹10,000 crore more, all eyes are on whether Kruti can turn its intelligent features into a viable business and help Krutrim make its mark in the global AI race.