Improving labor efficiency and boosting economy: Krisp founder tells how AI is changing Armenia
YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the world, and Armenia is not left out of this process. AI startups are actively expanding in the country, new investment funds are appearing, and the technology is penetrating deeper into various areas. Artavazd Minasyan, co-founder of Krisp and 10Web, told ARKA-Telecom portal in an exclusive interview about what opportunities AI opens for Armenia, how it will affect the labor market and whether the country has enough conditions for the growth of AI companies.
ARKA - Your company started using artificial intelligence long before it became mainstream, if I'm not mistaken, it was 8 years ago. What impact do you think such mass introduction of AI will have on Armenia?
А. Minasyan - AI improves productivity. It is a tool that allows one person to do more work. It seems to me that it will enable Armenia to develop faster, because if we compare employees from Armenia with employees from the US or Europe, we lag behind in terms of productivity. Now there is a chance that thanks to AI we will accelerate, and we can already see that many companies are eager to use it.
ARKA - Won't the introduction of AI create problems with jobs?
А. Minasyan: No, I don't think it will. This is a standard problem: when the tractor appeared, people thought that the world was coming to an end, but as a result the economy became more efficient. It's the same thing now - it's a tool that will make programming and other areas more efficient and create new jobs in space and other industries.
ARKA - AI startups need a good infrastructure to function. Does Armenia have it and are there favorable conditions for their development?
А. Minasyan - I think that the environment is very favorable, venture financing in Armenia has increased, there are about five funds, the network of business angels has expanded. In terms of infrastructure: you can rent AWS (Amazon Web Services) and other cloud platforms. If we talk about big AI models, DeepSeek recently demonstrated that it is possible to do the same thing ten times more efficiently. This is the way Armenian startups should think - how to make it possible to achieve great results with a minimum of resources. I believe that this is our way.-0-