🎙️ AI for Founders: Building Voice AI with Nikhil Gupta of Vapi.ai
Guest: Nikhil Gupta, Founder & CEO of Vapi.ai
Host: Ryan Estes
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Vapi.ai helps developers build real-time, voice-first AI agents with ultra-low latency.
- Raised $20M Series A after launching profitably and going through Y Combinator.
- Voice AI is becoming the default interface for businesses replacing outdated IVR systems.
- Use cases include AI receptionists, customer support agents, and local business tools.
- Future trend: AI agents talking to other AI agents to solve real-world tasks faster.
- Current favorites: JuiceBox (recruiting), Superhuman (auto-tagging), Deep Research (creative and consumer search).
- AI fear: Reinforcement learning agents seeking power to achieve goals.
🧩 Frameworks from the Episode
What Makes a Product “AI-First”
- LLM, vision, and voice inputs built natively into UX
- Automation of subtle features like smart tags and dynamic UI changes
- “One-button” interfaces wrapping full multi-modal workflows
Building Scalable Voice AI
- Streaming audio in 20ms packets for real-time feedback
- Developer-first APIs + tooling
- Voice-specific nuance: disfluency, tone, emotional recognition
Voice AI in Practice
- Restaurant reservation bots
- Agent-to-agent conversations powered by voice APIs
🔧 Tools & Resources Mentioned
- Vapi.ai – Voice AI developer platform
- Kitcaster – Podcast booking for funded founders
👥 Who This Is For
- Startup founders building AI-native apps
- Developers building vertical SaaS with voice
- Product designers exploring voice UX
- AI-curious creators and indie hackers
💬 Try Vapi.ai
➡️ Visit vapi.ai and click “Talk to Vapi” to test the voice AI agent yourself.
📫 Connect with Nikhil
