Jagdish Mitra is no stranger to India’s technology corridors. A former top executive at Tech Mahindra, he is now writing a new chapter—as Founder and CEO of HumanizeTech.ai, a startup at the intersection of artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence.

1. Jagdish, thanks for taking the time. Let me start by saying we just launched MarTechAI.com—India’s first news platform focused exclusively on AI in marketing. While browsing through HumanizeTech.ai, what stood out to me was your pitch around “adding a human touch to AI.” What does that really mean?

Great to hear about MarTechAI.com, Brij—much needed in the current ecosystem. Now, to your question: as technology takes center stage—especially with cognitive, regenerative, and agentic AI taking over more decision-making processes—what we often miss is how those decisions are delivered and experienced by real people.AI will always have a data advantage. But there are three things that humans still bring to the table—empathy, listening, and experiential acumen. These aren’t stored in databases; they sit in people’s heads. The nuance of context, of how someone reacted in a real-world, emotionally charged situation—that can’t be coded easily. So, at HumanizeTech, our mission is to integrate that human element back into AI systems—not as a feel-good add-on, but as a core differentiator.

2. You mentioned empathy and listening. But is there any real development happening in that direction? We’re seeing AI models grow smarter, but can they ever understand human sentiment?

That’s where something called “artificial empathy” comes in. It’s still a nascent field, but it’s growing fast. Artificial empathy is essentially about training virtual agents to detect and respond to human emotions. Think facial recognition, voice modulation, eye movement—systems are already being trained to detect whether a person is stressed, sad, or angry. Over time, these models will get personalized. For example, the system may learn: “When Brij reacts this way, it typically means this.” It’s emotional intelligence at machine speed. And as these systems get more data from human reactions, we’ll see convergence between emotional, cognitive, and behavioral AI responses. It’s an exciting and slightly eerie frontier.

3. That’s honestly fascinating—and a bit sci-fi. But even with AI’s vast data capabilities, can it truly replicate the emotional depth or instinct that humans bring to the table?

No, not entirely. Let’s take a simple example—autonomous vehicles. They use 40–100 cameras, all capturing and processing data with zero distraction. No human can match that sensory input. So yes, AI will always be more powerful in terms of data processing and multi-input decision-making. But where humans win is in interpretive judgment. The ability to say, “I’ve seen a situation like this before, and here’s what happened,” based on tacit experience, instinct, and empathy—that’s very hard to simulate. AI can process faster. But whether it understands in a real sense is still up for debate. We need hybrid systems—collaborative intelligence—not one replacing the other.

4. You’ve worked at the helm of one of India’s largest IT firms—Tech Mahindra—and now you’re running your own startup. What’s it like leading your own company versus leading someone else’s?

That’s a deep one. Running your own company is like learning to swim by jumping into the deep end. You can’t watch a YouTube video and become a swimmer. Similarly, you can’t understand entrepreneurship unless you live it. For 30 years, I was used to corporate comforts—someone booking my travel, scheduling my meetings, a secretary at hand. Now, I do all of that myself. The hardest part? Unlearning old habits. Everyone says “unlearn to learn”—but no one tells you how brutally hard that really is. But the joy of building something from scratch, of being the one who takes the call, makes the hire, sets the direction—that’s unparalleled. The thrill of creation far outweighs the loss of convenience.

5. That’s candid and refreshing. So as an entrepreneur in the AI space, what’s your biggest concern—and your biggest hope—for the future?

My biggest concern is that we forget the human in the loop. We get so obsessed with speed and automation that we lose sight of context, culture, and consequence. My biggest hope? That we use AI to amplify humanity—not replace it. Systems that listen, learn, and evolve with us. That’s the future we’re building at HumanizeTech.ai.

Editor’s Note: Artificial empathy is emerging as a critical area in AI research, especially for sectors like customer service, healthcare, and education. As HumanizeTech.ai attempts to bridge the emotional gap in AI systems, the conversation around hybrid intelligence—human + machine—becomes more urgent than ever.