HISHAB: Designing an AI-Powered Future for FinTech

An accomplished entrepreneur from Japan and Singapore and a renowned TEDx speaker, Zubair embarked on an extraordinary journey that spanned the globe. His purpose was to gather resources and expertise, culminating in the creation of HISHAB—an innovative product protected by 47 patents across 22 countries. Zubi’s vision was crystal clear: to develop technology that would not only reshape the technological landscape but also showcase the remarkable potential of AI in fostering inclusivity throughout society. His brainchild, HISHAB, is revolutionary technology underpinned by a range of communication, access, and empowerment tools.

Building a Personalized Intelligence Assistant (PIA)
Imagine a world where you can talk to a machine like you would a person. You talk to it, and it understands what you say. If you ask it a question, it responds quickly with the right answer. But HISHAB goes beyond this level of interaction; it goes beyond knowledge and gets people to act. The Personalized Intelligence Assistant (PIA), which shows off its technological skills, is at the heart of this AI-powered tool.
At the heart of HISHAB’s uniqueness lies its revolutionary use of artificial neural networks, a technological marvel that mirrors the intricacies of the human brain in a digital realm. The outcome is a seamless and natural interaction between humans and machines in which communication transcends boundaries. Zubair Ahmed, Vice President of the Investment Banking division at Goldman Sachs, states, “We built our large language marvel for Bengali, which works like ChatGPT and acts like a human brain”.
In a world where innovation drives progress, HISHAB, a pioneering Bangladeshi startup, stands out as a gleaming example of change and inclusion. HISHAB has utilized the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to not only improve lives but also to create opportunities and close long-standing gaps that have hindered societal progress.
The question is: If HISHAB works by voice commands and handles banking transactions, does this pose a major security risk? “Right before it makes a payment, it’s going to ask you for your password,” he explains. This technology can “pick up your call, record all the call transcripts, make a summary out of it, and send it over email”. These tasks are handled by PIA, instead of a live representative or manual operator.

Enabling Digital Bangladesh
HISHAB’s effect goes beyond technological innovation because it tackles the digital divide, which is a very important problem. In a world where apps and other digital solutions often require a certain level of digital knowledge, many people are left behind.
In their specific situation, where the rate of digital literacy was only 23%, which was similar to India’s rate of 24%, and Myanmar was likely to be ahead of them at about 40%, they needed a unique approach.
Only 23% of people in Bangladesh were digitally literate, and only 6.12% of people in this group were able to use smartphone apps without help from someone else.
After looking more closely at how the market works, a notable trend became clear. Most businesses tried to get a piece of that 23% pie. A closer look, though, showed that only a small portion of this number—exactly 6%—could use smartphone apps well without help from someone else.
Focusing on this often-overlooked majority shifted their efforts toward making technology that could help people from all walks of life. “They are all essentially targeting that 23% of the pie,” he says. “Nobody is caring about the 90-plus percent of the population who have no idea what digitalization or technology is,” he continues. “So what we built is technology for all”.
While everyone saw limitations, Zubair knew how to work around them with technology and patience. Reminiscing about how it started, he says, “Everybody wrote them [the digitally absent] off. They didn’t think they’d be worth it. We proved them wrong. We created HISHAB that is designed to do exactly that.”
And the improvement shows. “We currently have about 2 million users with almost no digital literacy. The only thing they’re able to do is make a phone call and receive one. 96% of these users dial our system once a week to do complex transactions and learn about how they can utilize their money.”

Turning the Smart Future into Reality
According to Zubair, there are four hurdles to overcome to achieve this. With the adaptation of devices, of the internet, of digital literacy, and finally, of the learning curve to bypass all of these, he has an ingenious solution.
“We made a conversational AI,” he says, “that can run by simply making calls from any device—smartphone, feature phone, landline, satellite phone—it doesn’t matter”. In a nutshell, he has built an artificial neural network that speaks to you, understands you, and does things for you”. This strategy ensures inclusion, thereby empowering those who previously felt excluded. Farmers, housewives, and laborers can now all have a voice, and HISHAB listens.

Bringing Mass Education through Inclusivity
Through Vision 2041, Zubair Ahmed shares the same objective as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh: to make Bangladesh smarter and more advanced. This requires having digitally literate citizens and a strong economy. “Our technology aims to turn anyone digital from day one”, he says.
“It helps people become digitally skilled quickly. It aims to give everyone access, especially those with low literacy. With verbal communication, the AI system assists users in tasks, helping those who may not feel smart due to limited digital skills,” he explains.
Similarly, call centers, often a source of employment, benefit from AI handling routine inquiries, enabling employees to acquire new skills and adapt to the evolving landscape. Zubair thinks AI has the potential to reshape job markets and disrupt industries, which has spurred fears of unemployment, particularly in labor-intensive economies like Bangladesh.
This paradigm shift isn’t about replacing jobs; it’s about empowering the workforce and fostering growth. “In a way, we are making it absolutely essential for call center employees to acquire new skill sets instead of relying on their ability to speak. That, for the overall economy, is a good thing,” he adds up.

Mining Top Talents from Bangladesh & Around the World
HISHAB’s global journey, spanning from New York to Bangladesh, marks his passion and dedication to strive for excellence. Recognizing the abundance of talent in Bangladesh, the company shifted operations, underscoring the notion that innovation knows no geographic boundaries.
The main research and development were primarily happening in New York. They outsourced to Europe, only to realize that it’s possible to build a team of machine learning engineers that’s better than those available abroad. “So basically, we just shifted,” he says.
“After working with engineers around the world, we figured out that we could get the same work done 10 times cheaper in Bangladesh than what we previously did in Germany. But if you talk about the delivery of results, we found that they were far better in Bangladesh,” Zubair adds.
HISHAB’s technology has touched the lives of millions in both Bangladesh and Japan, transforming how people interact with technology and opening doors to new possibilities. Currently, besides the 2 million Bangladeshi users, HISHAB has 25 million Japanese users. That’s how big of a dent HISHAB is making in the world.
Their AI is powered by brands like TEPCO, Japan’s largest electric provider and the third-largest in the world. Impressively, TEPCO’s market capitalization surpasses even South Korea’s GDP. The CEO of TEPCO gladly admitted to saying that he never thought Japan would have to import fifth-generation AI technology from a developing country, at least not in his lifetime.

Thinking Ahead of Time
The founder admits that it was not easy to get around in a place where people speak many different dialects. HISHAB has faced this problem straight on. After seven years of hard work, they’ve made a Bengali speech recognition engine that performs far better than any components in the world available for Bengali.
Zubair explains, “We are primarily a research company. 90% of our budget went into R&D. We were not focused on releasing a product on the market and making money out of it. We did not walk that path. What we did was research, research, research—find something that’s never been done, then build on it”.
Their text-to-speech technology rivals that of industry giants like Google, and their language model possesses cognitive abilities comparable to a child’s—a remarkable achievement. “We’re 6–7 years ahead of everybody else,” he remarks on the company’s position compared to its competitors. “Not in Bangladesh; I’m talking globally,” he adds. “That’s just as impressive as holding 70 patents in 22 countries—something HISHAB does and many companies dream of. So naturally, it means it’s practically impossible to even try catching up.”
This unwavering commitment to research, innovation, and progress sets HISHAB apart. Zubair asserts “At this moment, our Bengali speech recognition engine is the best in the world”. “Our AI currently has an IQ of a 10 to 12-year-old child,” he further states.

Leveraging a Favorable Startup Environment
Looking ahead, fostering global dialogue among entrepreneurs necessitates collaboration and exposure. Startup Bangladesh, with its international partnerships, plays a pivotal role in catalyzing these conversations.
By showcasing the potential of Bangladeshi startups and fostering cross-border exchanges, a global ecosystem is nurtured. This endeavor encompasses not just startups but also transforming various sectors, from corporate governance to accessibility within the stock market.