In 2016, tech was a whole different industry to break into — most tech founders, if not all, were building mobile apps and focusing on cloud migrations. In this business climate, Damodar Puthiya was taking a risk. Instead of focusing on the same industry trends, he was far more ambitious, building conversational AI platforms capable of handling real enterprise workloads, well before today’s large language models were deployed.
Puthiya shares: “There were no LLMs back then, but we still built our first AI-based bot platform to solve some of the front-end help desk, HR, and customer desk kind of solutions. Along the way, we've seen a huge revolution in AI that will continue to happen.”
He was building a long-lasting legacy in tech innovation long before generative AI became a household term as we know of today. He started by bootstrapping Mobinius Technologies, which developed complex solutions for mobile and web application development, before founding CAWI.AI, an AI-based bot platform that automated workflows and processes.
For many, Puthiya’s journey might seem unbelievable. After all, it followed a start-up story rarely heard of unfolding so successfully — and it came with an unusual, prescient technical twist.
Early Beginnings
Born to a poor farming family, he often helped his father tend a small plot of land and his mother, who couldn’t read or write, manage the household. Later on, as he grew older, he was determined to contribute more. This led him to look for work, any kind of work, in other places to get paid. Essentially, he spent his childhood growing into the role of breadwinner.
More than helping his family, his part-time work also funded his studies. With government support, he graduated from high school, eventually earning an engineering scholarship and staying in a government hostel. His hardships never deterred him from pushing himself harder. In fact, it only made him more determined to succeed: “That always motivated me to do something, do well, and give back to society.”
After his graduation, he decided to pursue a career in business and technology. In the early 2010s, he took a risk in his first-ever venture, Mobinius Technologies. Set in Bengaluru, Mobinius was a bootstrapped venture. They didn’t have any fancy offices or a huge amount of funding. They essentially started from scratch, situating themselves in a small apartment with no external funding.
The company wouldn’t have happened without Puthiya’s love for his work. He imagined Mobinius to go beyond the limits even he had set for himself, and it succeeded way more than anyone could have predicted: “I loved growing that company, and it took a lot of passion. I have a never-quit kind of approach.”
As a co-founder and CEO of Mobinius Technologies, Puthiya grew the company into a leader in web and application development. Soon enough, they grew to attract widespread recognition in the industry for building systems that address complex technical customer problems. These systems were focused on growth and scalability, with every step creating a bigger impact. For example, Puthiya helped build a unique system for Amazon that addressed issues in its delivery centers, built AI teams, mobile apps, and platforms that assist in payment gateways.
The exponential growth, well above the industry norm, earned Mobinius the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 award not just once but three times, further proving its excellence in the tech space. It wasn’t just Mobinius itself getting recognition, either. While leading the company, Puthiya earned the title of Young Entrepreneur of Southern India from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and received additional honors from publications such as the Indian Express. He wasn’t awarded just for his rapid business growth and development, but also for creating meaningful employment opportunities, efficient scaling, and useful automation.
In response to his accolades, Puthiya reacts with humility, pointing back to his passion for the work: “I'm largely driven by passion for technology, and that's what excites me the most. For example, if I'm working on a solution, I may not even get any sleep. A lot of times, I get deeply involved. I've written some complex queries to solve problems overnight, even in my dreams.”
His determination shows — Mobinius later expanded beyond web and app development. They conquered spaces in AI and machine learning, IoT, DevOps, and full-scale digital transformation services. By focusing on custom, high-value solutions, Mobinius attracted major enterprise clients that soon became part of its portfolio. Today, Mobinius Technologies is a global leader in technology solutions. They work with clients to develop platforms from concept to execution, specializing in cloud solutions, web and app development, and product and app consulting.
It’s not just any clients, either. Mobinius has worked with other giants, including Schneider Electric and Neuroglee, as well as Amazon. He reflects on his time with Amazon proudly: “The onboarding experience was great, and we did some really good work for one of their applications, solving issues around managing their delivery centers. That work helped us onboard more customers, and today we are working on at least four to five active applications to automate a lot of their back-office operations.”
He worked closely with every client, saying: “I'm very hands-on, very approachable and accessible. I'm okay to say no or that this may take more time, but I never over-promise. I'm extremely practical in my approach.”
Reflecting on his leadership — an essential element to any founder — Puthiya shares: “As a leader, I always think from the customer's perspective. Most importantly, we make sure that, whatever project we take on, the customer knows exactly what happens by when — our deliverables are predictable. We provide a lot of proactive communication with no surprises.”
However, Mobinius (and its success) is just one of Puthiya’s many ventures. As the years went by, he created more technology-driven platforms, such as CAWI.AI.
The AI Era
From 2016 to 2017, Puthiya had pivoted into the realm of artificial intelligence. During this time, Puthiya demonstrated technical expertise by creating CAWI.AI—an innovative AI-based bot platform. While the rest of the industry seemed to treat chatbots as mere novelty for FAQs, Puthiya led a team of engineers to design CAWI.AI as a full-fledged intelligent automaton platform.
CAWI.AI automated front-desk operations, helpdesks, HR processes, customer support queries, and internal organizational workflows. Prominent marquee organizations, such as Indigo Airlines, Jubilee Life Sciences, Canon, and several large Indian hospitals, eventually adopted CAWI.AI into their everyday workflows.
From a concept, Puthiya transformed CAWI.AI’s essence into a practical, production-ready business automation tool. When deployed in business, it effectively reduces operational costs and improves scalability. The platform was adopted by several organizations and successfully added 30+ active customers, while generating SaaS revenues of over 100+ K USD per year, which is a notable achievement considering its early market entry.
Its system went far beyond simple rule-based responses. Instead, it ingested complex, organizational queries from employers, customers, and internal teams. Then, it was routed intelligently, pulling data from multiple backend systems, and executed workflows autonomously. This methodology was deliberately pragmatic from Puthiya’s end — he practically insisted on an automaton-first architecture that leveraged early natural language processing and combined it with intent recognition and rule-augmented machine learning. Puthiya ensured that every feature they integrated was stress-tested against real customer pain points.
This approach came from firsthand experience. Puthiya illustrates: “A lot of times we assume solutions without thinking from the customer's point of view, and that would not really solve the customer's problem. That's something we have learned. It's always best to look at it from the customer's perspective. When you put yourself in the customer's shoes, you can provide solutions that actually work for them. That's the kind of experience I've learned from these challenges.”
By focusing on customers, the platform delivered measurable results and ROI. Fewer human agents were needed for some repetitive tasks, minimizing expenses and operational costs and delivering faster resolution times.
Puthiya knew all too well the struggles that his clients would face. For example, in handling logistics for front desk support, he built a platform that addresses concerns about automation and handles repetitive queries. He recounts how much of a landmark milestone this was back then: “Of course, doing this today is easier, but I'm talking about 2016, 2017. There was no such thing as LLMs or AI in the advanced versions.”
Soon enough, this system was well-adopted by many clients. He recounts: “We had really good customers: a few airline companies like Indigo Airlines in India, Jubilee Life Sciences, Canon, a payment company (CCAvenue), and a few large hospitals in India (like Narayana Health and others) that were using it to collect feedback from patients.”
With this success, Puthiya credits how he honed his skill in leadership: “I make sure I have strong communication across leadership and stakeholders. I provide maximum clarity so their jobs become very easy and they can stay more focused.”
His approach has not just made his ventures successful. It also gave him a renowned reputation in the industry.
A Cemented Legacy
Puthiya, if described in one word, is hands-on. His style prioritizes working directly with his team and clients. He views it as important as technical skill, commenting: “I'm someone who genuinely cares. First of all, I believe in the success of everyone — the customer, the team. I'm a very clear communicator who provides maximum clarity and brings everyone on the same page. I'm a hands-on leader who drives from the front.”
The results speak for themselves. He’s included in the list of winners in the India SME Awards in the IT and ITES categories. He also serves as a speaker not just for entrepreneurship talks, but also for institutes of technology and engineering. Beyond being a recognized industry leader, his company, Mobinius Technologies, was acquired in November 2019. MSys Technologies – now part of Aziro – took over, marking a successful exit that cemented the company's position in a larger digital transformation space.
Today, Puthiya serves as Vice President of Digital Solutions at Aziro, where he continues to champion practical AI adoption across non-tech sectors. His early bet on conversational intelligence — built years before OpenAI’s GPT series ignited the current boom — has cemented his reputation as one of India’s true AI pioneers.
This sentiment is echoed by his peers. Aniket Rajput, Neuroglee’s CEO, shares his experience of working with Puthiya: “Many vendors can build software. Very few leaders can translate an early-stage healthcare vision into a real, deployable, scalable product ecosystem. Mr. Puthiya did exactly that. His contributions materially strengthened Neuroglee’s ability to compete and grow in a highly demanding healthcare market.”
Gene Volfson, co-owner of Meadows Landscapes, concurs: “What distinguishes Damodar is his rare ability to bridge advanced technical expertise with practical business execution. Many professionals understand technology conceptually, but very few can implement solutions that work effectively within real operating businesses.”
Today, the industry faces one AI startup after another. Puthiya serves as a stand-out leader and a reminder that the best innovations come from founders who never lost sight of the basics.
Beyond looking to the next technological innovation, Puthiya demonstrates a clear understanding of every client and customer’s needs, alongside relentless execution and the courage to build what the market clearly needs — even when the rest of the world isn’t ready yet.
Puthiya knows what he wants for his legacy: to contribute on a global scale. As he puts it: “I think ultimately, today I'm extremely passionate about what's happening because of AI. But I want to make sure this AI does not remain only with technology companies — it should also reach everyone globally, including many non-tech people, and that they can take full advantage of this high-impact technology. More importantly, my personal life itself should inspire more and more tech leaders to come up and follow my steps.”
He’s a cut above the rest, and today, he continues to inspire future generations of tech founders who come from the same humble beginnings.
