Mr. RISHABH KUMAR, IIT Bombay, India.
Dr. Rishabh Kumar is a dedicated researcher in the field of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay.ย With an academic and professional journey marked by interdisciplinary innovation, Rishabh specializes in developing ASR systems for low-resource Indian languagesโa significant contribution to bridging the linguistic divide in India. ๐ฌ His work integrates cutting-edge techniques from machine learning and linguistics, including the use of large language models (LLMs) to enhance cross-lingual recognition. Having contributed to several high-impact international conferences such as EMNLP, INTERSPEECH, and ACL, he is also an active reviewer and volunteer in the global research community. ๐ His robust combination of academic expertise, technical skill, and social impact makes him a strong candidate for research excellence recognition.
ย Profile
Orcid
๐ Education
Dr. Rishabh began his academic journey with a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad (2012โ2016). During this time, he worked on innovative mobile-based solutions for public communication, laying the foundation for his later work in speech and language processing. He is currently in the final stages of his PhD at IIT Bombay (2019โPresent), under the mentorship of Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan and Prof. Preethi Jyothi. ๐งโ๐ซ His doctoral work is focused on developing scalable and accurate ASR systems for low-resource Indian languages, including Sanskrit and Hindi. His educational path has been marked by intellectual curiosity, practical innovation, and consistent academic excellence. ๐ง His formal training in machine learning, ASR, and NLP has equipped him with a deep understanding of both theoretical and applied aspects of speech recognition.
๐ผ Experience
Dr. Rishabhโs professional experience reflects a blend of industry innovation and academic depth. Most recently, he worked as a Research Intern at Samsung R&D, Bangalore (2023โ2024), contributing to multilingual ASR development using large language models for improved recognition of proper nouns across languages.ย Earlier, he served as Technical Head at Gartley618 Technologies, where he developed cryptocurrency trading algorithms. ๐น He also led backend and mobile development for Pocketin, which was later acquired, and built Android solutions at Wrig Nanosystems for health diagnostics. ๐ฒ Across all roles, Rishabh has shown a knack for building robust and scalable solutions using a diverse tech stackโranging from C++ and Python to Swift and Hibernate. ๐งโ๐ป His technical and leadership experiences in both startups and research labs underscore his versatility and problem-solving mindset.
๐ฌ Research Interests
Dr. Rishabhโs research interests lie at the confluence of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), low-resource language modeling, cross-lingual natural language processing, and LLM-based linguistic intelligence. ๐ง His PhD research explores how linguistically informed models can drastically improve ASR performance for Indian languages like Sanskrit and Hindi, which suffer from limited annotated resources. ๐ His recent focus is on integrating large language models (LLMs) to improve named entity recognition and reduce ASR errors across different languages. He also explores speech-text alignment, post-editing frameworks, and automated dataset verification systems such as SpeechQC-Agent.ย Through his innovative contributions, Rishabh aims to democratize access to voice technologies and foster inclusivity in AI. His research not only advances academic frontiers but also has real-world applications in governance (e.g., SansadTV), healthcare, and public communication.
๐ Awards
Dr. Rishabh Kumar has consistently demonstrated excellence across academic, professional, and creative pursuits. ๐ฅ In 2025, he was honored with the International Research Excellence Award from Book of Award. ๐
He received a Microsoft Research India Travel Grant in 2022 to attend INTERSPEECH, where he presented two notable papers on Sanskrit ASR and ASR error correction.ย Earlier achievements include winning 2nd prize in a state-level Android App contest by the Jharkhand Government and 1st prize at the 44th National Multilingual Theatre Competition, showcasing his linguistic fluency and creative thinking.ย As a student, he excelled in NTSE, Macmillan Olympiads, and various Math Olympiads, consistently ranking among the top. ๐งฎ These recognitions reflect a lifelong commitment to intellectual rigor, creativity, and technological impact.
๐ Publication Top Notes
Linguistically informed automatic speech recognition in Sanskrit,
Beyond Common Words: Enhancing ASR Cross-Lingual Proper Noun Recognition Using LLMs,
Linguistically Informed Post-processing for ASR Error correction in Sanskrit,
Vฤgyojaka: An Annotating and A Post-Editing Tool for ASR,
Automatic Speech Recognition in Sanskrit: A New Corpus & Modelling Insights,
Popular Acronym Retrieval Through Text Messaging (PARTM),
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Conclusion
Dr. Rishabh Kumar exemplifies the qualities of a future leader in speech and language technologies. ๐งโ๐ฌ His impactful research on low-resource ASR, multilingual data annotation, and post-editing tools contributes significantly to both academic knowledge and real-world application. ๐ His work addresses pressing challenges in language inclusion, digital accessibility, and resource inequality, aligning with national and global goals for AI for all. ๐ก His innovation, supported by strong academic training, professional experience, and numerous recognitions, underscores his potential to drive transformative change in computational linguistics. ๐ We strongly recommend Rishabh Kumar for the Best Researcher Award or similar honors that recognize both academic merit and societal relevance.