Innovation for a Billion users - Conversation with Pramod Verma

In this edition of Future View we speak with the architect of the Aadhar platform and India Stack - Pramod Varma. The man who envisioned the Aadhar architecture recalls the challenges, outcome requirements, and choices that let to the creation of the world’s largest digital identity program and the massively successful waves of public service infrastructure APIs that followed like UPI, eKYC, Digilocker as well as vertical stacks for healthcare, education and skilling. Pramod also talks about what it takes to architect large scale systems, opportunities he sees for start-ups and what’s next for the India Stack.

Time stamps for ease of navigation:

Pramod’s background - finding his way from a small town to the US and back - 00:36

Finding his calling with the Aadhar project - 7:29

How to architecti a system for 1B+ users - 9:58

Overcoming odds and naysayers - “Doable technology but financially unviable” - 13:58

Digitizing education beyond the top of the pyramid - The real ed-tech dream - 22:47

Covid Crisis - digital Direct Benefit Transfers to 400M Indians - 30:18

Opportunity areas for founders - healthcare, education, logistics and skilling - 39:42

Can India Stack technology go global? - 49:10