SqaaS, an Artificial intelligence (AI) startup backed by ixigo, has launched a new platform called ShellBot that lets anyone create their own personal AI assistant that works 24/7.
The launch comes as ixigo deepens its push into AI investments, having acquired a 45.02% stake in the Spain-based SqaaS in February 2026.
"SqaaS is the first investment in this direction. There are more in the pipeline. We have carved out an internal fund and will be making more investments in AI companies globally — not just India. Boundaries do not matter anymore. Indian companies are competing with Silicon Valley companies and vice versa. All the lines have blurred," Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder and Group Co-CEO of ixigo told Moneycontrol.
He described it as a superhuman genie. “People have used this to control their entire home automation system… run their marketing stack autonomously… even create influencers that negotiate brand deals on Instagram. It literally is an invisible, superhuman genie.”
What all can an autonomous AI agent platform do?
It is like having a digital employee that can reply to emails, schedule meetings, do research, write code, manage daily tasks and ping you across apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Slack or Teams.
"Whatever the agent is doing, it needs some decision-making from you — do you want a table for three or four people? And you say three, and it books and confirms," Kumar said.
He added that even while coding agentically, the agent writes code but might get blocked at decision points like which database to use, which strategy to implement. "If you are not sitting at your machine, you cannot take those calls. With channels like WhatsApp or Slack, you can be at the gym, your agent asks a question, you reply on WhatsApp, and it carries on on your machine at home," he added.
So, instead of just asking AI questions, users can now get an AI that actually works for them continuously in the background. It is like having a personal computer in the cloud—rather than sharing it with others like typical AI tools.
Bridging a gap in the AI ecosystem
The intent behind launching ShellBot was to give access to an AI agent platform to all from individual users automating personal tasks to enterprises running large-scale workflows.
"We wanted something that individuals or small businesses — people with no technical expertise — could use. These are actually the people most eager to use AI tools because they feel left out by this technology revolution," Kumar said, adding that through ShellBot this is gap they want to bridge.
He said the key is that anyone can set it up in 30 seconds, the server is up, agent is up, and in the whole process, users can even connect their WhatsApp by scanning a QR code.
"You can start messaging it and using it right away. It is also model-agnostic which means if you want to use OpenAI, Google, whatever you prefer, you can select it. No vendor lock-in. You can connect it to Slack, Notion, Gmail, Google Docs — anything you use."
ShellBot subscription-based solution plans starts at $29 per month and a pro plan costs $59 a month.
Security and control at the core
A key differentiator for ShellBot, Kumar said, is its 'secure by default' architecture, designed to address growing concerns around AI misuse and unintended actions.
"We wanted to build something that anyone can set up in 30 seconds. No need for hardware — we auto-provision it in the cloud for users. There are no security risks because we have hardened everything completely. It is a virtual private server with all possible security hardening and even we cannot access it. Data is encrypted end-to-end," he noted.
Betting big on the ‘AI infrastructure’ layer
Kumar said the company sees the current moment as a pivotal shift akin to the early internet era. “It is almost like the dot-com moment… every piece of software will be rewritten with AI — all products, completely rewritten,” he said.
He added that falling costs and faster development cycles are accelerating demand. “What a company could do in five years, they can now do in one year… the company’s spending is effectively going 5x,” he said, pointing to both efficiency gains and rising software consumption.
AI reshaping jobs and roles
Kumar also acknowledged the broader implications of agentic AI on jobs, particularly routine roles.
“The roles that will become most redundant are those where people were trained… to do things that did not require agency, ownership, creativity, or curiosity,” he said.
He argued that traditional coding roles are already evolving. “Engineers are not writing code anymore… they are building systems and infrastructure that allow others to use AI,” he said, adding that boundaries between roles like engineers, designers, and product managers are blurring.
However, he emphasised that AI will not eliminate the need for people entirely. “Somebody needs to orchestrate these systems, validate outputs, and build evaluation frameworks,” he noted.
Productivity over layoffs
Kumar suggested that for lean organisations, AI could be a growth multiplier rather than a cost-cutting tool.
“For a company of 500 people, if we become 2.5x more productive, why let go of 250 people?… the opportunity is to grow faster,” he said.
At the same time, he acknowledged that larger organisations with inefficiencies may see workforce reductions as AI exposes redundancies.
The road ahead
With ShellBot, SqaaS is betting on a future where AI agents are not just assistants but autonomous systems embedded into everyday workflows.
As enterprises and individuals increasingly look to automate complex tasks, platforms that combine ease of use, security, and control could define the next phase of AI adoption—turning what was once experimental into everyday infrastructure.
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