Muhamad Zaid

I am a Master’s student at Indek, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, funded by an LPDP scholarship from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, and the founder of Karinov.co.id, a digital product studio which I established in 2017. The studio focuses on applied ai and real-time software systems, specifically transforming open-source models into reliable services that anyone can use.

Previously, I built and operated more than 20 web and Android products, including Sound of Text, a free text-to-speech app with over 10k downloads and 2,5k monthly active users, as well as SL Stockholm, a live bus and metro map built on top of the SL Trafiklab real-time API. When artificial intelligence transformed the content monetisation industry (which was the main source of income for my studio) I shifted my focus to AI-based products. My current project, a voice recognition app, runswhisper.cpp on my own server behind a FastAPI and Nginx stack, with the inference process serialised to stay within CPU and memory limits, and the results sent directly to users whilst they are being processed.

Through Karinov, I have gained experience in building and selling my digital platforms, having achieved several exits, including acquisitions byPinhome.idand a multinational company via theFlippaplatform. I'm also part of a stealth startup in Stockholm that is developing AI and computer vision-based smart devices to assess soft commodities like coffee to automate objective coffee grading and digital quality reports.

I am particularly interested in how lightweight AI models and distributed architectures can maintain reliable services with limited resources, a question I wish to explore further to help the Indonesian population of 300 million, many of whom live in remote areas with limited access to technology and healthcare services. Outside of work, I help businesses and young people in Indonesia to catch up in digital skills, collaborating with organisations such as SMEs with support from Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of Trade.

If I'm not working or shipping, I'm likely hunting for another playground to explore with my children around Stockholm.