Haber is a company with a mission to help industries become sustainable by converting data to actionable intelligence. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Haber co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Priya Venkat to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Priya Venkat’s Background
What is Priya Venkat’s background? Venkat said:
“I’m the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Haber. With over a decade of experience in the pulp and paper industry, I’ve always been passionate about using technology to revolutionize manufacturing practices and drive sustainability. Before co-founding Haber, I worked with industry leaders like Ecolab, Zynga, and Infosys, where I honed my skills in product, marketing, finance and strategy. These experiences and my MBA from NMIMS Mumbai have shaped my vision for Haber. It’s been incredibly fulfilling to see how our mission to transform industrial efficiency aligns with real-world impact.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Venkat shared:
“The idea of Haber originated from a shared vision: Leveraging technology to drive efficiency and sustainability. From our experience in the process manufacturing space, we could see how traditional manual methods led to inefficiencies ultimately driving up costs and hampering the quality of end products. This also led to the wastage of critical natural resources like energy and water and increased the carbon footprint. We founded Haber to resolve all this by harnessing the power of AI to enable data-driven decision-making.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Venkat reflected:
“My favorite memory is always around seeing our technology make a real-world impact. When we see customers realizing cost savings or coming up with better quality products and we achieve milestones together, it’s certainly a moment of pride.”
“When your customers become your number one advocates, you know you are doing it the right way!”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Venkat explained:
“Our flagship technology, eLIXA, is an AI-driven platform that enables real-time data collection, accurate chemical dosing, and optimized process conditions.”
“We have also built Kaiznn, an advanced planning and scheduling software combined with a special focus on deckle matching.”
“Mt.Fuji is our process intelligence software that integrates data from varied platforms and derives meaningful insights via batch comparisons and root cause analysis. The aim is not only to analyze historical data, but forecast and take preemptive measures.”
“Our solutions have been instrumental in reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and promoting sustainability in industries like pulp, paper, packaging, and water treatment.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Venkat and the team faced in building the company? Venkat acknowledged:
“There was skepticism around substituting manual processes with AI during the early days of our journey. However, we overcame these through measurable results – showing customers how our solutions save cost, increase production, and reduce rejects, process variations, and chemical consumption. It’s all about earning trust with outcomes.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Venkat cited:
“One major milestone was saving over 25 billion liters of water for our customers—a tangible impact reinforcing our commitment to sustainability. Expanding our footprint beyond India to the Middle East and Africa has also been a defining moment, along with securing partnerships with over 100+ industry leaders.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Venkat about customer success stories, she revealed:
“One of our notable deployments has been the case of a leading paper manufacturer struggling with energy efficiency and high raw materials consumption. After implementing eLIXA, they saw a 16% reduction in energy consumption and recovered more than 10% high value raw materials. These results strengthened their sustainability initiatives and boosted their operational KPIs.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Venkat affirmed:
“Our ability to bring together AI and process expertise to put forward actionable insights to enable preemptive action sets us apart. While competitors focus on either collecting real time data, analyzing it or ensuring automated control, Haber has integrated all three to provide and end to end solution for all your efficiency concerns.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Venkat concluded:
“Haber is all set to expand its footprint in the North American market. We also plan to increase traction in other process manufacturing industries such as mining, food and beverage etc.”
