Future of Smart Homes & Assistants: Exploring the evolving role of AI-powered seamless automations
This evolution promises personalized, efficient, and intuitive living spaces, transforming homes into proactive, intelligent assistants.
The concept of a "smart home" is changing quickly, progressing from basic remote controls to an ecosystem powered by artificial intelligence that is genuinely intuitive. We can now think about houses that proactively control energy use, adapt to our preferences, and anticipate our demands.
Today we have Swithin D’Silva, Director of International Business at Yasmina, Yango Middle East, for an exclusive interview, exploring the topic of the most advanced AI assistants that are opening the door for smooth automation as it digs into the future of smart homes.
Swithin is a global business development and marketing leader with over 20 years of experience in driving growth for technology organisations, particularly in the Middle East. As Director of International Business at Yasmina, he leads business development, strategic positioning, and partnerships, playing a key role in shaping Yango Group’s growth and innovation strategy and contributing to its expansion into new markets.
Swithin,
Welcome to Business Lobbies!
We appreciate your effort and the time you have taken for this interview. In today’s discussion, we'll have a look at how advanced AI technologies and modern language processing are coming together to build truly intelligent assistants for living spaces that improve sustainability, comfort, and security, and how Yango – Yasmina is a key player in it.
I’ll begin with the questions now.
1. What do you think the future holds for smart homes, and how do you see Yango being a key player in it?
Swithin - The future of smart homes belongs to offering seamless, personalized experiences for the users. Smart speakers and LLM-powered AI assistants will be transforming human-tech interactions by delivering personalized experiences. For homeowners, it means having a companion that recognises their voice, plays their favourite music, and controls their smart home devices the way they want. As smart home hubs, Yasmina speakers do not only that, but also adapt to individual needs, creating scenarios such as adjusting lighting or scheduling devices like alarm clocks.
With universal standards making smart home devices more inter-compatible, smart speakers are becoming essential to the smart living ecosystem. Yasmina smart speakers enable users to have a superior smart living experience with capabilities powered by a culturally aware LLM. Taking into account the above, our products are designed to create an immersive, intuitive experience that blends technology and human-like interaction.
At Yango Group, we leverage the latest global tech innovations, such as advanced large language models, while creating hyperlocal AI solutions that meet the unique needs of each market where we operate. Yasmina, our AI assistant, is a prime example. Developed with insights from local content experts, Yasmina engages in human-like conversations in Arabic and English.
2. What priorities do you consider to ensure customers receive personalised and easy-to-use smart home assistants?
Swithin - Among our top priorities, the first is delivering a personalized, intuitive experience for users of our smart home assistants. We focus on integrating hyperlocal AI that understands and adapts to the cultural, linguistic, and lifestyle preferences of each customer. Simplicity is key — our devices are designed to be user-friendly, with seamless setup and intuitive controls. By combining personalization, ease of use, and trust, we aim to provide smart assistants that truly enhance everyday life while catering to individual needs.
Our key priorities include:-
> Leveraging the power of AI: Our smart speakers are equipped with the human-like AI assistant Yasmina. Powered by a proprietary large language model (LLM), Yasmina engages in human-like conversations in both Arabic and English. With Yasmina speakers, users can experience AI that feels like a companion — whether providing cooking instructions for Arabic coffee, generating new ideas, or clarifying complex concepts.
> Personalised content: Yasmina can identify up to four family members by voice and adapt to their preferences. It remembers their likes and dislikes and suggests songs they might enjoy based on their tastes. The AI assistant can recite surahs from the Holy Quran, play Adhans, and tell you the date according to the Hijri calendar. It also knows the prayer times for any city in the world.
> User-friendly interaction: Yasmina can display information such as the time and weather and communicate emotions on the LED screen of the smart speakers. It also uses dynamic lighting to match the mood of the music or interactions. Yasmina speakers can act as smart home hubs, enabling users to control their environment through voice commands — from controlling devices to setting up personalised schedules.
3. In what ways does your organisation set itself apart from its competitors in the smart home/smart assistant market?
Swithin - What sets us apart in the smart home and smart assistant market is a combination of continuous innovation, adaptability, and deep local integration.
Our range of Yasmina speakers, including the brand-new Yasmina Max, are designed to seamlessly integrate into the smart home environment, delivering not just convenience, but also personalised, AI-powered assistance. Users can easily manage their tasks hands-free — through voice commands. This means that whether you’re cooking, getting ready for work, or simply multitasking at home, you can play music or access information without interrupting what you’re doing. This is a significant advantage over traditional speakers. Additionally, Yasmina smart speakers feature a powerful AI assistant that goes beyond just playing music. Unlike standard speakers, our devices come equipped with search capabilities and AI features that transform the speaker into a full-fledged home assistant, enabling it to help manage everyday tasks, generate new ideas, or clarify complex concepts. As an AI-driven entertainer, Yasmina can suggest songs based on your likes and dislikes, as well as play music that suits your mood. You can simply say, “Yasmina, play relaxing music”.
Continuous innovation and improvement are at the core of our innovation approach. Yasmina’s AI evolves every day, learning from its interactions, refining its responses, and enhancing its ability to deliver human-like conversations in both Arabic and English. This ability to learn and improve over time ensures that Yasmina remains relevant, adaptive, and responsive to the needs of its users.
4. How do you anticipate smart assistants influencing the future of work, both at your organisation and across industries?
Swithin - We believe that AI-powered smart assistants are increasingly shaping personalised interactions in homes as well as in businesses. According to a recent report by Research and Markets, the global smart speaker market was valued at USD 7.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to surge to USD 49.5 billion by 2030. This growth is driven by the rising demand for smart home devices, advancements in AI capabilities, and improvements in voice recognition technology.
The future of workplaces will see smart assistants becoming essential business tools, with AI-powered speakers like Yasmina driving efficiency and customer engagement. Companies are adopting these devices to streamline operations, boost innovation, and enhance connectivity, leading to increased profitability. Smart speakers equipped with hyperlocal AI offer a distinct competitive edge, enabling businesses to deliver personalised, context-aware experiences that foster deeper customer loyalty. As AI evolves to be more human-centric, products like Yasmina align with local community needs, creating meaningful interactions and setting new standards for AI-driven business growth and customer satisfaction.
With this, we come to the end of this valuable interview. We thank Swithin D’Silva for sharing his constructive thoughts on the topic of “Future of Smart Homes & Assistants: Exploring the evolving role of AI-powered designs and innovations for the seamless automation of our homes”.
We wish him all the very best in all his future endeavours and hope he remains a beacon of light in the world of AI and smart-tech, with a vision of technology that enhances human capabilities and creates a more connected society.
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