SmartSoC, founded by Bharath Desareddy in 2016, has emerged as a standout in the highly competitive chip design industry. The Indian-based company operates from five design centers across India and has a workforce of 1,250 employees. With a presence in eight countries, SmartSoC collaborates with 55 major clients in the semiconductor sector, including industry heavyweights like AMD, Google, Samsung, Texas Instruments, and NXP. “Essentially, if you name a company in the silicon space, we are likely working with them,” says Bharath.
A major milestone for SmartSoC is its partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as part of the TSMC Design Center Alliance (DCA). This partnership boosts the company’s credibility globally, according to Bharath. He emphasizes the challenges in chip design projects, noting that even small errors can lead to significant financial losses due to high fabrication costs.
Expanding into Artificial Intelligence
In addition to semiconductor design, SmartSoC is making strides in artificial intelligence through its AI studio, Hinton, named after AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton. Saurabh Chakraborty, the company’s VP and head of AI, is leading efforts to compress large AI models to fit devices with limited memory and processing power.
Saurabh explains that the company is working to bring AI capabilities to devices that don’t rely on internet access or cloud services—currently a feature reserved for high-end AI phones. “This innovation could be a game-changer for both the electronics and AI industries,” he says, positioning it as a key development for the future of AI-powered devices.
