Vikram Sampath

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT VIKRAM SAMPATH

Historian | Bestselling Author | Language Tech Entrepreneur | Founder – NAAV AI, FIHCR & AIM | Fellow – Royal Historical Society (UK)| Cultural CuratorI am a multidisciplinary professional with deep roots in Indian history & culture, now channeling that experience into AI innovation to make knowledge accessible across languages. As a bestselling author, historian, festival curator, & founder of institutions, I work at the confluence of research, storytelling, technology & nation-building.My historical work (10 best-selling books so far) includes acclaimed biographies such as Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past & Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, Gauhar Jaan: The Life & Times of a Musician, Voice of the Veena: S. Balachander, Tipu Sultan: A Saga of Mysore\'s Interregnum & Bravehearts of Bharat, as also Splendours of Royal Mysore & Waiting for Shiva: Unearthing the Truth of Kashi\'s Gyanvapi- each driven by a passion to bring unsung Indian voices and forgotten vignettes from our past back into public memory. This dedication to uncovering & preserving India’s civilizational ethos led me to establish the Foundation for Indian Historical and Cultural Research (FIHCR) in 2024 with the visionary support of Bhavish Aggarwal (CEO, Ola)-a think-tank that promotes rigorous, rooted, & inclusive scholarship in Indian history. India\'s first online digital sound archive- Archive of Indian Music (AIM) that was established with the help of TV Mohandas Pai is part of FIHCR. We seek to foster new scholarship in Indian history through research projects housed in educational institutions, archival work, our flagship Sir Jadunath Sarkar Fellowship for Indian History & YUVA to make history interesting & accessible for children & young adults. In 2025, with the early support of Bhavish Aggarwal & Asha Jadeja Motwani I co-founded NAAV AI (Navigating AI Across Vocabularies) with Sandeep Singh to solve a critical challenge: the linguistic divide in India’s content economy. With 22 official languages & hundreds of dialects, India needs a scalable and culturally sensitive way to deliver content in people’s mother tongues. Hence at NAAV AI we seek to use AI-powered, but human-refined translation & narration of books & audio from English content to Indian languages. As the founder of both FIHCR & NAAV AI, my mission is clear: to decolonize knowledge, democratize access & build India\'s multilingual digital future. Whether through archival work or artificial intelligence, my goal is to ensure that India speaks — and is heard — in its own languages.Let’s build together!