Beyond Passive AI: Aina Targets Action

The landscape of wearable and desk-bound artificial intelligence hardware is increasingly crowded, with numerous companies fighting to capture user data through passive recording devices. While many startups prioritize gadgets that listen or watch, a new player is pivoting toward technology that aims to bridge the gap between AI context and direct user control.

The Pivot Toward Actionable Interfaces

Aina, a startup with bases in Bengaluru and San Francisco, is positioning itself against the wave of passive capture devices. Founded by Apoorv Shankar, a former VP of Hardware at Ultrahuman, the company is moving away from the common "always-listening" design philosophy. Instead, Aina intends to build hardware that functions as a command center for AI agents rather than just a recorder.

Shankar previously managed LazyCo, a venture focused on hardware interface design, which was eventually acquired by Ultrahuman. Drawing from his experience, Shankar sought to address what he perceived as a fundamental lack of utility in recent AI hardware releases.

I left Ultrahuman last year because I was just super curious about the space of AI interfaces. Devices like Rabbit and Humane Pin had launched, and I had my own disappointments with them. However, I was just excited that we are seeing interfaces being a thing now. And as an engineer turned product designer, this was the hottest thing I could imagine myself building.

— Apoorv Shankar, founder of Aina

Dune and the Hardware Ecosystem

The company’s initial product, Dune, is a context-aware macro keypad featuring three keys. It allows users to manage inputs—such as microphone and camera access during meetings—or execute custom scripts based on active applications. The development process involved experimenting with other designs, including Radiance, a tabletop remote for video calls, and Shift, a single-tap button for triggering AI agents.

• The company raised $5.5 million in a round led by Redstart Labs (Infoedge, India) and 360 ONE.
• Additional participation came from MIXI Global Investments, Antler, and the Blume Founders Fund.
• Individual backers include WhatsApp head Kunal Shah and Razorpay co-founders Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar.

Refining the Agentic Control Model

Aina has decided to prioritize the launch of Dune based on user interest during early testing phases. By observing how users engage with the device in real-world scenarios, the company aims to determine which tasks are most essential for automation. This data will inform the design of future hardware, which is expected to move further away from recording and toward high-level control.

Regarding the company’s future direction, Shankar noted:

I think you have enough context, you have in your phone and your laptop all the time, and we haven’t even started using that well. We are building an action-oriented device that will use the context to help you control and trigger workflows.

— Apoorv Shankar, founder of Aina

Implications for Future AI Workflows

For knowledge workers and developers, the emergence of these dedicated hardware controllers highlights a shift in how AI tools like Claude Code and Codex are managed. As the industry grapples with the lack of a standardized form factor—be it rings, pins, or keypads—the value is migrating from simple data collection to functional execution. Companies that successfully create intuitive ways to trigger AI agents, rather than just accumulating data, are likely to define the next generation of productivity hardware.