# Cherub Kapoor

> I build, podcast, write, and paint. HBS MBA (2027). Based between Boston and Bombay.

Site: https://cherubkapoor.com · Paintings: https://cherubkapoor.com/art.html · This file: https://cherubkapoor.com/llms.txt

## Surface Area of Serendipity
_Thoughts I’m chewing on_

Writing is how I think. Chance encounters, shifting paths, AI and India, and what two years at HBS are teaching me.

Essays:
- [to create is to love](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com/p/to-create-is-to-love) (Sep 2026)
- [A Little Bit of Everything](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com/p/a-little-bit-of-everything) (Jun 2026)
- [Assorted Pedantry: Looking Back at a Semester](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com/p/assorted-pedantry-looking-back-at) (Jan 2026)
- [Fitting my Life Into Two Suitcases](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com/p/fitting-my-life-into-two-suitcases) (Aug 2025)

[Substack](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com)

## The Corridor
_Things I can’t stop talking about_

Conversations with the founders, investors and policymakers moving talent, capital and ideas between India and the US.

Episodes:
- S2 E5: Womansplaining AI policy, with Yukta Maheshwari (UChicago), 68 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e5-womansplaining-ai-policy-yukta-maheshwari-uchicago/id1879698922?i=1000792110686)
- S2 E4: The death of apps? Building the AI-native computer, with Nischith & Vinod (Alma), 63 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e4-the-death-of-apps-building-the-ai-native/id1879698922?i=1000786291164)
- S2 E3: The next frontier of intelligence, with Deep Karkhanis (Google DeepMind), 62 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e3-going-deep-with-deep-karkhanis-google-deepmind/id1879698922?i=1000781141753)
- S2 E2: Design in the age of AI, with Charmie Kapoor (Ex-Razorpay, Microsoft), 65 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e2-design-in-the-age-of-ai-charmie-kapoor-on/id1879698922?i=1000778286614)
- S2 E1: Software engineering in the age of AI, with Ashvin Nagarajan (TableIQ), 51 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s2-e1-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai/id1879698922?i=1000773823148)
- S1 E6: From a process nation to a product nation, with Manav Garg (Together Fund), 19 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e6-evolving-india-from-a-process-nation-to/id1879698922?i=1000771258207)
- S1 E5: Why India’s AI moment is just beginning, with Pratik Agarwal (Accel), 21 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e5-why-indias-ai-moment-is-just-beginning-pratik/id1879698922?i=1000767316281)
- S1 E4: Will AI kill India’s IT industry?, with Adit Jain (Leena AI), 43 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e4-will-ai-kill-indias-it-industry-adit-jain-leena-ai/id1879698922?i=1000762510902)
- S1 E3: What it takes to build global AI companies, with Deedy Das (Menlo Ventures), 24 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e3-what-it-takes-to-build-global-ai-companies-deedy/id1879698922?i=1000761248616)
- S1 E2: Building between India and America, with Adhitya Raghavan (Takt), 46 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e2-building-between-india-and-america-adhitya/id1879698922?i=1000759960187)
- S1 E1: Consumer tech 2.0: India’s AI wave, with Anant Vidur Puri (Bessemer), 40 min. [Listen](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1-e1-consumer-tech-2-0-indias-ai-wave-anant-vidur/id1879698922?i=1000751136407)

[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2UkZ1k1kdMfVVKPGckL6vI) · [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-corridor/id1879698922)

## Side projects
_Things I tinker with_

An operating system for my life, tools I built for myself, and tools for others.

The operating system:
- **AI Brain** [Private]: A cited knowledge base of my life that every AI tool I use reads first
- **Personal agent** [Building]: An agent that runs on my AI Brain and gets things done for me

Tools for my own life:
- **Savera** [Private]: How I consume knowledge: a private morning paper from 76 sources
- **CMO Brain** [Coming soon]: The marketing brain behind The Corridor, with a front end anyone can use to market their product
- **Rabbit Holes** [Coming soon]: One thing a week I fall into, then make something from it: a painting and a piece of music, all original

Tools for others:
- **TradeSetu** [Prototype]: Trade compliance for Indian exporters shipping to the US [Code](https://github.com/cherubkapoorvibecode/tradesetu)
- **AdmitWise** [Building]: Free, open-source help for MBA applicants

[GitHub](https://github.com/cherubkapoorvibecode)

## Paint
_The world through my eyes_

Years of trying every medium, and I keep coming back to impressionism.

Featured: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe · oil on canvas.

[All paintings](https://cherubkapoor.com/art.html) · [Behance](https://www.behance.net/cherubkapoor1)

## Music
_Tunes I keep humming_

I played the keyboard as a kid, I'm getting back to it now, and I'm learning the guitar. Music keeps pulling me in.

Songs I made:
- [Libérer Mon Âme](https://suno.com/song/957cf69a-1f1a-4820-a9d5-b04edabb7054)
- [बंदिशें तोड़ो (Break the Chains)](https://suno.com/song/5e102e16-dfff-43f4-8114-fd36d9867363)

On repeat: [cherub's atf](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQvU-HRJ-v64) (28 songs · YouTube Music)

## What I believe
_Things I hold on to_

Four things I try to live by, and a few I care about.

How I live:
- **Karma**: Do the work, let go of the fruit. (Karam karo, fal ki chinta mat karo.)
- **Dharma**: Your own path, even imperfect, beats someone else’s done perfectly.
- **Seva**: The less my life is about me, the more it means.
- **Stay alive**: Hold on to what makes you feel alive.
- [Read the full MyTake](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com/p/a-little-bit-of-everything)

What I care about:
- **AI’s next chapter is in emerging markets**: The real story is the adoption gap: who catches up, who gets displaced, and who builds the bridge. My bet is on AI-native companies for the old, fragmented industries everyone else overlooks. That’s the idea behind Dhanda Labs, a venture studio I’m building.
- **No sector can do it alone**: The hardest problems need public, private and non-profit at the same table. No single sector has the money, the mandate and the trust all at once.
- **Nature already solved it**: 3.8 billion years of R&D. Most problems have an answer in nature if you look closely, like a woodpecker’s skull and a better helmet.

[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherubkapoor/)

## Where I've been

- **Close to tech**: I started out judging companies. Then I built them: AI at Sarvam, moonshots at X, and now tools of my own.
- **At the intersections**: Policy at NITI Aayog, impact capital at Aavishkaar, frontier tech at Sarvam and X, a non-profit with [Bandhu](https://www.iitb-bandhu.org/). I do my best work where they overlap.
- **The US–India corridor**: Raised in India, learning in Boston. I follow what crosses between the two, and talk about it on The Corridor.
- **In the grassroots**: With farmers, rural entrepreneurs and India’s COVID response. I keep ending up where tech arrives last.

- **2025 – 27** · Harvard Business School · MBA (now). Co-President of the AI Club. Writing, podcasting, and testing what to build next.
- **2026** · X, the moonshot factory · Business Innovation. In Google’s breakthrough science division, supporting moonshots in AI for the physical world, AI for science and AI for good.
- **2025** · Sarvam · Builder. Helped build India's reasoning vertical from the ground up. Learned what it takes to make GenAI work on the ground.
- **2023 – 25** · Aavishkaar Capital · Investment Professional. Backed early-growth startups across agri, climate, health and deep tech. Fell for climate.
- **2022** · University of Tokyo · Beyond Next Ventures · Honda Scholar. Mapped where climate tech was missing money, between research and investing.
- **2021 – 22** · Strategy& · Associate. Learned how to break down a business problem, and not to fear 3 a.m. calls.
- **2018 – 21** · Early stints · NITI Aayog · Aarogya Setu · Johns Hopkins. India's AI strategy, a COVID contact-tracing model that traced 13M, and road safety at scale. Public, private and academia together can create wonders.
- **2017 – 21** · IIT Bombay · Mechanical Engineering. Wellness Cabinet Head, editorial board, sports council. Founded Bandhu.

Also: trained in fine arts with five-plus exhibitions · district-level tennis · 25+ countries backpacked.
Full history: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherubkapoor/)

## Paintings

### Learning to see (2014 – 2018)
Years of weekly lessons with Vikesh sir. Oils first: portraits, landscapes and animals, painted from reference.
- My sister, oil on canvas, 2014
- Self-portrait in a red tee, oil on canvas, 2014
- At Vic Falls, Zimbabwe, oil on canvas, 2014 – 15. My most-loved piece.
- Lanterns in the fall, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Running wild, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Golden mare, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Lion, in the round, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Where the river bends, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Two palms at sundown, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Still lake, snow peaks, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Hill village, oil on canvas, 2016 – 17
- Fox at dusk, oil on canvas, 2018

### Letting the water decide (2017 – 2019)
Less time at college, so watercolour: quicker, looser, and the paper does half the work.
- The grin, watercolour, 2017
- Unruly curls, watercolour, 2017 – 19
- Stag in sepia, watercolour, 2017 – 19
- Worn in, watercolour, 2017 – 19
- Violet dusk, watercolour, 2018
- Lone pine in snow, watercolour, 2019

### Face exploration (2020)
Faces, pulled apart and put back together.
- Blue profile, mixed media, 2020
- Mending, mixed media, 2020
- Tangled, ink, 2020
- Pride, mixed media, 2020
- Flowers for thoughts, ink, 2020
- One line, many faces, ink, 2020

### Bolder colour (2020)
Lockdown, and louder paint. Acrylics: faster, flatter, brighter.
- Bob Dylan, acrylic on canvas, 2020
- Leaf, up close, acrylic on canvas, 2020
- Six small worlds, acrylic on canvas, 2020

### Coming back to impressionism (2024 →)
After everything else, the style I keep returning to. New work coming here soon.
- New work coming soon.

## Elsewhere

- [Behance](https://www.behance.net/cherubkapoor1)
- [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2UkZ1k1kdMfVVKPGckL6vI)
- [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-corridor/id1879698922)
- [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQvU-HRJ-v64)
- [Substack](https://cherubkapoor.substack.com)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/cherubkapoorvibecode)
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherubkapoor/)

## Contact

LinkedIn is the fastest way to reach me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherubkapoor/