In the global race for AI dominance, Africa has often been treated as an afterthought. Most voice AI models struggle with the nuances of Nigerian accents, and the infrastructure required to run them often comes with high costs and even higher latency.
Joshua Barimon Firima, a veteran entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the software space, is looking to change that with KrosAI. In a recent interview on Tech Lens, Barimon laid out a bold vision for the future of voice AI, one where technology doesn’t just work, but truly understands the local context.
More Than Just a Chatbot: The AI Distribution Layer
While many startups are racing to build the “smartest” brain, KrosAI is focusing on the delivery layer. Barimon describes KrosAI as the essential infrastructure, the “distribution rails” that connect sophisticated AI agents to the real world via local phone numbers.
“We are the enabler,” Barimon explains. “Small businesses, developers, and even governments can use our APIs to provision local phone numbers for their existing AI agents. We bring the AI from the servers to the last mile.”
Why KrosAI is Winning Where Giants Struggle
The AI space is crowded, but KrosAI has carved out a “Category King” status by solving problems that Silicon Valley giants like Twilio or OpenAI often overlook. Here is how they compare:
| Feature | Global Giants | KrosAI |
| Latency | ~800 milliseconds | < 20 milliseconds |
| Local Numbers | High cost (up to $55/mo) | Affordable (~$3/mo) |
| Accent Support | Struggles with local dialects | Optimized for Nigerian/Local accents |
| Environment | Optimized for high-speed web | Built for noisy, low-bandwidth reality |
By keeping servers “closer to home,” KrosAI ensures that a customer calling from a busy market in Lagos or a quiet street in Accra experiences crystal-clear, near-instant communication.
Built for the African Reality
Barimon’s journey to KrosAI wasn’t accidental. After a successful exit with DFY Hero and a stint in Fintech, he realized that for AI to be truly transformational in Africa, it had to be accessible.
“We saw that AI didn’t sound like us,” Barimon says. “You had to buy a smartphone to interact with it or speak in a certain way for the AI to hear your accent. We wanted a solution that has that transformational effect without requiring a total lifestyle change from the user.”
KrosAI is model-agnostic, meaning it works with any AI (whether built on OpenAI, ElevenLabs, or local models like YarnGPT). This allows businesses to keep their current workflows while upgrading their reach.
Efficiency Over Replacement
A major concern in the AI era is job displacement. However, Barimon is clear about KrosAI’s mission: Support, don’t replace. By handling the “first layer” of customer support with an uptime of 99.95%, KrosAI allows human teams to focus on complex escalations. The platform also provides AI-driven recordings and insights, giving businesses a data-rich look into what their customers actually need.
The Road Ahead: 10 Countries in 12 Months
KrosAI isn’t slowing down. After securing VC funding in the US and refining their tech stack, the goal for the next year is aggressive expansion.
“In the next 12 months, KrosAI should be live in more than 10 countries,” Barimon predicts. The vision is a single-click KYC process that allows a Nigerian Fintech to provision local numbers in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and even the UAE instantly.
As Barimon puts it, KrosAI is doing the “heavy lifting” of bridging telco connections with AI, allowing founders and businesses to focus on what they do best: delivering their product.
