If money moves on UPI, talent should move on CRI – Amit Shah, Offee

Founded in 2017 by Mumbai-based entrepreneur Amit Shah, Offee is India’s first Talent Intelligence and Digital Assessment Platform. With its innovative offline-first IoT solution, Offee makes it possible to conduct secure, large-scale digital exams on students’ own devices without relying on internet connectivity or computer labs. Aligned with key national initiatives such as Digital India, NEP 2020, and Skill India Digital, Offee is redefining the future of assessments by ensuring fairness, sustainability, and a seamless link between learning and careers. Below is an email interaction between Amit Shah and correspondent, FYI9 News:

Prateek: What inspired you to build an offline-first assessment platform to tackle India’s infrastructure challenges in education?

Amit Shah: I grew up in a system that measured everyone with one blunt instrument: marks. In the real world, though, interviews rewarded something else-problem-solving, judgment, communication, ownership. The gap hit me early: I once cleared a cutoff I didn’t deserve, while a friend who knew the subject better didn’t make it. That day I realized we weren’t measuring what mattered, we were measuring what was convenient.

My first thought was simple: digitize exams so we can see question-wise and topic-wise mastery. Even a “70%” student might be 100% on two crucial concepts-gold for teachers and recruiters. Then the math punched me: a typical 10,000-student campus runs ~2,00,000 exam sittings a year, but many have only 200–300 computers and patchy internet. The blocker wasn’t software; it was infrastructure.

So we designed for the toughest room: one power socket, ANY & on ALL devices, zero internet. The result was Green Exam-a palm-sized IoT hub that creates a secure local network inside any classroom so students can take digital exams on their own devices-no internet, no labs. Papers are randomized, attempts are tamper-resistant, and results sync later. Not another app, but the exam backbone India could actually run anywhere. That’s how Offee began: with the idea that fairness and access shouldn’t depend on bandwidth.

Prateek: How did Offee go from a pilot project to enabling 3.5 million+ exams across institutions and enterprises?

Amit Shah: Our first big leap was at my alma mater, Somaiya. The night before, none of us slept. Outside the halls, a notice read “Mobile phones prohibited.” Inside, we were about to run a full digital exam on mobiles and laptops. It worked. Local coverage turned into conversations, and conversations turned into trust.

Support from the Maharashtra State Innovation Society opened the next door: a pilot with the State CET cell-around 62,000 engineering aspirants across 102 centers- we made classroom into an exam center- that to government scholl & college classrooms we used to convert them into digital exam center. That run forced us to professionalize everything: 30-minute invigilator training, role-based access, randomized multi-form papers, AI-assisted proctoring that flags and lets humans judge, and DPDP-aware logs/audit trails. We built SOPs that assumed things would go wrong-and made sure the exam would still go right.

Then COVID took our pipeline to zero. We held our nerve, fixed what we could, and returned to the field. Today we’ve delivered 3.5M+ digital exams across 100+ institutions (including PSUs like Railways/BSNL). Campuses report up to 80% lower cost vs CBT, ~60% vs pen-and-paper, faster result TAT, and thousands of faculty hours reclaimed from logistics. Scale didn’t come from a single headline-it came from a system that worked in the toughest rooms, again and again, until the map filled in.

Prateek: How is Offee working to bridge the exam-and-employability gap?

Amit Shah: Exams create signals-if you can capture and interpret them. We built Offee as a loop, not a point solution:

• Green Exam + AMS digitize delivery and operations (secure, offline-first, BYOD) and generate item-level/topic-level data.
• PLAT (Progressive Learning Ability Test) measures 21st-century capabilities every semester-problem-solving, communication, analytical thinking, collaboration, digital fluency-program-specific for B.Com, B.Sc. IT, Engineering, etc. We co-designed blueprints after speaking with Ecosystem of 200+ companies, then HR Managers, psychometricians and industry veterans so each role’s primary/secondary skills are reflected.
• Those multi-semester signals roll into the Career Readiness Index (CRI)-a CIBIL-like, verifiable employability signal recruiters can read alongside academics.

For students, it means a portable skills profile from first semester to first salary. For universities, NEP/NAAC-aligned outcome dashboards. For recruiters, cleaner shortlists based on verified capability, not just CGPA or college brand. In early deployments, employers reported fewer interview rounds and higher interview-to-offer conversions because they started with skills-fit, not guesswork.

Prateek: Why does solving this challenge represent a strong economic opportunity for the company?

Amit Shah: Because we replace a high-capex, high-friction status quo with a capex-light, repeatable model-and then convert assessment data into employability value:

• Unit economics that work: BYOD + offline delivery → up to 80% cheaper vs CBT and ~60% vs pen-and-paper, unlocking mass adoption beyond metro labs.
• Recurring revenue surface: multiple exam cycles per year + AMS subscriptions + PLAT/CRI analytics for campuses; CRI signals and APIs for recruiters.
• Land → Expand loops: run exams reliably (land), then expand to assessment ops and skill mapping (PLAT), then into CRI for recruitment and placement partners.
• Privacy-safe data moat: longitudinal, DPDP-aware skill signals increase product stickiness and pricing power while staying compliant.

In short, we create savings for institutions, speed and accuracy for employers, and mobility for students. When you improve outcomes for all three, the business becomes both defensible and scalable.

Prateek: How have government partnerships and policies like NEP 2020 and Skill India shaped Offee’s growth and helped deep-tech startups like yours scale faster?

Amit Shah: Policy set the direction; we built the operating system to deliver it.

• NEP 2020 pushes outcome-based education and continuous assessment. Our offline-first exam grid makes high-integrity delivery possible without internet/labs, and AMS generates NEP/NAAC-aligned reports.
• Skill India emphasizes employability. PLAT → CRI converts assessment data into verifiable skill signals recruiters can act on, bridging campus to career.
• DPDP (data protection) raises the bar on privacy and auditability. We designed DPDP-aware workflows-consent trails, role-based access, retention policies, and complete audit logs-so compliance is baked in, not bolted on.

Engagements with PSUs/state entities (e.g., Railways/BSNL) gave us credibility, procurement discipline, and state-scale SOPs. Recognition and support from bodies like the Maharashtra State Innovation Society helped open doors. For a deep-tech company, that combination-policy alignment + compliance readiness + proven public pilots-is rocket fuel. It shortens trust cycles and lets you scale safely.

One line I keep coming back to, If money moves on UPI, talent should move on CRI. Our job at Offee is to make exams fair and signals visible-so students aren’t reduced to a single number, and India isn’t reduced to guesswork.

Prateek: How does the Green Exam IoT hub function in practice, and what impact has it had on exam security and sustainability?

Amit Shah: Picture a classroom or any OPEN SPACE with one power socket, no network or infra needed, and a hundred anxious students. That’s where Green Exam was designed to work-because if it works there, it works anywhere.

In practice, the invigilator plugs a Book-sized IoT hub into power. In seconds it creates a secure local network inside the room. Students join with their own devices first on Airplane mode it can be phones, tablets, laptops and authenticate. The question papers are randomized, students can not access anything on his own device neither can go out of airplane mode or his eczema will be stopped Or submitted as per the SOP and the entire session is logged locally. When connectivity is available later, everything syncs to the cloud for results and reports. No internet is required during the exam, and no computer lab is needed-that’s the breakthrough.

Security isn’t a single feature; it’s a stack:

• Local delivery (no public internet) reduces exposure and leak vectors.
• Randomized multi-form papers limit collusion.
• AI-assisted proctoring flags suspicious patterns for human review (we never auto-penalize)- these also happens without internet only.
• Audit trails capture who did what, when, and on which device-crucial for fairness and compliance.
• DPDP-aware consent, role-based access, and retention policies keep data private by design.

Sustainability is the natural by-product. By shifting from paper to digital-even offline-digital-we’ve helped campuses save 3+ crore sheets of paper (≈8,000+ trees) with measured CO₂ reductions, while also cutting printing, logistics, and storage overhead. And because it’s BYOD and CAPEX-light, colleges don’t need to buy or maintain hundreds of PCs just to conduct exams. It’s quieter, greener, and harder to cheat.

Prateek: How is the Career Readiness Index helping institutions and recruiters evaluate students’ job readiness more effectively?

Amit Shah: A single score can’t carry a student’s story. CRI is our way to turn many small truths into one useful signal-without losing the nuance.

Here’s how it works:

1. PLAT runs every semester, measuring 21st-century capabilities that employers actually use-problem-solving, communication, analytical thinking, collaboration, digital fluency-with program-specific blueprints (B.Com ≠ B.Sc. IT ≠ Civil Engg).
2. Results combined with item/topic analytics from exams, PLAt score + Extra curricular students into to form a longitudinal profile.
3. All these data points rolls into the Career Readiness Index (CRI)-a CIBIL-like, verifiable employability signal that sits next to academics, not instead of it.

For universities, CRI powers NEP/NAAC-aligned dashboards-cohort trends, program gaps, outcome evidence, and targeted interventions. Professors don’t just see who scored 70; they see who is 100% on key topics and where remediation will move the needle.

For recruiters, CRI shortlists by verified capabilities rather than famous pin codes or CGPA cut-offs. In early deployments, hiring teams reported cleaner shortlists, fewer interview rounds, and higher interview-to-offer conversions because they started from skills fit, not guesswork. Students feel the difference too-“I’m more than a percentage” becomes proof, not a plea.

Prateek: How have recognitions like the Maharashtra government award and GITEX Africa showcase influenced Offee’s credibility and growth as a startup?

Amit Shah: In India, trust is the first purchase order. Recognition compresses trust timelines.

The Maharashtra State Innovation recognition validated that our idea wasn’t just novel-it fit a public-scale need. It opened doors to pilots, sharpened our procurement discipline, and gave us the credibility to sit with state bodies and PSUs.

Being showcased at GITEX Africa & Dubai puts us in rooms where “offline-first” isn’t a quirk- it’s survival and its super super secured – Internet is the cause of many exam hacks. It brought inbound interest from education ministries, universities, and integrators across geographies that resemble India’s infrastructure reality: Africa, parts of the Middle East, Southeast Asia. Those conversations didn’t just add pipeline; they pressure-tested our product for multilingual, low-resource environments-exactly the muscle you want when you scale.

Awards don’t run exams. But they lower friction, shorten due diligence, and attract partners who can help you do the hard work faster.

Prateek: As a founder, what have been your biggest challenges in convincing institutions to adopt a new model-and what kept you motivated?

Amit Shah: The hardest part wasn’t technology. It was belief.

• “Phones are prohibited” is a sign on many classroom doors; asking faculty to run exams on those devices requires patience and proof.
• Risk aversion is rational: one failed exam can derail an entire academic cycle.
• Sales cycles are long; committees are many; budgets are tight.
• Perception that “digital exam = internet + labs” is entrenched; we had to unlearn that with people.

We earned trust the slow way: pilots that worked in the toughest rooms, SOPs that made invigilators comfortable in 30 minutes, war-rooms for Day-1 support, DPDP-aware compliance from the start, and a founder’s promise to stay on campus until the last script was submitted.

What kept me going were the human moments. A faculty member telling us, “I got my evening back.” A “70% student” seeing 100% mastery on a topic and smiling like a door just opened. The first time a recruiter said, “This signal saved us three rounds.” Those are small sentences. They carry a lot of miles.

Prateek: What is your long-term vision for Offee in India’s education ecosystem, and how do you see it expanding globally?

Amit Shah: Exams were the doorway. Employability is the house.

In India, our vision is to be the talent infrastructure that links fair exams → fine-grained skill signals → CRI → better jobs-for every college, not just the privileged few. That means:

• An offline-first exam backbone any campus can run, anywhere.
• PLAT+ Academics + Extra Circular → CRI as India’s skills signal that recruiters and lenders can trust, aligned with NEP 2020 and Skill India.
• DPDP-aware data flows that make trust a feature, not a footnote.
• Open APIs/OSS so partners can build student-centric products on top of the grid.

Globally, the same conditions repeat: countries with uneven connectivity, CAPEX-constrained campuses, and a push toward outcomes. Our path is to partner with ministries, public universities, and local integrators in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, localize language and policy, and bring BYOD, offline-first integrity where it’s most useful. Talent is the world’s scarcest resource; the ability to measure and move it fairly is a global problem.

I began this journey because a percentage once told the wrong story about me and my friend. The long-term vision is simple: make talent visible-topic by topic, skill by skill-so opportunity finds the right people, at home and across the world.

For any authored article/press release and interview opportunities please write to us at pr@fyi9.com.