# Samay Kohli

> Samay Kohli is the co-founder and CEO of Budy and a co-founder, former CEO and board member of GreyOrange. A BITS Pilani graduate in mechanical engineering and economics, he worked on the AcYut humanoid robotics project before founding GreyOrange with Akash Gupta in 2011. His career has moved from student robotics and warehouse automation to AI tools for enterprise sales workflows. He received Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 and global MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 recognition in 2016.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Budy
- **Organizations:** Budy, GreyOrange, Team AcYut, BITS Pilani
- **Nationality:** Indian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, M.Sc. (Hons.) in Economics, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
- **Known for:** Co-founded GreyOrange and led it as CEO for twelve years before its 2023 leadership transition., Participated in AcYut, one of India's early indigenous humanoid robot projects., Forbes Asia 30 Under 30, Enterprise Technology, 2016.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Worked on the AcYut humanoid robotics team at BITS Pilani.
- **2008** — Publicly discussed plans to build a robotics-kit company after college.
- **2010** — Graduated from BITS Pilani with mechanical engineering and economics degrees.
- **2011** — Co-founded GreyOrange with Akash Gupta, initially around robotics education, then warehouse products.
- **2016** — Named to Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 and the global MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 list.
- **2022** — Received BITS Pilani Distinguished Alumnus recognition in Entrepreneurship, documented in its 2022 annual report.
- **2023-04** — GreyOrange announced Akash Gupta as CEO; Kohli transitioned to the board.
- **2023-11** — Described the conclusion of a six-month sabbatical, relocation to the Bay Area and work at Starbucks in Palo Alto.
- **2024-03** — Introduced Budy as his next venture in a public LinkedIn announcement.
- **2024-10** — Budy announced $4.2 million in pre-seed funding led by RTP Global.
- **2026-02** — Discussed digital workers and enterprise software on The Neon Show.

## Achievements

- Co-founded GreyOrange and led it as CEO for twelve years before its 2023 leadership transition.
- Participated in AcYut, one of India's early indigenous humanoid robot projects.
- Forbes Asia 30 Under 30, Enterprise Technology, 2016.
- MIT Technology Review global Innovators Under 35 honoree, 2016.
- BITS Pilani Distinguished Alumnus Award in Entrepreneurship, documented in its 2022 annual report.
- Co-founded Budy, which raised $4.2 million in pre-seed funding in October 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Listed as Budy co-founder and CEO in the 2026 SMASH programme for an October 5 session on the prospect journey and an agentic digital teammate; programme listing, not independently confirmed attendance.
- **2026-02** — A February 21 episode of The Neon Show features Kohli discussing digital workers across existing enterprise tools.

## Links

- Website: https://budybot.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksamay/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/SamayKohli
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samaykohli

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/samay-kohli
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11