Voice-First Healthcare Entrepreneurship for Underserved Markets
Authors
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Vinay Shirahattimath
Sr. Director – Services Sales | APJC (Corresponding Author), NterOne India Pvt. Ltd., Building No. 78, Royal Barter, Residency Road, Bengaluru - 560 025, Karnataka. & Research Scholar, Rushford Business School, Switzerland, Blegistrasse 15, 6340 Baar, Switzerland
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8941-205X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2026/v15i2/175116Keywords:
voice-first healthcare entrepreneurship; conversational AI; inclusive market creation; underserved markets; digital health; venture viability.JEL Classification Codes :I11, L26, M31, O33
Publishing Chronology: Paper Submission Date : May 5, 2026 ; Paper sent back for Revision : May 25, 2026 ; Paper Acceptance Date : May 30, 2026.
Abstract
Purpose : Digital health could expand technical reach without making underserved populations genuinely serviceable. The perspective paper developed the concept of voice-enabled inclusive market creation to examine when conversational artificial intelligence (AI) could convert unmet healthcare need into sustainable market participation.
Design/Methodology/Approach : The paper developed an Inclusion–Viability Test around four tensions: language reach versus localization burden, automation versus clinical risk, personalization versus data responsibility, and reach versus care continuity.
Findings : The paper found that voice created entrepreneurial value when improved accessibility was converted into meaningful interaction and completed service pathways while remaining clinically and operationally supportable for the provider. Voice-first healthcare entrepreneurship needed to scale validated serviceability rather than technological reach and assess growth through completed care pathways, safe escalation, repeat use, and cost per successfully served user.
Practical Implications : This perspective paper offered action-oriented implications for healthcare entrepreneurs, service managers, and policymakers seeking inclusive digital health expansion with sustainable service delivery.
Originality/Value : The originality of this paper lay not in presenting conversational AI as a new technology, but in explaining how voice could become an inclusive market-creation capability and identifying the conditions under which such market creation remained viable, safe, and responsible.
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References
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