Pronto founder Anjali Sardana launches US physical AI venture Provision Labs
By Elena D’SouzaStartups & Innovation Correspondent, Peepals Global
Representative image: MaxxGirr / Pixabay
Pronto founder Anjali Sardana has set up Provision Labs in San Francisco to collect real-world data for training robots, reports said in late October 2026.
What Happened
Anjali Sardana, founder and chief executive of the Indian home-services start-up Pronto, has set up Provision Labs, a physical artificial intelligence venture based in San Francisco, according to reports published in the last week of October 2026. Provision Labs will collect real-world data to train and test AI systems for robots, and describes itself as the data, evaluation and deployment layer for physical AI. Sardana will lead the new company while continuing as Pronto's CEO. Whether Provision Labs will use data gathered through Pronto has not been confirmed.
Key Facts
- New venture: Provision Labs, a physical AI company based in San Francisco, United States.
- Founder: Anjali Sardana, who also remains founder and CEO of Pronto.
- What it does: collects real-world data to train and test AI systems for robotics, and helps AI developers evaluate and deploy their models.
- Data plan: Provision Labs plans to source training data from professionals across sectors around the world.
- Background: Pronto has been using wearable cameras in customers' homes to collect footage of household work for AI training, and faced questions over a pilot that recorded household chores.
- The link between Pronto's data and Provision Labs has not been confirmed.
Why It Matters
"Physical AI" is the term for artificial intelligence that acts in the real world through robots, rather than only producing text or images on a screen. To teach a robot to fold clothes, wash dishes or stock a shelf, developers need huge amounts of real examples of people doing those tasks, recorded in a way machines can learn from. That kind of data is scarce and expensive to collect, which is why companies that can gather it are drawing interest from AI developers.
Sardana's move is a clear example of an Indian founder taking an idea built in India to the global market. Pronto's work in Indian homes gave it experience in recording real household tasks. Setting up Provision Labs in San Francisco, a major hub of the AI industry, puts that experience close to the developers and investors it hopes to serve.
The move also reflects a wider pattern. Indian start-ups working in AI are weighing the benefits of moving closer to US capital and customers against the costs, including high hiring costs and visa hurdles. Founders who keep their Indian company while starting a separate US entity, as Sardana has done, are one way of managing that trade-off.
There are open questions too. Recording people at work inside homes raises issues of consent and privacy, and Pronto has already faced scrutiny over such a pilot. How Provision Labs gathers data, and whether it relies on footage from Pronto's Indian operations, will matter to customers, workers and regulators. Neither company has confirmed a data link so far.
Provision Labs at a glance Item | Detail Founder | Anjali Sardana (also Pronto CEO) Base | San Francisco, United States Focus | Data, evaluation and deployment for physical AI Data source | Professionals across sectors worldwide Link to Pronto data | Not confirmed
Impact
Short-term: Provision Labs enters a fast-growing market for robot training data, competing with other firms that supply data to AI and robotics developers.
Long-term: If it succeeds, it could show how Indian founders can turn ground-level operating experience in India into globally relevant AI businesses, while raising the bar on consent and privacy in data collection.
Who is affected: AI and robotics developers that need training data, workers whose tasks may be recorded, Pronto's customers and staff, and Indian founders considering a US base.
Key Takeaway
Pronto founder Anjali Sardana has launched Provision Labs in San Francisco to supply real-world data for training robots, a sign of Indian founders moving into the global physical AI race.
Questions and Answers
What is Provision Labs?
Provision Labs is a San Francisco-based physical AI venture set up by Pronto founder Anjali Sardana. It collects real-world data to train and test AI systems for robots and helps developers evaluate and deploy their models.
Is Anjali Sardana leaving Pronto?
No. Reports say she will lead Provision Labs while continuing as Pronto's CEO.
What is physical AI?
Physical AI refers to AI systems that act in the real world through machines such as robots, for example to clean, sort or carry objects, rather than only working on a screen.
Will Provision Labs use Pronto's home footage?
That has not been confirmed. Pronto has used wearable cameras in homes to collect footage for AI training, but no link between that data and Provision Labs has been announced.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Elena D’Souza, Startups & Innovation CorrespondentCovers Start-ups & Opportunities and more for Peepals Global. All stories by Elena D’Souza
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Elena D’Souza is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
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