From Concept to CES: What SaaS & Tech Founders Can Learn from Building AI for the Toughest Customers — Kids

If you think selling into enterprise is hard, try building an AI product for three-to-seven-year-olds.

They can’t read your release notes. They can’t sit through onboarding. They’ll push every button, drop it on the floor, and decide in seconds whether it’s their “best friend” or a boring toy.

That’s the challenge Elnaz Sarraf, founder of Roybi, took on — creating the first AI-powered educational robot designed to teach language skills and STEM concepts to early learners.

Her journey offers SaaS and tech founders lessons in tight market focus, AI personalization, and executing on both hardware and software in parallel.

Lesson 1: Narrow Your Use Case to Win Early

Roybi didn’t start as an educational robot — it began as a broader “edutainment” concept. But after deep focus groups, Sarraf and her team narrowed in on language learning and communication skills.

Why?

Language mastery is foundational — enabling all other learning.
1 in 12 U.S. kids has a speech disorder, often worsened by passive screen time.
The problem was clear, urgent, and underserved.

SaaS takeaway: A narrower, high-value use case beats a broad, fuzzy one. Focus accelerates early adoption and product-market fit.

Lesson 2: Build Hardware and Software Together

In hardware-enabled products, the device capabilities define the software possibilities — and vice versa. Roybi’s team designed:

Custom PCB and chipset for AI processing.
Speech recognition tuned for children’s varied pronunciations.
Face detection to trigger interactions.
Emotion detection (in development) to adapt lessons based on engagement.

Consulting insight: For SaaS founders integrating with IoT or physical devices, hardware constraints must inform software roadmap from day one.

Lesson 3: Use Early Adopters as a QA Army

Roybi launched via crowdfunding, not just for capital — but for distributed testing:

Thousands of early customers in 30+ countries.
Real-world WiFi, router, and environment variability uncovered issues lab tests missed.
Hardware fixes weren’t always possible — requiring rapid software workarounds.

SaaS parallel: Beta programs aren’t just about feature feedback — they stress-test your scalability and resilience in uncontrolled environments.

Lesson 4: AI Needs Guardrails in Regulated Spaces

Working with children meant strict COPPA compliance and privacy safeguards:

Limited data collection; anonymized IDs instead of personal info.
Opt-in parental permissions for deeper AI training data.
Collaborations with universities to ethically expand datasets.

SaaS takeaway: In regulated markets (health, finance, education), your AI strategy isn’t just a tech plan — it’s a compliance plan.

Lesson 5: Product Design Is Part Function, Part Emotion

Roybi’s team obsessed over details like:

Changeable “helmets” so each child’s robot feels personal.
A physical button instead of wake-word listening to address privacy concerns.
A “friend-like” personality that kids trust.

Consulting insight: In B2B SaaS, UX may replace “cute factor” with workflow fit — but emotional design still drives adoption.

Lesson 6: Selling Change Requires Education

Sarraf didn’t just have to sell Roybi — she had to sell the idea of AI in early education to parents, schools, and even skeptical investors.

During the pandemic, attitudes shifted — schools began reaching out, asking for curriculum integration and hybrid learning support.

SaaS parallel: If your tech challenges a status quo, invest in category education early. Market readiness can flip fast.

Lesson 7: Fundraising for Complex Products Is Different

Hardware + AI + education = capital-heavy. Sarraf spoke with 200+ investors, iterated her pitch deck 100+ times, and still faced pushback until landing a committed lead.

Consulting takeaway: For complex or multi-part products, investor conviction comes from team credibility and vision, not just MVP traction.

Why This Matters for SaaS & Tech Leaders

Roybi’s story is a masterclass in:

Laser-focusing your use case to gain early traction.
Co-developing hardware and software to avoid dead ends.
Leveraging early adopters for real-world stress testing.
Embedding compliance into AI development from day one.
Designing for emotional adoption, not just functional use.
Educating the market before it’s ready.
Fundraising persistence when your product defies easy categories.

For SaaS and tech companies — especially those tackling regulated markets, multi-modal tech, or “future of” categories — the Roybi journey is proof that execution discipline and focus can turn a bold idea into a CES showstopper.