Kalika Bali
Kalika Bali is a researcher who works on AI and language technology for low-resource language communities. She studied chemistry, linguistics, and phonetics, taught in Fiji, and worked in speech technology, at PicoPeta Simputers and HP Labs, before Microsoft Research. Her work includes leading Project ELLORA, coauthoring the MEGA multilingual generative AI benchmark, and developing VeLLM; TIME named her to its inaugural TIME100 AI list in 2023. As of October 2026, she is Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India.
- Now at
- Microsoft Research
- Works
- 132
- Citations
- 2,910
- h-index
- 25
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
-
1994
From chemistry to linguistics
She graduates in chemistry from Delhi University in 1994 and discovers linguistics at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
-
2015
Project ELLORA for low-resource languages
In 2015, Microsoft Research launches Project ELLORA to map language resources. The project, which she leads, builds digital resources and language models with low-resource language communities, including Hindi-to-Mundari translation and speech recognition, Gondi-Hindi machine translation, and an Idu Mishmi digital dictionary.
-
By 2020
A linguistics master's and PhD
By 2020, she holds a master's in linguistics from JNU and a PhD in phonetics from the University of York. She teaches for two years at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.
-
2020
Speech technology and Project Melange
In 2020, she is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research in Bengaluru and works on Project Melange, which processes code-mixed text and speech. Her earlier jobs include speech technology in Belgium, PicoPeta Simputers, and HP Labs.
-
2023
The MEGA multilingual benchmark
In 2023, she coauthors MEGA, a generative AI benchmark that evaluates models across 16 NLP datasets and 70 typologically diverse languages.
-
2023
TIME100 AI recognition
In 2023, she joins the inaugural TIME100 AI list for her work to break language barriers and foster inclusion in AI.
-
2024
VeLLM for multilingual LLMs
In 2024, she and her Microsoft Research colleagues develop VeLLM, a platform that uses GPT-like models with multilingual machine-learning tools to adapt outputs across languages and domains.
-
As of October 2026
Senior Principal Researcher
As of October 2026, she is Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India. In 2026, Microsoft Research India's ASHABot gives a community health worker spoken guidance in Hindi.
Sources and credits
Photo: We have no published photo of Kalika Bali yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.