Crafting Cultural Connections: Zabbot joins Rev
Zabbot, founded by Bola Agbonile, is a heritage language learning platform that blends AI, culture, and community to help diaspora learners master pronunciation, connect with identity, and preserve language. Zabbot is making language learning intelligent, human, and deeply meaningful.
What is your “origin story”?
Zabbot was born from a very personal challenge. As a Yoruba mother raising two children in the diaspora, I realized they were losing their connection to the language and culture that shaped me. Despite trying popular language apps, none could teach Yoruba tones correctly, nor capture the richness of proverbs, folktales, and the sense of belonging embedded in the language. The gap was clear: heritage languages were being left behind by technology.
With over 20 years in technology and product leadership, plus my lived experience as a heritage speaker, I knew I could bridge this divide. I combined my technical expertise with cultural passion to create Zabbot — an AI-powered platform that not only helps learners master Yoruba pronunciation but also infuses culture and identity. What began as a solution for my family has grown into a mission to preserve heritage languages for diaspora communities worldwide.
What customer need is your company attempting to address?
Zabbot addresses the urgent need of diaspora families, multicultural households, and heritage learners who want to speak Yoruba accurately, preserve cultural identity, and feel a sense of belonging. Current language apps fail tonal languages, leaving learners frustrated, disconnected, and unable to pass their language to the next generation. Zabbot fills this gap by providing AI-powered pronunciation feedback, cultural immersion, and interactive practice tools designed specifically for tonal heritage languages.
Do you have any recent company milestones or accomplishments you would like to share?
August 2025 — Public beta live: Launched the Zabbot web app with language learning Journeys and three AI-powered features, namely:
(1) Pronounce with Pàrà – real‑time tonal feedback with visual overlays/scores
(2) Chat with Ore – conversational tutor that allows prompts in English or Yorùbá and also responds in both languages
(3) Listen with Owe – a text to speech (TTS) feature that includes audio playback with 4 Yoruba voices
Where do you envision your company a year from now?
One Year From Now (2026) – Zabbot will have expanded beyond its Yoruba beta into schools, diaspora organizations, and media partnerships, adding at least one additional heritage language. The AI pronunciation engine (TTS + ASR) will be fully integrated into the app, with thousands of active learners practicing daily. We’ll also have published our first open-source Yoruba speech dataset, making Zabbot a trusted resource for both learners and researchers.
Five Years From Now (2030) – Zabbot will be a global leader in heritage language technology, supporting multiple African and diaspora languages with AI-driven accuracy. The platform will serve tens of thousands of paying subscribers, educational institutions, and media companies that rely on our APIs for subtitles, cultural content, and speech tools. We’ll have scaled a sustainable team of linguists, AI/ML engineers, and cultural experts, and established Zabbot as the go-to solution for preserving and revitalizing underrepresented languages. By then, Zabbot will not just be an app, but a movement helping people worldwide speak, belong, and preserve their cultural identity.