About two and a half years ago, Aliaksei (name changed for security purposes) began working on the holas.ai project —a smart speaker that can speak Belarusian. The idea didn't arise at a startup hackathon, but rather more naturally, from the everyday experience of someone who loved talking to technology. Aliaksei spoke to Belsat about the project's current status, the cost of a Belarusian smart speaker, and why even tens of thousands of euros haven't yet significantly accelerated development.