Team

Co-CEO & CTO

Tarun Rishi

Tarun is an experienced technology leader highly skilled at leveraging the art of possible for successful business outcomes, building highly functional teams and simplifying complex cross functional organisational engagements. He is developing training, platforms and mentoring to improve diversity and curate a learning path into an AI technology career. Tarun is passionate about the positive use of AI and Data for businesses and society.

Interests: Politics, Technology that can change the world, Digital Art & Cooking

Co-CEO & Founding Member

Deepa Naik

As an AI Evangelist, Deepa works in accelerating industry adoption of Artificial Intelligence Technologies enabling individuals and organizations to enter the machine age. She is the co-founder at Cogitari

Interests: Education & Educating the girl child, Innovations for Human Good, Artist

COO

Christina Carlisle

Christina is an operations specialist with a passion for customer success and has a diverse business background ranging from project management to startup advising.

Interests: High Performance, Making a Difference, Design Thinking

Chief Innovation Officer

Rachel Trombetta

Rachel Trombetta is the Global Principle Enterprise Architect for GE Digital Professional Services. Her role crosses sales, engineering and execution teams to architect complex business outcomes utilizing GE Industrial software solutions and services. Her primary industrial focus includes Power, Transportation, Healthcare, Aviation, Manufacturing, and Emerging Verticals.

Rachel’s previous role was Chief Architect responsible for DevOps and Service Reliability for GE Digital Commercial Solutions including Brilliant Manufacturing and Asset Performance Management. Her team was responsible for building technology and processes to harness cloud technology and automation to deliver increased productivity outcomes for GE Digital Industrial customers.

Prior to GE, she held several roles supporting IT military command and control operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Of note, she was Chief Information System Security Officer (CISSO) for more than 10 programs. And, during her US Air Force civilian roles in Aviano Italy, she was awarded the global Air Force civilian of the year in 2000.

Rachel holds a Master’s of Science in Management Information Systems and B.S Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland.

Interests: Teaching, public speaking

Lead Counsel

Cassie Deskus

Cassie is an attorney with a strong background in technology. She is dedicated to increasing diversity in technology and encouraging development that is transparent, accountable, and mindful of social impact.

She earned her JD, magna cum laude, from NYU Law, her M.S. in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University, and her B.S. in Math from UChicago.

Interests: Hiking, Family, Criminal Justice Reform

CMO

Taline Felix

Taline is a digital growth marketer interested in utilizing Artificial Intelligence to streamline marketing and sales. She is responsible for sharing the value of Humans For AI with the world.

Interests: Sustainability, Art of Yin and Yang, Parenting

Australia

Daniella Aburto

Daniella is passionate about scaling cool technologies to drive a positive impact. Daniella understands that AI will disrupt life as we know it, and sees a great opportunity in leveraging AI into shaping a more inclusive world. With this mission, Daniella is expanding Humans for AI into Australia and New Zealand.

Daniella has worked, studied, and lived in Mexico, Canada, USA, and now Australia. She holds a Master’s degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto.

Interests: Travel, Sustainability, Marathons.

Europe

Renee Yandell

Renee Yandell is the Senior Director of AI Market Development for HPE in Europe and core member of the worldwide AI Strategy initiative within the company. She is also a visiting lecturer at the Grenoble International Business School, teaching high tech marketing, innovation and change management in the Masters of Business Development program.

Previously, she was the Chief of Staff for the European Executive Leadership team. Responsibilities included European business reviews with the CEO and worldwide executive staff. Prior to this role Renee was the Marketing Director for Global Accounts in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Her team also had responsibility for the developing areas of Data Analytics, Security and Mobility.

Her areas of expertise include technology innovation, product management, business development, marketing and change management.
Renee began her career at HP in California as a technical systems engineer. This led to a move to the worldwide networking lab followed by a leadership role in the client business where Renee was responsible for the initial models in electronic commerce.

She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Davis and an Executive MBA from INSEAD Business School in Paris.

Interests: Health Informatics, Golf, Running

VP, Global Alliances; Head, UK & Ireland Chapter

Ollie Omotosho

Ollie is a business growth and alliance specialist. Passionate about driving the use of technology in a secure, sustainable way, believing it should benefit as wide a footprint of humanity as possible. An evangelist for the responsible and inclusive use of AI. He has a background in scaling high performing teams, businesses and partnerships in the Cloud and cybersecurity industry. Ollie believes that the most important things a young person can possess, born into today’s disruptive digital data revolution, is a sense of self-worth, a purpose and a worthwhile goal.

Interests: Space exploration, Human-centred design and technology for social good, Live performance of any kind!

India

Rohini Chavakula

Rohini Chavakula, a data science lead at Hewlett Packard Enterprise with strong passion to solve business problems using decision sciences. Having 12 years of experience in business analytics and collaborating with customers across domains to provide executable analytical solutions. Proficient in implementing complex machine learning and statistical modelling algorithms to identify data patterns and extracting valuable insights. Hands-on experience in building script based automated AI models and designing tactical/operational dashboards using various visualization tools to drive discussions and decisions.

Naturally inclined to share knowledge especially on data sciences and drive effective brainstorming sessions to ideate innovative solutions.
Have eagerness to learn new things.

Loves to spend time with my family and enjoy cooking various recipes for my family.

Interests: Emerging technologies, Culinary arts, Gardening

Singapore Chapter Head

Swee Yen Tan

I am born and bred in Singapore. Upon graduation from the National University of Singapore with a Masters in Electrical Engineering (Major in Communications), I joined the Defence Science and Technology Agency and Ministry of Defence, Singapore. As a defence engineer, I had the opportunity to work in areas of sensor technologies, system -of- systems design, as well as Data fusion and Artificial Intelligence. I then moved on to the National Research Foundation (Prime Minister’s Office) to look into policies, research, innovation and enterprise landscape for challenges facing Singapore. There, I had the opportunities to explore impactful solutions to solve global problems, which also landed me an opportunity to found a company in the healthcare sector. I have since founded two companies and currently actively growing the company in the competitive health technology sector. I am enjoying every minute of the entrepreneur journey!

Interests: A game of Tennis or two, interior designing and constantly looking for home improvement projects as a hobby!, just started slow jogging several times a week and aim to complete my first half marathon this year!

Caribbean Chapter Head

Adrian Dunkley

Adrian is an AI Strategy thought leader, he is passionate about solving problems using domain knowledge, the human experience and A.I. He has held senior-level positions in Start-ups, SMEs, and large corporations across the banking, fintech, investment, market research, client experience, travel, and retail industries.

Adrian’s vision is a world that uses responsible A.I to improve the standard of living of underprivileged humans across the globe and to provide more opportunities for individuals to be creative and fulfilled.

Adrian has a BSc. In Mathematics and Physics, an MSc. in Enterprise Risk Management and is pursuing his Doctorate at the University of Sunderland.

Interests: Sketching, Science Fiction, Teaching

Ambassador, Delhi (National Capital Region)

Aastha Gupta

BD and Alliances Professional in the domain of emerging technologies of IoT and Artificial Intelligence, Passionate about technology and its impact on business and society. Diversity & Inclusion Champion.

Interests: Reading, Music, Driving

Ambassador - Philadelphia

Kenneth Parker

Kenneth is an innovative and disruptive leader in the chemical manufacturing industry, who carries a passion for motivating and empowering others to look at today’s problems in the world and imagine new solutions.

Kenneth has an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Tuskegee University in Alabama, and an MBA from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

Interests: Villanova eMBA board member, Hiking with my dog, Traveling and building cross-cultural connections

Ambassador - Seattle

Mia Champion

For 20+ years Mia has been a global trailblazer passionate about transformative technologies and strategic markets in the areas of Life Sciences, Healthcare, Machine Learning & Cloud Computing. She has developed both a technical and entrepreneurial skillset that includes experience as a principal research scientist, cloud computing architect and developer, new business developer and business strategist. 

She has driven business transformations, strategic partnerships, innovation, and investments in new ventures (current portfolio of 25+ startups) and is committed to helping shape a future where technology contributes to the betterment of humanity.

Interests: Transformative Technology, Art & Science, Mentoring future innovators, Being a Mom

Ambassador, Mumbai

Saloni Patil

I am an experienced and passionate AI professional since 2014.

I have worked across financial, IT services, telecommunication domains with varied techniques. Deep learning and Python are my expertise. I have some experience of applying machine learning techniques including statistical modeling, deep learning, and NLP to solve real-life problems.

I believe in AI explosion working out in the best interests of people all over businesses, the only limit is imagination and ability to apply such solutions.

Interests: Solving ML new problems from online challenge, Reading books, Watching Movies – fiction, sci-fi

Ambassador – CA

Lynda Ng

Lynda Ng is an accomplished technology leader working at Verizon. She is the Director of Network System Performance where she oversees the 4G and 5G network design and optimization.

Lynda believes that the future is all about automation and automation will help improve our quality of life. Lynda is actively involved in promoting diversity and passionate about mentoring women in tech.

At home, Lynda has 3 boys that keep her busy and allows her to share her knowledge and provide them exposure to STEM projects.

Lynda earned her Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from California State University Fresno and holds an MBA and a Masters in Engineering from San Jose State University. 

Interests: Technology and Automation, Traveling, Family

Ambassador (IL & OH)

Josh Miller

A veteran of the learning & talent management SaaS industry and armed with a passion for learning, I made the move to workforce development, joining i.c.stars as a Tech Trainer; the ability to impact and empower through technology truly makes everyday more rewarding than the previous.

Interests: Tinkering and problem solving; Learning, from accordion to COBOL and everything in between; Removing barriers and empowering the underserved to bring about greater diversity and equality in the IT workplace 

Ambassador - Simi Valley CA

Manju Shenoy

Manju Shenoy is a Product Management leader with 15+ years of experience launching innovative SaaS , Analytical & Ecommerce consumer solutions using data and technology. Manju is passionate about contributing to the bigger picture, working towards a higher purpose and helping humanity. Her beliefs in gender equality and diversity in multiple areas of life and passion for AI has led her to Humans for AI to contribute to the mission. She is a wife, singer , mom of 2 kids, loves sushi, curries and bollywood dance. 

Interests: Contemporary Dance, Music, Cooking in different cuisines

Ambassador, Virginia

Aneet Bhattal

Aneet has over 20 years of experience in software design with a passion for data. She has lived and worked in four different continents and is a life long learner. She has built software for corporate performance management and business intelligence. Strong information technology professional who has directed day-to-day activities of engineering and analytics teams across multiple data domains. Experienced at customer engagements and briefing management. Experienced and effective analytics and reporting leader in the medical student, finance, human resources, space and research funding domains

Interests: Biking, Golf, Water colours

Ambassador – Hyderabad, India

Gourav Kondadadi

Gourav is young Data Scientist and uses his skills to harness the power of Data to solve real world problems. With experience in working with startup, he thrives on donning multiple hats at one time and bring vibrant energy to reach the organizations visions. He is passionate about use of cutting-edge technology to bring social good to all people. He duly believes that the world could be much better place with technology assisting us at different levels to make work easier and by identifying clusters where help is required. Implementation of AI in healthcare is of prime importance for him as he believes that with a good healthcare infrastructure, human life can prosper to reach higher goals. He duly believes a socially responsible AI is the need of the hour and it should promote diversity and inclusiveness of all.

Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Implementation of Data Analytics and Science in Healthcare, Use of technology for social good and create a sustainable ecosystem.

Ambassador – MI, US

Matthew Emerick

Always thinking, always learning, I am a lifelong learner who is passionate about every aspect of artificial intelligence, from cognitive science to machine learning. My interest in artificial intelligence started with reading science fiction as a child and only grew as I earned multiple degrees at university, from my minors in philosophy and psychology, to majors in computer science and cognitive science, finishing (so far) with a graduate degree in computer science.  I firmly believe that AI is the future of humanity and that we all need to better understand it, what it is capable of, and how it affects us.  I support AI literacy and education at all levels and always look to fight the overly negative and positive hype.  In my professional life, I consult with Fortune 500 companies through my firm.  I have been a part of several major projects, mostly focused on data quality, security, and migration, including training and mentoring others.  When I’m not focused on AI, I enjoy spending time with my very young son and seeing him grow, travelling with my wife to explore the world, and completing escape rooms with family and friends.

Interests: Cognitive Science, Lifelong Learning, Escape Rooms

Ambassador – San Antonio, Texas

Kyle McConnell

Kyles passion for problem solving led him on the path to becoming a digital problem solver. Most of my experience has revolved around improving customer facing digital experiences for insurance products. I’m passionate about falling in love with the problem before falling in love with the solution making sure my customers get the best experiences. I feel that that in the coming years AI is going to take a more prominent role in the way customers work with insurance. Making an experience that was once daunting as easy ordering your next takeout meal.

Interests: Traveling, Finding the best breakfast tacos, Hiking

HFAI Planet Lead

Kalyan Prasad

Kalyan is a Self-taught Data Scientist/Analytics Manager (something explored beyond spreadsheets) and holds a master’s degree in finance. I am a community first person and love involving and helping communities as much as i can. Currently, I am the core member/ organizer of Hyderabad Python User Group & PyConf Hyderabad Chapter.

Interests: AI Enthusiast, Avid Speaker, Movies & Music buff

VP, Student Programs

Neil Damle

Neil is actively engaged with developing Humans for AI as a platform for the next generation. As a high school student, he brings a unique perspective about the challenges faced by the future workforce. He is passionate about technology and how AI can be used to benefit humanity.

Interests: Sports, Technology and Music.

Ambassador –Sydney, Australia

Leo Chow

Leo’s passion about the positive use of AI for social good has led to his interest and aim in shaping the use of AI in the charity, humanitarian and non-for-profit space. He believes there is a strong role for AI in social enterprise and this would in turn put a human face on the front of AI. His mission is to connect AI with people on a human level and to bring positive impact to those who are disadvantaged and less fortunate.

He holds a post-graduate degree in Statistics and is currently conducting research in AI. With his technical knowledge and background as a researcher in AI, he aims to bridge the gap between AI know how and non-tech communities such as charities and non-for-profits, which would diversify and democratize AI to be more inclusive and accessible to all facets of social community.

Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Fencing, Foodie

Student programs - development

Tejas Kulkarni

Tejas is a high school volunteer for Humans For AI. He has lots of experience with AI-related projects, and enjoys spreading his knowledge and opinions to others. Tejas is very passionate about learning new ways of using artificial intelligence to benefit the community.

Interests: Music, Photography, Computer Science

Student Programs - Content Design

Anirudh Murugesan

Anirudh is involved with the design and growth of our Student Program as a platform for the next generation. With past experience in youth development, Anirudh contributes valuable insight of effective communication with young learners. He has a passion for AI’s potential to benefit the lives of people around the globe.

Interests: Sports, Cognitive Science, Journalism 

Student Programs - Content Producer

Rishabh Menon

Rishabh is a freshman at Dougherty Valley High School. He is 14 years old and is very passionate about computers and how they work. His favourite subject in school is math. Outside of school, he does skateboarding and makes music. He is very excited to be a part of the Humans for AI community and help others learn about computers and new technology.

Interests: Skateboarding, Music, Math

Student Programs - Video Production

Ramen Murugadoss

Ramen is a junior in high school involved with content creation and growth for the Student Program. He has previous experience with content creation as well as computer science and is very excited to spread the knowledge of AI to others. With the rapid growth of AI, he is ecstatic to see what our future accounts to.

Interests: Fitness/sports, Engineering, Video Editing