Human-Centered AI for the Enterprise

We are a Human-Centered AI (H+AI™) platform and products company with a mission to bring reliable, responsible and transformative AI systems to enterprises worldwide. Our customers include many of the world’s largest and most respected companies across a variety of industries including financial services, manufacturing, retail, and aerospace and defense, among many others.

Our company is made up of experienced technologists, mathematicians, data scientists, designers and makers, and includes an advisory board of industry leaders, entrepreneurs and luminaries from business, technology and academia.

Meet our leadership team

Dr. Vishal Sikka
Founder &
Chief Executive Officer
Vishal founded Vianai to build human-centered enterprise AI systems and products after 16 years of enterprise experience as CEO of Infosys and Executive Board Member and Head of Products for SAP. Vishal holds a PhD in AI from Stanford University, where he currently serves as an advisor to the Stanford Institute of Human-Centered AI. He also serves on the boards of Oracle Corporation and BMW. He is a frequent speaker at both public and private events.
Dr. Navin Budhiraja
Chief Technology Officer
and Head of hila Enterprise Platform
Navin is a renowned technologist known for delivering massively scalable enterprise and cloud systems. His career includes leadership roles at IBM Research, Amazon AWS, and at SAP SuccessFactors, where he was Chief Architect. Navin holds a Bachelors and PhD in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur and Cornell University, respectively. He is also an angel investor and advisor to multiple startups in AI, IoT and Healthcare.
Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan
Chief Design & Strategy Officer
and Head of Professional Services
Sanjay has extensive experience in Human-Centered Design for the enterprise – in products, processes, organizations and services. He has worked in various leadership roles throughout his career to bring this unique design-led approach to helping companies drive transformational business outcomes. Previously, Sanjay was the SVP and Head of Design & Research at Infosys, and the SVP of Design and Special Projects at SAP. He holds a PhD in manufacturing and design from Stanford University.
Shabana Khan
Chief Marketing Officer
Shabana brings an unparalled passion for building brands, disrupting competitive landscapes and accelerating customer demand for new products and services, across both large and small companies. She has held leadership positions at SAP, Siebel Systems, Infosys, Blume Global and others, and has founded and led her own consulting business advising CEOs and boards on marketing strategies, branding, communications and hiring.
Dr. Tao Liu
Head of Operations
Tao has extensive experience in AI, in working with enterprises on business-critical projects, and in building advanced technology teams from scratch. He has worked in various leadership roles throughout his career to build transformational organizations. Previously, Tao was SVP and Chief of Staff to CEO at Infosys, and head of advanced technology group at SAP. He holds a PhD in Computer Science, from Nankai University in China.
Frank Yu
Head of Business Operations
Frank brings to this role over 30 years of experience as an operating executive, board member, and technologist delivering commercial software and hardware products and services for companies like Gamevice, Augmentum, and at Vitria Technology. Throughout his career, Frank has led initiatives to develop significant software and hardware products and solutions in the U.S., leveraging the technology bases in India and China. His industry expertise ranges from enterprise and consumer software and hardware products to software services and the semiconductor sector.
Yusuf Safdari
General Counsel
Yusuf has extensive experience across strategic corporate transactions, business operations, intellectual property matters, business development, technology deals, international business structuring and technology product compliance matters. Yusuf has served in various leadership roles throughout his career applying his diverse array of business and legal skills to accelerate and support the growth of many public and VC-backed technology companies. Previously, Yusuf was the VP and General Counsel at a Silicon Valley-based cloud company, a Corporate & Securities attorney at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and a Corporate Partner at one of the ten largest law firms in the United States. Yusuf holds a JD from Northwestern University and a BA from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Carly Cooper
Head of Culture & Transformation
Carly has more than 25 years of change leadership, design thinking, employee experience, product management and organizational culture experience. Her dissertation was on the impact of AI on the workplace and workforce. She has worked for one of the largest banks in the world and for some of the biggest brands in tech. Carly received her masters degree from Columbia University and her doctorate from the University of Southern California where she is an adjunct professor in the areas of leadership, change, learning and development and culture.
Pradeep Panicker
VP and Head of Finance
Pradeep is responsible for Vianai’s finance function. Prior to Vianai, he held finance and business operations roles at SAP including CFO & COO of a business unit. Previously he was with Ernst & Young India’s SR Batliboi and interned at Britannia Industries. Pradeep is Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary and holds a BCom from the University of Mysore.
Dr. Vishal Sikka
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Vishal founded Vianai to build human-centered enterprise AI systems and products after 16 years of enterprise experience as CEO of Infosys and Executive Board Member and Head of Products for SAP. Vishal holds a PhD in AI from Stanford University, where he currently serves as an advisor to the Stanford Institute of Human-Centered AI. He also serves on the boards of the Oracle Corporation, BMW, and GSK. He is a frequent speaker at both public and private events.
Dr. Navin Budhiraja
Chief Technology Officer
and Head of hila Enterprise Platform
Navin is a renowned technologist known for delivering massively scalable enterprise and cloud systems. His career includes leadership roles at IBM Research, Amazon AWS, and at SAP SuccessFactors, where he was Chief Architect. Navin holds a Bachelors and PhD in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur and Cornell University, respectively. He is also an angel investor and advisor to multiple startups in AI, IoT and Healthcare.
Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan
Chief Design & Strategy Officer
and Head of Professional Services
Sanjay has extensive experience in Human-Centered Design for the enterprise – in products, processes, organizations and services. He has worked in various leadership roles throughout his career to bring this unique design-led approach to helping companies drive transformational business outcomes. Previously, Sanjay was the SVP and Head of Design & Research at Infosys, and the SVP of Design and Special Projects at SAP. He holds a PhD in manufacturing and design from Stanford University.
Shabana Khan
Chief Marketing Officer
Shabana brings an unparalleled passion for building brands, disrupting competitive landscapes and accelerating customer demand for new products and services, across both large and small companies. She has held leadership positions at SAP, Siebel Systems, Infosys, Blume Global and others, and has worked as an independent consultant advising CEOs and boards on marketing strategies, branding, communications and hiring.
Dr. Tao Liu
Head of Operations
Tao has extensive experience in AI, in working with enterprises on business-critical projects, and in building advanced technology teams from scratch. He has worked in various leadership roles throughout his career to build transformational organizations. Previously, Tao was SVP and Chief of Staff to the CEO at Infosys, and head of advanced technology group at SAP. He holds a PhD in Computer Science, from Nankai University in China.
Frank Yu
Head of Business Operations
Frank brings to this role over 30 years of experience as an operating executive, board member, and technologist delivering commercial software and hardware products and services for companies like Gamevice, Augmentum, and at Vitria Technology. Throughout his career, Frank has led initiatives to develop significant software and hardware products and solutions in the U.S., leveraging the technology bases in India and China. His industry expertise ranges from enterprise and consumer software and hardware products to software services and the semiconductor sector.
Yusuf Safdari
General Counsel
Yusuf has extensive experience across strategic corporate transactions, business operations, intellectual property matters, business development, technology deals, international business structuring and technology product compliance matters. Yusuf has served in various leadership roles throughout his career applying his diverse array of business and legal skills to accelerate and support the growth of many public and VC-backed technology companies. Previously, Yusuf was the VP and General Counsel at a Silicon Valley-based cloud company, a Corporate & Securities attorney at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and a Corporate Partner at one of the ten largest law firms in the United States. Yusuf holds a JD from Northwestern University and a BA from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Carly Cooper
Head of Culture & Transformation
Carly has more than 25 years of change leadership, design thinking, employee experience, product management and organizational culture experience. Her dissertation was on the impact of AI on the workplace and workforce. She has worked for one of the largest banks in the world and for some of the biggest brands in tech. Carly received her masters degree from Columbia University and her doctorate from the University of Southern California where she is an adjunct professor in the areas of leadership, change, learning and development and culture.
Pradeep Panicker
VP and Head of Finance
Pradeep is responsible for Vianai’s finance function. Prior to Vianai, he held finance and business operations roles at SAP including CFO & COO of a business unit. Previously he was with Ernst & Young India’s SR Batliboi and interned at Britannia Industries. Pradeep is Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary and holds a BCom from the University of Mysore.