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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline NOVEMBER 15, 2024 | The Indian Eye 26

NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

RISHI RANA

AI-powered Cyara names

new CEO

yara, the leading AI-powered
Customer Experience (CX)
CTransformation Platform
provider is pleased to announce that
effective October 31, 2024, Rishi
Rana will be promoted to its Chief
Executive Officer (CEO). Rana has
been President of Cyara since Au-
gust 2023.
Previously, Rana led the strat-
egy and growth and three separate
PowerSchool business units, playing
a pivotal role in driving a multi-bil-
lion-dollar market valuation. Alok
Kulkarni, Cyara’s Co-Founder and
CEO since inception, will become
the Non-Exec Chairman of the Board of Directors. the power of STEM to discover real-world solutions.
Rana brings a proven track record of scaling global operations and driv- Sirish set himself apart with an AI handheld pesticide detector. As the
ing sustainable growth with a customer-centric approach. His vision includes grand prize winner, he received a $25,000 cash prize and the prestigious title
leveraging responsible advancements in GenAI and enhancing Cyara’s global of “America’s Top Young Scientist.”
impact through strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Sirish spent the last four months competing against nine other finalists
“I’m honored to step into this role at such a pivotal time for Cyara,” said and secured his win during final Challenge events at 3M global headquarters
Rana. “The team’s dedication to ensuring our customers can deliver flawless in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct. 14 and 15. Finalists navigated a series of inter-
customer experiences has set a strong foundation for growth and innovation. active challenges and were evaluated on their ingenuity and innovative think-
I look forward to building on this legacy, accelerating our momentum, and ing, application of STEM principles, demonstration of passion and research,
working with our talented teams and valued customers to take Cyara to new presentation skills, and ability to inspire others.
heights.”
Alok Kulkarni commented, “I am excited to see Rishi become our new Sirish Subash’s project, Pestiscand, is a handheld device designed
CEO, and as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, I look forward to pro-
viding strategic oversight, strengthening board alignment, and deepening re- to detect pesticide residues on produce using a non-destructive
lationships with key stakeholders.” method. It employs spectrophotometry, which involves measuring
Lead Independent Board Director Vikram Verma also commented on
the transition stating, “We are pleased to welcome Rishi as the new CEO. how light of various wavelengths is reflected off the surface of
We are confident that his expertise and passion for customer experience will fruits and vegetables.
lead Cyara into a new and exciting chapter. We are also immensely grateful
for Alok’s leadership which has driven Cyara’s growth and strengthened our A machine learning model then analyzes this data to determine the pres-
position in the CX industry for the last 18 years.” ence of pesticides. During testing, the device achieved an accuracy rate of
Cyara’s AI-led CX Transformation Platform empowers enterprises to de-
liver flawless interactions across voice, video, digital, and chatbot experiences. identifying pesticide residues on spinach and tomatoes of greater than 85%,
meeting the project’s objectives for effectiveness and speed.
SIRISH SUBASH Torie Clarke, EVP & chief public affairs officer at 3M said, “I am be-
yond impressed and inspired by their intelligence and their scientific minds.
14-year-old wins America’s Top Congratulations to this year’s Top Young Scientist, Sirish Subash, and all the
finalists for their phenomenal work.”
3M Young Scientist Challenge finalists are paired with a 3M scientist who
Young Scientist award mentors and works with them one-on-one over the summer to transform their
idea from concept to prototype. This year’s winner was paired with Aditya Baner-
M (@3M) and Discovery Education (@DiscoveryEd) recently named ji, Senior Research Engineer of 3M’s Corporate Research Process Laboratory.
Sirish Subash, a 9th grader at Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, “Discovery Education is incredibly proud to support student innovation over
3and Technology in Snellville, Georgia, the winner of the 2024 3M Young the past 17 years through the 3M Young Scientist Challenge,” said Amy Nakamo-
Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier middle school science competition. to, Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Discovery Education.
The challenge inspires middle school students to think creatively and apply Continued on next page... >>

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