When Laina Emmanuel and Dr. Rimjhim Agrawal co-founded BrainSightAI, they weren’t just launching a startup — they were confronting a crisis.
Traditional brain diagnostics had a gap: they were static, delayed, and often came after irreversible damage. What if AI could anticipate — and help prevent — neurological loss before it happened?
That’s the thesis behind BrainSightAI, a cutting-edge neuroinformatics platform that blends functional MRI, machine learning, and computational psychiatry to map the brain — like Google Maps, but for neurons. With this tool, neurosurgeons can visualize critical brain functions in real time, reducing the risk of post-op cognitive loss. For psychiatrists, it flags early signs of disorders like schizophrenia and dementia — conditions typically diagnosed too late.
But this breakthrough wasn’t built in a straight line.
Laina, with her experience at NetApp and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, brought a systems-level view of healthcare inefficiencies. Rimjhim, with a PhD from NIMHANS and research published in Nature, pushed the boundaries of what AI could achieve in mental health diagnostics. Together, they navigated the tough terrain of translating research into real-world clinical tools.
Today, BrainSightAI is one of only two companies globally doing this kind of functional brain mapping. Their journey offers not just hope for patients, but a powerful case study in founder grit, interdisciplinary collaboration, and product-market alignment in one of the most complex sectors in tech.
