Kartik Sawhney

Co-Founder at Samora AI (YC W26)

Natural Language Processing (NLP)Digital Accessibility (a11y)Voice AIInclusive DesignProduct ManagementTechnical Leadership

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About

I'm Kartik Sawhney, Co-Founder of Samora AI (YC W26) and I-Stem. My career has been defined by the intersection of high-level AI engineering and social impact. After years at Microsoft leading accessibility innovation and managing a $25M AI portfolio, I’ve shifted my focus to building scalable ventures that challenge the status quo. At Samora AI, we’re developing multilingual voice AI agents to automate workflows, while my work with I-Stem continues to enhance educational and employment access for people with disabilities. I’m passionate about inclusive design and believe that technology—specifically AI—is the key to solving global accessibility challenges. I’m here to connect with D2C founders, e-commerce leaders, and D&I advocates who want to leverage cutting-edge tech for both commercial success and meaningful inclusion. Whether it's discussing NLP or rethinking disability narratives, I'm always looking for ways to drive scalable impact.

Networking

What I can offer

›Deep expertise in AI engineering and NLP
›Product strategy for accessibility and inclusive design
›High-level network within global organizations like the UN and Microsoft

Looking for

›D2C brand owners and E-commerce founders
›Corporate diversity and inclusion leaders
›Collaborators and funders for accessibility innovation

Best fit for

D2C brand ownersE-commerce foundersCorporate D&I leadersYoung innovators with disabilities

Current Interests

Voice AI agentsMultimodal AIE-commerce cart abandonment strategiesInclusive hiringD2C logistics

Background

Career

From a Software Engineering Intern at Microsoft and Uber to a long-term Engineering and Product lead at Microsoft, eventually transitioning into serial social entrepreneurship and co-founding Samora AI and I-Stem.

Education

M.S. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence), Stanford University (2017–2018); B.S. in Computer Science, Stanford University (2013–2017).

Achievements

›Co-founded ventures impacting over 500,000 people with disabilities
›Queen’s Young Leaders Award recipient
›Developed ML model for Cortana with 80% precision in intent extraction
›First blind student in India to pursue senior secondary sciences
›Managed $25M AI for Accessibility portfolio at Microsoft

Opinions

Disability inclusion requires accountability, quarterly reporting, and specific hiring goals like 10% of new hires.
Timing is critical in business; reaching out in 5 minutes vs 5 hours for cart recovery makes the difference.
The 'low expectations' narrative associated with disability must be actively challenged.
AI should be leveraged to solve scalable social impact scenarios.