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What does it look like to pivot while staying true to your purpose?

For Nilou Salehi, it meant putting her professorship role at UC Berkeley on pause to co-found Across AI, a startup built on her human-centered AI research.

Now Co-CEO, Nilou is exploring how AI is reshaping not just the tools we use, but the teams that build them. Her approach blends academic rigor with startup agility, always grounded in real human needs.

This episode is part of our Builders mini series, where we talk with founders, product managers, and digital leaders about what drives their passion for building.

You’ll hear Nilou reflect on the leap from academia to entrepreneurship, how AI is changing organizational life, and why the future belongs to flexible teams with shared intent.

1:19 Transitioning from Academia to Startup Life

5:04 The Role of UX Research in AI Product Development

7:23 Balancing Grit and Flexibility in Career Choices

8:42 High-Level vs. Low-Level Goals

14:17 New Challenges Facing AI Product Builders in 2025

15:44 Upskilling and the Future of Work with AI

18:57 Human-Centered Design and Organizational Change

20:36 Reflections

Links:

Nilou Salehi on LinkedIn

Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn

Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn

About In Her Ellement:

In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element?

About The Hosts:

Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders.

Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030.

Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.

Building with Purpose with Across AI’s Nilou Salehi