In this episode of Product Rising's AI Safety, Ethics & Responsibility series, host Shannon Peavey sits down with Kelly Anderson, founder and CEO of DyeConverter, an AI-powered platform helping food and beverage companies replace synthetic dyes with natural alternatives.

Kelly's path to entrepreneurship is anything but typical. A chef-technologist and the first chef in the world certified by MIT in AI and Machine Learning, she has spent more than a decade leading innovation, R&D, and product development initiatives for brands including Nestlé, Disney, Impossible Foods, Panera Bread, Starbucks, and US Foods.

As regulators, consumers, and food manufacturers grapple with the future of food ingredients, Kelly saw an opportunity to apply AI to one of the industry's most complex challenges: reformulating products that rely on synthetic colors.

If you've ever wondered how artificial intelligence can move beyond content generation and help solve real-world scientific and operational challenges, this episode is for you.

00:00 Introduction to Kelly Anderson and DyeConverter

02:08 What is a "chef-technologist"?

03:01 How culinary training shaped Kelly's approach to AI and innovation

04:08 From executive chef to food innovation leader

05:28 Discovering a broken food system and finding an AI opportunity

08:10 Why replacing synthetic food dyes is harder than it sounds

10:11 Health, regulatory, and manufacturing risks of natural color alternatives

12:41 How DyeConverter works

14:20 The role of the human in the loop

17:55 Flavor transfer, consumer expectations, and reformulation challenges

19:12 Which food dyes are being phased out?

20:40 AI-powered color matching and the Color Studio