Reporting by Helen Popkin, Aayushi Pratap and Nina Wolpow The Covid-19 pandemic was devastating for many industries, but it only accelerated the use of artificial intelligence across the U.S. economy. Amid the crisis, companies scrambled to create new services for remote workers and students, beef up online shopping and dining options, make customer call centers more efficient and speed development of important new drugs. Even as applications of machine learning and perception platforms become commonplace, a thick layer of hype and fuzzy jargon clings to AI-enabled software.That makes it tough to identify the most compelling companies in the spaceâespecially those finding new ways to use AI that create value by making humans more efficient, not redundant.
In recently announcing its 10 th annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list, several Indian American and South Asian Americans were recognized in the Consumer Technology category. Among those honored were Renjo Bijoy, Monish Sabnani, Prajit Gopal, Pranav Maddi, Sandeep Peddada, Sachin Monga, Kulvinder Lotay, Saniya Shah, Gaurav Aggarwal, Spandana Nakka and Adi Sundar. Bijoy, 29, is the founder of Immersed, which partnered with Facebook to build virtual reality offices. The company has raised $3.5 million in venture backing for the tool and is eyeing growth as remote teams become more common, the Forbes profile says. Sabnani, 27, with Evan Moskal, co-founded Courant, which makes design-driven wireless chargers.