Cogs AI

One of the NHS priorities for 2024 is to improve access to mental health services, ensuring that more people of all ages receive the treatment they need. Increasingly, digital technologies like mental health and well-being apps have become a vital part of the mental health care pathway. Join us for an insightful free webinar, "Digital Health Standards in Mental Health," where an expert panel will discuss the role of digital health in meeting this priority. 📆 Wednesday 3rd July ⏰ 12:00-13:00 BST Sam Shah will chair this event, joined by: ⭐ Mindy Simon, Co-Director, NHS Innovation Accelerator ⭐ Felix de Grey, COO and Co-founder, Cogs AI ⭐ Nadia Kadhim, CEO, Naq Topics include: 💡 The role of #digitalhealth in helping the #NHS meet this priority 💡 Key considerations when handling sensitive health information, including #GDPR and #DPIAs 💡 Managing #AI in #mentalhealth technology 💡 Q&A 👉 Register today to secure your spot:  https://lnkd.in/eyiJkxtr

As an autistic, female entrepreneur of colour, I’ve been on a bit of a journey when it comes to understanding how to best support myself at work and in my personal life. As I’ve learnt more about how my neurodiversity presents itself, I have put into place supportive strategies that recognise both the beneficial and challenging sides of my autistic traits. This practical approach plays to my strengths, while also helping me respond to my needs. For example, when it comes to my: Special interests (an intense focus on specific topics or hobbies) ↳ One of my special interests is solving healthcare issues for neurodivergent people and so I have found building Cogs AI to be very fulfilling. However, I need to make sure I put structures in place to maintain a good work/life balance. Alexithymia (difficulty interpreting your body's emotional signals)  ↳ I am fearless when faced with challenging or difficult situations, but often don’t register when my body is stressed which can lead to long term physical and mental health problems. I manage this through regular exercise. Pattern recognition (the ability to easily perceive patterns in large amounts of information)  ↳ One of my most important skills as an entrepreneur, I'm able to rapidly pick out the important pieces of data from all the noise to make quick, effective decisions. I've chosen a career where this trait gives me a competitive advantage. Lateral thinking (a non-linear way of solving problems and connecting ideas)  ↳ I make the most of my ability to come up with creative solutions, but I still seek feedback to help me clearly communicate my (sometimes difficult to follow) thought process to others. This more realistic and balanced approach helps us steer clear of the extreme stereotypes that neurodiverse people are often placed under - either the “superpowered problem-solver” or the “cold genius who lacks empathy”. I write about this and more in my latest piece for Maddyness UK. 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽   https://lnkd.in/eTrrjCqw #Autism #Neurodiversity #Entrepreneur

Cogs AI is in the Focal Top 100 🔥 Out of 2,100 applicants, we received a lot of votes from VCs, and have been chosen as one of the top 5% of companies in the S24 cohort. We'll be fundraising soon, get in touch: [email protected] Check out the full Top 100 here: https://lnkd.in/dynGN4C3

Fundraising for first-time founders feels like 🤯 To demystify the process, I've written about how Cogs AI raised our first £650k for Sifted. Here's how we did it: Accelerators 🔥 The first thing we did was to join accelerators like Bethnal Green Ventures and KQ Labs. Alongside some initial funding, the programmes helped us test our idea, our team chemistry and the market. Friends and family round 💖 The most stressful (but also validating) round for me! This was when we asked our friends, family and colleagues to believe in our team and idea. Grants 📈 Grants, from organisations like UnLtd and Innovate UK, provided important validation for our solution and financial support for both short-term needs and long-term growth. Angels 😇 Our angel Amina Ahmad of Ada Ventures Angels, was looking to invest in women-led and gender-diverse teams with scalable, commercially-focused, social impact solutions. We were a perfect match. What’s next? 💸 Big ideas need big money to make big impact. Watch this space for our next fundraising plans. Read about each stage in the article link below ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eVYJY55b

Our next Inclusive Conversation - Reframing Employment: Neurodivergent Entrepreneurship Benefits & Challenges. 30th Nov 1700 UK on Zoom. Our last Inclusive Conversation of 2023 will feature Zareen Ali of Cogs AI in reframing traditional employment models with entrepreneurship and its benefits and challenges for neurodivergents and disabled people. We know too well how traditional workspaces may not suit how neurodivergents and disabled people best need to work, create and flourish. The protocols, expectations and social ground rules are mainly built by others. So tech entrepreneurship offers an alternative route to creativity and autonomy, as well as creating more inclusive tech from lived experience. With that, it is still a minefield of issues to manage the non-accessible processes of fundraising, building teams and partners and working under pressure to deliver, which gives rise to mental health issues which are amplified. We will look at some of these lived experiences and start the conversation with Zareen. Join us via Zoom by booking here on Eventbrite and share your views also! #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #entrepreneurship #disabilityinclusion #inclusivetech #techstartups #tech4good Tania Duarte Marie-Clare F. Shamima Akhtar Dr Parves Khan Karen Blake Russ Shaw CBE Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates Tracey Rob Perera CA PMP FCMI BCS NeurodiverseIT Ashley Peacock Matthew Bellringer Oliver Clayton Maxine Thompson Marc Goblot FRSA https://lnkd.in/etZGDHv4

My latest piece for the Financial Times' startup publication Sifted is about what I've learned as a #neurodivergent founder building an AI solution at Cogs AI. What have I Iearnt? Sadly, that it’s too easy for discrimination to be embedded into code. But, it can be avoided. If the right measures are put in place by AI startups. Here’s how: 1️⃣ Recognise that AI is neutral; humans are the problem 2️⃣ Building responsible AI is good business governance 3️⃣ Acknowledge that representation is key, but so is personal responsibility 4️⃣ Implement practical tools and strategies, they do exist You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eU7qfGEx Thank you to Denise Xifara and all the women at the Mercuri VC's Women in AI event last month for our discussion on point 2️⃣ Afiya Chohollo Erin Young Drishdey Caullychurn, MBA, Jen Lothian and all my #neurodivergent founder crew Kim To Emily Horton Sascha Evans Kanu Batra - is there anything you would add?