From farms to hospitals: How 3 women are shaping India’s AI future

(From Left to Right) Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth, Pragya Misra of OpenAI, BrainSightAI CEO Laina Emmanuel, and NIRAMAI Health Analytix CEO & CTO Dr. Geetha Manjunath, at CNN News18’s SheShakti 2025.

India is witnessing a quiet artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, led by women who are not just using technology but shaping it.

At CNN-News18’s SheShakti 2025 event, Pragya Misra of OpenAI, BrainSightAI CEO Laina Emmanuel, and Niramai Health Analytix CEO & CTO Dr Geetha Manjunath shared how their work is changing everyday lives,: from farmers in rural India to hospital patients.

Misra, OpenAI’s first Indian employee, shared her journey at one of the world’s most talked-about AI companies. “It’s absolutely exciting and intense. My goal was to ensure India has a voice in shaping global technology,” she said, highlighting the ChatGPT maker’s commitment to India through initiatives like ChatGPT Go and Study Mode.

AI is already making a difference in rural India. Farming communities are using OpenAI models for guidance on crops, fertilizers, pest management, and even which mandi to sell their produce in, Misra said.

“We’ve seen farmer incomes grow by 35 percent. And thanks to speech-based interaction and multilingual capabilities, more women are accessing these models, supporting economic growth,” she added.

Frontline healthcare providers such as anganwadi and ASHA workers are also using AI for data collection and analysis.

While Misra represents foundational AI, Emmanuel and Manjunath are applying AI in healthcare with life-saving outcomes.

BrainSight AI specialises in advanced brain mapping for minimal functional loss during surgeries, early dementia diagnosis and identifying psychiatric disorders.

Also read: Open AI’s Pragya Misra on India hiring and expansion: "Lots of announcements coming up"

The company has partnered with more than 80 hospitals, where AI helps doctors make clinical decisions, including predicting post-surgery outcomes in complex cases.

Founded by Manjunath, Niramai has developed an AI-powered method to detect breast cancer using thermal imaging. With 20 machine-learning algorithms analysing four lakh temperature points, Niramai identifies vascular and thermal patterns to flag potential malignancies.

“Our Make in India product is now used in over 20 countries and over 300 hospitals in India,” Manjunath said. With 39 granted patents, the technology prioritises high sensitivity to minimise false negatives, enabling early detection for women in workplaces and rural areas.

The session also touched on gender representation in AI. Misra acknowledged that leadership is male-dominated but evolving, citing examples of women leading key roles at OpenAI.

Emmanuel added that 50 percent of her BrainSight team are women leading technical roles, while Manjunath  highlighted the importance of women founders in life sciences, citing role models like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.