About Us
Career and Life Design AI is a next-generation, category defining, multimodal agentic ecosystem—built on the platform, The Light, to power how people shape and simulate their future selves.
We are the world’s premier AI stage for career and life design—pioneering identity-aligned transformation and engineering the future of leadership, learning, and human potential across individuals, enterprises, and nations.
At its core is Aiya—a superintelligent AI Agent that simulates, strategizes, and helps users map clarity to action across pivotal life and career decisions. Aiya functions as both accelerator and adaptive learning system, offering intelligent, real-time solutions for groundbreaking career and life design simulation and realization.
Vision
To redefine how the world grows, leads, and evolves by integrating AI agents that not only answer questions; but unlock clarity, elevate consciousness, and empower people and organizations to design their futures and thrive.
Mission
We are on a mission to redesign how the world works and leads by aligning purpose, intelligence, and human potential.
Our Philosophy
Clarity before code. Identity before implementation.
We don’t chase trends—we align intelligence with your organization’s DNA.
Strategy comes first, ensuring that any AI integration serves your people, mission, and future.
Together, we believe clarity is a moral imperative in the age of acceleration.
Hassan Akmal, MPH, MBA
Founder, President & CEO | Chief Architect of Superintelligence
Hassan Akmal is an AI Visionary, futurist, and future of work expert. He is an American career and life mastery strategist, global career services thought leader, entrepreneur, author, and professor. He is a philanthropist and former professional tennis player who represented the United States as an international athlete ambassador.
With over 30 years in higher education and 17 years of senior leadership in career services, Akmal is a pioneer in career and life design. He was the inaugural executive director of industry relations and career strategies at Columbia University, where he founded the award-winning Career Design Lab in Times Square. In 2018, he served on the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) “Future of We” Advisory Committee and as a senior advisor to Graduway (now Gravyty), a top 10 global EdTech startup. Akmal also penned the foreword for the book, Career Revolution: A Design Thinking Approach to Career Development in a Post-Pandemic World.
As a recognized thought leader, Akmal has delivered impactful keynote addresses on transformative topics, including: • “The Future of Career Services” at UCLA's Global Leaders’ Summit in 2019, exploring the intersection of innovation, equity, and career readiness. • “Transformative Career Services in the New World of Work: The Mosaic of Career and Life Design” at the Midwest ACE Conference in 2024 (opening keynote address), highlighting the role of creativity, resilience, and integration in navigating the evolving workplace.
His 2021 TEDx Talk, "The Power to Design a Life You Love," released by TED, has garnered over 1.7 million views, further solidifying his reputation as an innovator in personal, career, and professional development.
Before his current role, Akmal served as the inaugural executive director of the UCLA Career Center, where he led a large-scale reimagination of career services. An alumnus and former Division I athlete, Akmal’s work transformed the career landscape for the UCLA community. In 2021, he became the executive director of career and professional development at UC San Diego, spearheading a multiyear initiative to reimagine the career center. He also serves on the steering committee for the UCTV Career Channel, which has over a million subscribers.
Akmal’s recent publications reflect his dedication to bridging the future of work with personal growth. He is the author of How to Be a Career Mastermind™: Discover 7 “YOU Matter” Lenses for a Life of Purpose, Impact, and Meaningful Work. His has also authored, The Interior Design of Your Career and Life™, and You Are the Artist of Your Life: The Interior Design of Your Future, a children’s book. His new book, Redesigning Your Life: The AI Mosaic of Career & Life Design: Career Architect GPT: Design Your Future Self with Agility, Precision, and Purpose in the Age of Superintelligence, explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Career and Life Design. He is also the Chief AI Architect of Human Centered Design and Innovation behind the AI agent, Aiya, an AI-powered virtual Career and Life Design Lab, accelerator, and learning system, providing solutions for groundbreaking career and life design simulation and realization. He is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in Artificial Intelligence at Harvard.
in addition to publishing globally recognized articles for NACE and Inside Higher Ed, including Reimagining Student Employment, Designing the Future of Career Services, Beyond Work-Life Balance: The Future of Career Services Lies in Career and Life Integration, Akmal continues to serve on several prominent international boards. His empathetic and holistic passion for the student experience, innovation, AI, and the art of career and life design makes him a sought-after speaker, consultant, and leader, inspiring individuals and institutions worldwide.
Co-Founder | Chief Operations Officer
Perhaps an eclectic path, Pedro Manrique, Ph.D., started off designing image sensors at the chip level for scientific applications. Surreally, the client at the time was NASA that took pictures of the moons of Jupiter with the image sensor provided. This journey continued at a startup, where CMOS image sensors were used for digital cameras in our cell phones.
Sam Rastogi is a global marketing executive and Chief Marketing Officer with 25 years of experience driving growth, building categories, and transforming brands across cloud, AI, and technology. Throughout his career, he has scaled both startups and Fortune 500 leaders, translating complex technologies into simple, compelling value propositions that win customers and redefine markets. He has held senior leadership roles at Broadcom, VMware, Cisco Systems, HP Enterprise, Palo Alto Networks, and Oracle.
Syed Ali Zaidi specializes in aligning technology strategy with business objectives to drive growth, innovation, and long-term scalability. His role extends beyond managing infrastructure—he acts as a bridge between cutting-edge technology and practical business outcomes, ensuring that every technical decision supports the company’s mission and competitive advantage.
