{"id":18,"date":"2024-04-19T19:57:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T19:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mba.nus.edu.sg\/women\/?post_type=alumnus&p=18"},"modified":"2025-01-15T12:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T04:11:27","slug":"sharmili-roy","status":"publish","type":"profile","link":"https:\/\/mba.nus.edu.sg\/women\/profile\/sharmili-roy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharmili Roy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Transforming mental wellness for kids using AI: Sharmili Roy (Class \u201822)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For most people, transitioning \u201cfrom the classroom to the real world\u201d typically involves applying the skills they’ve learned to their professional roles. However, for Sharmili Roy (Class \u201822), this transition took on a more profound significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharmili, along with her classmates Jeff Lee and Rahul Vijayan, co-founded the mental health tech start-up Zoala during their time in the NUS EMBA<\/a> program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“During our entrepreneurship module, we had to come up with a business idea and pitch it in front of the class as the final project,” Sharmili recalls. Zoala went on to become a real-world venture shortly after they graduated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Sharmili serves as the Chief Technology Officer of the company. She leverages her expertise in image processing and AI, honed over a decade-long career, to drive innovation and impact in the mental health sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join us as we delve into Sharmili\u2019s journey, exploring her path from AI expert to entrepreneur, the role of the NUS EMBA program in shaping her remarkable story, and the advice she offers to budding women leaders in tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Helping young people in need<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Zoala is an AI-powered mental wellness platform to improve the wellbeing and support adolescents (aged 10-19). \u201cWe use AI to detect early signs of mental health decline, offer personalized interventions and create a supportive community for young people in need,\u201d Sharmili says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app has multiple features. One of them is a chatbot that helps students instill positive habits and increase awareness about mental wellness. \u201cThey get a personal \u2018wellness buddy\u2019 who can engage in conversations with them and offer practical advice,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe also use the app to push out content on topics such as safe use of technology and how to manage exam stress.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the app can detect \u201cred flags\u201d and raise alerts. For example, if the student has been ideating about suicide or self-harm on the chat, the app alerts the counselors, so that they can proactively reach out to the students and speak with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An unexpected reward<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Was this something that Sharmili had expected to get out of the NUS EMBA program? Not at all, she says. \u201cI\u2019ve never expected the EMBA to lead to this; my initial motivation for joining the program was to expand my skill sets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharmili shares that she has always worked in a technology role and was focused on building solutions. But as she progressed in her career, she got interested in understanding how businesses are run, what makes money and why businesses make certain decisions. \u201cI felt that an EMBA would provide me with this exposure and knowledge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when the NUS EMBA program started, Sharmili was working in Indonesian e-commerce company Tokopedia. Halfway through the program, she joined Microsoft for over a year before quitting to focus on Zoala full-time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diversity is key to creativity<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Having been in the tech industry for a long time now, Sharmili notes that there had been improvement in terms of women representation, especially in terms of leadership. \u201cCompared to before, a lot more girls are now interested in STEM education, coding and AI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That can only do good for the industry, Sharmili feels. “I strongly believe that diversity is key to creativity; when it comes to developing solutions to any issues, the product can benefit from having a wide range of perspectives and ideas. Women in tech can bring fresh perspectives to the table – not just in solving problems but also driving the solutions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she notes that a problem for emerging women in tech is that it\u2019s not easy to find support and role models. Why is that so? \u201cAs humans, we tend to flock to people who are similar to us for support,\u201d Sharmili explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, the need for existing female leaders to be more visible, so that other women can approach them for mentorship or advice, she adds. \u201cIn this way, we empower more people who are trying to uplift themselves in this domain.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharmili\u2019s advice for women in tech? \u201cNever undersell yourself,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause we can do the same things that men can do at work, but a lot of times, we tend to self-doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"programme":[7],"class_list":["post-18","profile","type-profile","status-publish","hentry","programme-emba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSharmili Roy - NUS Women in MBA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mba.nus.edu.sg\/women\/profile\/sharmili-roy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sharmili Roy - NUS Women in MBA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Transforming mental wellness for kids using AI: Sharmili Roy (Class \u201822) For most people, transitioning \u201cfrom the classroom to the real world\u201d typically involves applying the skills they’ve learned to their professional roles. 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