The Uncommon Thinker: Kiana Ehsani’s Journey from Nature to AI Innovation

Against the stunning backdrop of Mount Rainier, Kiana Ehsani finds her happy place – not behind a computer screen, but on mountain trails, ski slopes, and amidst nature’s grandeur. As co-founder and CEO of Seattle AI startup Vercept, Ehsani represents a new breed of tech innovator who builds technology specifically to create more freedom from technology itself. Her brainchild, Vy, is an AI product that observes and understands computer screens like humans do, then autonomously runs workflows from natural language commands. “I’m just the happiest when I’m in nature, when I’m not behind my computer, letting my mind be present in the moment, listening to the steps of my foot on the trail, or on snow or ice,” she explains. This philosophy drives her creation – technology that handles repetitive tasks across different software platforms so users don’t need specialized knowledge of countless programs, ultimately freeing people to spend more time where creativity truly flourishes.

Ehsani’s vision stems from her own experience finding creative clarity in the outdoors. “I am most creative when I’m on a hike,” she shares, describing how Vy can autonomously handle emails, code checks, and communications even when she’s somewhere without reliable internet service. The technology completes tasks independently and reports back on its accomplishments. This approach transforms how we might think about productivity – not as hours bound to a desk, but as freedom to engage with environments that spark our best thinking. “If I could just have that more often, to be able to have that creative mind, flowing and producing more, and I didn’t have to be stuck behind the desk, then the world would be my playground,” she says. It’s a refreshingly human-centered view of artificial intelligence’s purpose – not to replace human creativity but to carve out more space for it to flourish.

Ehsani’s journey to becoming an AI innovator began in Iran, where her academic excellence at Sharif University (ranking 64th in the country’s University Entrance Exam) laid the groundwork for her future. “I was a geek,” she admits, recalling publishing papers and presenting at international conferences as an undergraduate. After moving to the United States in 2015 to pursue advanced degrees at the University of Washington, she quickly recognized AI’s vast potential. Following internships at Google and Meta, she joined the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) where she spent four years as a senior researcher overseeing robotics and embodied artificial intelligence teams. In late 2024, she launched Vercept alongside AI specialist Oren Etzioni and colleagues Matt Deitke, Luca Weihs, and Ross Girshick. Etzioni praises Ehsani as that rare individual who possesses both “heart” (high emotional intelligence) and “brain” (intellectual brilliance), calling her “brilliant, dedicated and intuitive” while noting her remarkable capacity for personal transformation – from theoretical scientist to award-winning researcher to dynamic founder and CEO.

The evolution of Ehsani’s interests reflects her persistent search for meaningful AI applications. Early in her career, she found herself frustrated by AI’s focus on simple tasks like image classification, yearning instead for solutions to real-world problems. This drive pulled her toward computer vision and robotics research, though hardware development limitations eventually pushed her toward AI models and virtual robots that could take actions on behalf of users. Her upbringing in Iran, where resources were limited, instilled a scrappy mindset that served her well in academia and nonprofit research environments where she had to compete against larger, better-funded AI labs. This approach continues to define Vercept’s ethos as it competes against tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Amazon. “That’s the mindset that made me grow more, and that’s why at Vercept we are training models a lot more efficiently and less resource-heavy than anyone out there,” she explains. “We love being scrappy and proving that you don’t need billions and trillions of dollars to make AI work.”

Recent developments show Ehsani’s vision gaining momentum. Vercept recently launched an improved version of Vy that works on both Windows and MacOS, with significantly enhanced benchmark results. The startup has expanded to a team of twelve and secured $16 million in seed funding in June, though it experienced a setback in July when co-founder Matt Deitke departed for Meta’s Superintelligence Lab. Despite this loss, Deitke remains effusive about Ehsani’s leadership qualities, describing her as “an incredible leader and visionary” whose robotics background makes her exceptionally qualified for advancing computer-human interaction. “Working with her is infectious and inspiring,” Deitke reflects. “She has an incredible work ethic and is constantly energized and comes up with amazing ideas that only become obvious to the rest of us after a while.” Beyond professional accolades, he emphasizes her personal impact: “She’s truly an exceptional person.”

The parallels between Ehsani’s passion for outdoor challenges and her entrepreneurial journey came into sharp focus during a recent 50-kilometer ultramarathon with 8,000 feet of elevation gain. Cold, thirsty, and struggling uphill, she recognized similarities to startup life – adapting to changing conditions, persevering despite setbacks, and maintaining belief in the ultimate goal even when others appeared to be ahead. In a LinkedIn post about the experience, she drew these connections explicitly, and later told GeekWire, “That’s the story of my life. I live that every day.” This philosophy of resilience, adaptability, and finding inspiration in challenging natural environments forms the core of both Ehsani’s personal identity and professional innovation. As Vercept continues to develop AI tools that free people from technological constraints rather than binding them tighter, Ehsani’s uncommon thinking demonstrates how the most human-centered technology might be that which gives us more freedom to be fully human away from our screens.