Backpacking through Central America and India was a life-changing experience for Radhika (Rangarajan) Dirks (S’03). During the trip with her husband, Travis Dirks (S’04), she witnessed heartache, strife — and an opportunity to leverage the enormous power of artificial intelligence (AI). 

“We saw a lot of unfortunate things that seemed like they should have been predictable: economic swings, rampant increase in violence, environmental consequences,” she recalls. “I saw so much potential to finally get ahead of and potentially solve a lot of human tragedy that too many people view as inevitable.” 

Having previously worked in the corporate world and academia, Dirks says neither provided her the space or opportunity to use her skills — not only to uncover scientific breakthroughs but to commercialize them as well. 

“I was one of the few next-gen technologists with experience analyzing and investing in companies,” Dirks explains. “I was good at investing, and if it was this much fun to analyze companies, it seemed it would be even more fun, more challenging, and more rewarding to build one.”

This quest led Dirks to cofound Seldn.ai in 2014 and XLabs AI in 2017 — “a new kind of Bell Labs,” as she puts it. Their work focuses on commercializing AI breakthroughs in genetics, the internet, and culture.

For Dirks, these areas represent immense opportunity to not just think about how to better palliate disease but also cure it. She’s not interested in using data to more efficiently expose consumers to advertising but instead focuses on how to get back to the fundamental ideals that inspired the internet in the first place: building human connection and democratizing knowledge. 

“When humans went to the moon, it wasn’t just a technological achievement,” Dirks says. “It spurred 13 different industries — materials, power, transportation, even clothing. It created an entire new industry and kicked off a new age for mankind.” 

“I believe we all have a duty to build toward a positive vision of the world we want to live in.”

Dirks envisions AI propelling a comparably momentous leap forward today. 

“I believe we all have a duty to build toward a positive vision of the world we want to live in. And that’s what we are doing at XLabs. We are building a new kind of AI to power, commercialize, and launch unambiguously good moonshots that will strengthen human longevity, creativity, health, and connections.”

While her work is undeniably high tech, it’s also profoundly human. 

“My love for tech is grounded in a deeper love and belief in the potential for humankind,” Dirks explains. “I happen to be a big believer in intentionally shaping a world that benefits humanity to see if we can unlock a different dimension of harmony and creativity.”