Meet Praneet Pujari: From Apple Watch lead to AI healthcare — how IIT alumni build startup in US despite visa hurdles
Praneeta Pujari, a former Apple Watch lead, quit her job at the iPhone giant to start her own AI-powered healthcare platform designed to help people manage chronic conditions such as migraines.
Just two ago, Pujari announced in LinkedIn, "I left Apple to build healthcare that listens and acts early. Today, I'm excited to introduce UniqueHuman."
Here's all you need to know about her Praneeta Pujari and her US-based startup
Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Praneeta Pujari worked as Apple Watch Lead at the company. He was also the iPhone lead there between 2022 and 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In 2018, she was Senior Product Manager at Amazon. Prior to this, she was a behavioural science researcher and also has experience working with Flipkart.
She earned a bachelor's degree in Technology, Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
She later studied Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
UniqueHuman: All about Pujari's gadget
Pujari's UniqueHuman is a proactive healthcare agent for people with chronic conditions. "We are fixing the timing problem in healthcare," she says in a video posted on LinkedIn.
The company's website says that chronic conditions are the leading causes of death and disability in America, and people wait months to get a doctor’s appointment, even in America’s largest cities.
To bridge the gap, UniqueHuman organises care around a person's condition, multiplies the reach of every clinician, and advances the science of chronic illness.
Pujari hopes to build the "most consumer-centric healthcare experience first" product.
How it works?
The healthcare product can help people anticipate their next migraine or any chronic pain attack. "I dodged two episodes this month already," Pujari said in a social media post in July.
It's a frontier predictive intelligence for complex chronic conditions. AI agents predict potential flare-ups and help users transition from symptom tracking to active medical care.
It connects users with real clinicians, assists with medical documentation/reports, and helps navigate insurance and prescription delivery
"Before you even ask, your agent flags symptoms, orders labs, connects to doctors, handles insurance, refills prescriptions, and delivers medications home," the website stated.
• Migraines
• Chronic pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Neck and back pain
• Endometriosis and pelvic pain
• POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and Long COVID
"We combine leading medical evidence with frontier AI to catch signals early and act on them between visits, so that care stops being limited by how many doctors there are," UniqueHuman said.
Pujari said she managed her mother's chronic pain for a decade. "Working on the Apple Watch, I saw how her body sends warning signs long before anything hurts," she said in the video message.
"So, I left Apple to build healthcare that listens and acts early," she added.
In another post on LinkedIn, Pujari said she was an "invisible discipline" at Apple, which she herself repeats at UniqueHuman.
"At Apple, every detail, from how permissions are requested to how pricing is mentioned, is designed to silently communicate one thing: respect for the user.
"It was the art and science of 'earning a relationship' where price and features become secondary. I call it 'Trust Engineering," she said.
"When I started UniqueHuman, I realised this exact discipline had to guide everything we built," she added.
'How did I leave Apple and start up full-time with all the visa restrictions?'
In another post on LinkedIn from a year ago, Pujari said the question she is asked the most by her immigrant friends is: “how did I leave Apple and start up full-time with all the visa restrictions?”
"It wasn’t straightforward. I had to bet on the odds of things lining up," she wrote in the post.
She said, "Recently, I got my O1 visa approved. Which means I get to keep living and building in SF. According to the US government, I’m officially an Alien of Extraordinary Ability (I thought I had to wait for that name till we made it to Mars). I’m super grateful to the mentors and advisors who went to bat for me with their letters."
She added, “...as an immigrant founder, visas put you in a catch-22. It feels unfair. The risk of starting up feels even bigger. But at some point though, you have to choose what matters more and make the leap.”
Akriti Anand
Akriti Anand is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint. She is a digital journalist with more than six years in the news industry.<br><br> In her current role, she covers both national and international politics, and also keeps a close watch on the latest trends in science and space exploration. <br><br> Akriti joined the LiveMint team in October 2023. Before this, she built a strong career at other major media houses. She worked as a senior sub-editor at India Today. Later, she moved to CNBCTV-18. There, she covered high-pressure topics like breaking news and major elections. She spent much of her time analysing Parliament bills and complex political debates. She is also a skilled editor who knows how to polish a story for a digital audience. <br><br> One of her career highlights happened at CNBCTV-18. She made her first television debut during the Chandrayaan-3 mission. She also provided special on-air coverage for the Karnataka Elections. <br><br> When she is not busy with breaking news, Akriti loves to write explainers and interview experts on a wide range of issues. She also enjoys making complex space missions easy for everyone to understand. <br><br> Her education helps her tackle these diverse subjects. She holds a BA in English Literature, a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication, and a Master’s degree in Development Studies. She is currently expanding her knowledge in climate journalism.<br><br> Connect with Akriti here<br> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/akriti-anand-868285199">https://www.linkedin.com/in/akriti-anand-868285199</a><br> Twitter/X: <a href="https://x.com/AkritiAnand7">https://x.com/AkritiAnand7</a><br> Email: akriti.anand@htdigital.in
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