Taniya Mishra is the Founder and CEO of SureStart, a company whose mission is to increase AI workforce diversity by building early opportunity pipelines through technical skills training, sustained mentoring, and intentional amplification of diverse tech talent. She has been an AI scientist for over 10 years, with many peer-reviewed articles and 48 awarded patents.

Taniya is deeply passionate about increasing AI workforce diversity through opportunity equity, and in shaping the future of AI through inclusive technical product development. She speaks regularly on these topics at leading conferences and events, including presenting at CES and delivering a keynote at the New York Academy of Sciences. Her work has been recognized in industry recognition programs and the press, including being named WomenTech Network’s “Mentor of the Year” and featured in MIT Technology Review, NBC Learn, The Atlantic, and Fast Company. 

Prior to founding SureStart, Taniya held technical roles at large organizations like AT&T Labs, as well as at leading startups like Affectiva and Interactions LLC. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and Philosophy from Oregon Health and Science University and a BA in Mathematics and Computer Science from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.