hi, I'm

Anik Sahai

I'm a junior at FAU High, dual-enrolled at Florida Atlantic University. I build robots that act in the real world, I started a health-tech company, I co-founded a nonprofit that teaches kids about AI, and I argue in Congressional Debate.

The thread is a pair of questions. How do we make AI safe enough that people can rely on it, especially in medicine? And what can the brain teach us about the things AI is still bad at? I don't have answers yet. I'm collecting better questions, mostly by sitting next to people who know more than I do.

Portrait of Anik Sahai in a suit
ICML 2026co-author, AI for MATH Workshop (PMLR 306)
ICRA 2027first-author paper, under review
State 1stDECA Independent Business Plan
Blue Key FinalistCongressional Debate; Harvard quarterfinalist
a few sides of me

Who I am

I'm a builder, a researcher, a founder, a teacher, a debater and a student, usually in the same week. These are the ideas that hold it together.

Anik beside the FAU autonomous golf cart
Anik in a lab coat inspecting a sample tube
Anik and judges holding a Diamond Challenge check made out to AuthAI
Anik and a teammate presenting The Ethics Lab to a classroom
Anik speaking at a podium at Florida Atlantic University
Anik and a colleague working with a robotic instrument under surgical light
the builder

I'd rather find out it's broken

Getting a model to work once is easy. The real work is catching the runs where it fails, before they break, and being able to explain why. "It worked in sim" isn't an answer I accept anymore. So I try to own the whole stack, from wiring and firmware to the models, even when a polished demo would be faster. That's how a phone app I built in 8th grade to screen for diabetic retinopathy turned into GAIN, a robot that rides real elevators, and a golf cart I'm teaching to drive itself.

the researcher

Knowing isn't the same as doing

This is the question I keep coming back to. A robot can know it has to open the door and still not find the button. Someone with Parkinson's can be able to move and still not be able to start. A doctor can know the right treatment and get stopped by the paperwork. GAIN, my fly work and AuthAI look like different fields, but to me they're the same gap, and the brain is still the best teacher I know for closing it.

the founder

Build where a wrong answer hurts

My dad is a physician, and I watched him stay up late fighting prior-authorization forms. That became AuthAI, and it pulled me into pitch competitions and a lot of conversations with doctors. I'm optimistic about AI, and that's exactly why I care about where it goes wrong. If it's going to be trusted in medicine, it has to earn that from the people who'd be hurt by a mistake.

the teacher

Keep people doing their own thinking

In my chatbot study, people rated the same AI warmer and more trustworthy when they were told it was human. The label alone changed the experience. That's why I co-founded The Ethics Lab: people should know what's actually behind the screen. It's also why INKY gives hints instead of answers. The goal is students who can use AI without handing their thinking over to it.

the debater

Say it to someone who disagrees

Congressional Debate is the most useful thing I do that has nothing to do with computers. You stand in front of a room, make your case, and take questions from people who want you to lose. It's mostly failing in public and slowly getting okay with it, and it taught me that an idea isn't finished until I can defend it out loud.

the student

Stay the least experienced person in the room

I cold-emailed labs at FAU until one said yes. Dr. Wei took me in, the first high schooler he'd admitted, and handed me a project a PhD student couldn't get working on hardware. My first paper got rejected, and it's still on this site, because a portfolio of only wins doesn't teach anyone anything. I try not to win things twice. I'd rather go find the next thing I'm bad at. Ask me again in a year and this page will say something different.

running things

Leadership

Where other people are counting on me to show up.

Entrepreneurship

VP of Entrepreneurship

DECA, FAU High · 2026–27

Lead entrepreneurship for the chapter. Took 1st in Florida in Independent Business Plan with AuthAI, then competed at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta.

Debate

Debate Team Captain

FAU High · since 2024

Captain of the Congressional Debate team, and I built the team's partnerships. Finalist at Florida Blue Key and quarterfinalist at Harvard, with Tournament of Champions and NSDA Nationals along the way.

Company

Founder & CEO, AuthAI

Prior authorization for orthopedic practices

An AI assistant that drafts clinical notes and checks them against insurers' prior-auth rules. 1st at the Diamond Challenge New York regional, international finalist, and Student Track runner-up at FAU's Business Pitch Competition.

Nonprofit

Co-Founder, The Ethics Lab

With Michael Gomez · since Nov 2025

Free AI curriculum, workshops and INKY, our AI tutor. I run program design, partnerships and direction, started the Guest Speaker club, and am organizing an AI Ethics Hackathon at FAU (planned, early 2027).

Research

AI Research Lead & MPCR Fellow

MPCR Labs, FAU · with Dr. Hahn

AI alignment, safety and embodied intelligence. I mentor students on AI and robotics projects, and explain the lab's research to outside supporters and donors.

Service

Eagle Scout

Troop 323 · Senior Patrol Leader

Led "Restoration & Rest" on FAU's Tortuga Trail: four Leopold benches, trail markers, a repainted entrance arch, and a QR-code wildlife website, with about 10 volunteers. Helped grow the troop by 20–30 members.

Community

Founder, Jupiter Owls After 3

Jupiter, FL · being built

An after-school program for Jupiter students, designed from scratch: curriculum, volunteers, and partnerships.

School

Student Government & NHS

FAU High

Student Government Association and National Honor Society member.

arguing for fun

On the floor

Anik speaking at a podium at Florida Atlantic University's College of Business, with an Ethics Lab lesson on the screen behind
Teaching at FAU's College of Business

I compete in Congressional Debate and captain my school's team. It's why I can pitch a company or explain a robot to anyone.

Florida Blue KeyFinalist, Congress · Oct 2026
Harvard National Speech & DebateQuarterfinalist, Congress · Feb 2026
Tournament of ChampionsCompetitor · Apr 2026
NSDA National TournamentQualifier and competitor · Jun 2026
Team captainFAU High, since 2024
literally all of it

Everything

In order, newest first. Things that haven't happened yet are marked planned.

The full recordprojects
Next
  • Parkinson's fly study poster, FAU (self-built fly treadmill; results pending)
  • ICRA 2027 decision on GAIN expected
  • AI Ethics Hackathon at FAU (planned)
2026
  • Florida Blue Key Speech & Debate Tournament: finalist, Congress
  • aperion: 3rd place, IBM Quantum Hackathon, Florida Qiskit Fall Fest
  • Submitted GAIN to IEEE ICRA 2027 as first author (under review)
  • The Step One Podcast: 58-minute interview on AI, healthcare and ethics
  • PhysMent at the Third AI for MATH Workshop, ICML 2026 (PMLR 306), co-author
  • Quoted in Inc. as founder of AuthAI; quoted in GoDaddy's entrepreneurial cities research
  • Research Fellow, Non-Trivial (through Aug): AI safety and healthcare
  • NSDA National Tournament, Congressional Debate
  • AI Research Assistant, Center for Connected Autonomy and AI (CA-AI), FAU, with Dr. Minghan Wei
  • FAU Business Pitch Competition: Student Track runner-up, AuthAI (coverage)
  • Diamond Challenge international finalist; DECA ICDC competitor; Tournament of Champions competitor
  • Diamond Challenge: 1st place, New York regional, AuthAI; DECA: state 1st, Independent Business Plan
  • Harvard National Speech & Debate Tournament: quarterfinalist, Congress
  • FAU Biotech Hackathon: 2nd prize, Health Lens AI, with Ryan Calixte and Abhinav Sajeev
  • "Who Do You Think You're Talking To?": IRB-approved study with Vito Borio, under peer review
2025
  • Congressional App Challenge winner, FL-23: SunGuard, a skin-cancer screening app
  • Co-founded The Ethics Lab; AI Research Lead & MPCR Fellow, MPCR Labs
  • AI Engineer, LVNG.AI (through Jan 2026): ML pipelines and MLOps in production
  • Digital Health Investment Research Analyst Intern, Canvas Prime (through Sep)
  • FLARE: my first first-author paper, rejected, and the reason GAIN is tested the way it is
2024
  • Clinical Operations Intern, Spine & Orthopedic Center (through Aug)
  • Associated Press covers my diabetic-retinopathy app and A.D. Henderson
  • 1st in state, Florida middle school science fair; Feeling the Frequency; 6th in Student Congress, FFL Middle School State
2023
What I work with
ROS 2 / Nav2Isaac SimMuJoCoxArm6Firmware & wiringPerceptionPyTorchTensorFlowReinforcement learningComputer visionNLPQiskitPythonTypeScript / ReactSupabase / PostgresAWS / GCPMANOVA & human-subjects studies
Anik Sahai · aksahai07@gmail.com