Hayagreev Sivakumar

About Hayagreev Sivakumar

I build AI products for gaps I find in the market which I wish existed.Right now I’m co-founding Emote, a hyper-personalized emotional sense-making AI that helps users process experiences over time instead of treating conversations as isolated chats.Emote is early, but live.As of February 17, 2026:* 215 total users* 73% activation rate*~21% average weekly retention* 20%+ deep sessions (10+ turns)* Power users completing 8–12 session trajectoriesWe are pre-PMF and intentionally in learning mode targeting early users to refine memory behavior, retention mechanics, and long-term emotional modeling before scaling.My role sits at the intersection of product, AI, and user psychology:* Define the problem thesis and product direction* Translate user behavior into feature decisions* Run hypothesis → build → measure → iterate loops* Work directly with engineering to prioritize architecture-aware product decisions* Shape positioning, onboarding, and acquisition strategyI focus on what should be built, why it should exist, and how it evolves over time.Before Emote, I built and scaled early-stage ventures in FMCG and D2C. That experience trained me in execution, not theory, testing markets, adjusting positioning, and driving revenue under constraint. The domain has changed. The operating principle hasn’t.I’m interested in AI systems that:* Maintain continuity over time* Encode memory deliberately* Improve with structured iteration, not noise* Solve real cognitive or behavioral problemsIf you’re building at the intersection of AI, product, and human behavior: Click here to check out my app - https://emotenow.app

Experience

1. Financial Transformation Consultant

   Grant Thornton Bharat LLP

   Jul 2025 — Present · Chennai, IN

   A. Public Sector Bank (Data Lakehouse & AI Enablement)- Led end-to-end requirement discovery for enterprise data lakehouse implementation by collaborating with 80+ cross-functional departments, synthesizing business and data needs into a unified product scope; translated fragmented stakeholder inputs into a structured RFP, enabling vendor evaluation aligned to analytics and AI use cases across the bank- Co-designed RFP and solution blueprint for AI-enabled data platform by working with client leadership and internal SMEs to define ML/LLM use cases, data architecture, governance, and integration requirements; drove scope finalization within 4 months, accelerating OEM/vendor onboarding for next-gen analytics capabilities.B. Private Sector Bank (IT & Controls Transformation)- Executed end-to-end ITGC and application control audits across 7 critical banking systems (including Calypso, Finacle, MFI application), assessing access, change, interface, processing, infosec, DR/BCP, and incident management controls; identified design and operating gaps to strengthen system reliability and cyber resilience- Partnered with application owners and infosec teams to test control effectiveness and validate remediation plans, aligning technical control environments with business risk priorities; enhanced audit traceability and evidence workflows, improving control transparency across core banking applications.

Education

• CentraleSupélec

  Master's degree, Computational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering

• Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School

  AISSE, Mathematics and Computer Science

  2002 — 2016

• Stoa

  General MBA Program (GMP)

• SSN College of Engineering

  Bachelor's degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering