The story of how a single Act of Kindness changed my life trajectory and inspired KindWorks.AI.
A tough moment brought a life-changing insight
Four years ago, I was going through a rough patch. I was the Product Manager for Cisco AI Network Analytics, the most important AI product for Cisco systems in 2019. I had just received the “Rock Star” award from senior leadership. I loved my team. I should have been on top of the world. Yet, despite these accomplishments and stature, I was about to lose my job. I was facing immigration and delayed relocation challenges that would not allow me to stay in the US or UK. I wasn’t able to continue growing with the team and a job that I loved. Furthermore, my work visa depended on Cisco; I was at a tough crossroads without a clear career path, place to live, or future plans.
I had some prized belongings at a storage unit in Silicon Valley and the time had come to empty out my things before the move. It was a special moment filled with sadness and frustration but where something magical would happen. I found a nice bottle of wine in my possessions and decided to gift it to the friendly security guard who had greeted me at the storage facility.
In the moment I did this act of Kindness, I felt the most powerful force in my body that I’ve ever experienced. I could feel my entire perspective and sense of contentment shifting in that instance. I know now that there was a chemical reaction in my body triggered by doing that Kindness.
The security guard’s face showed deep and honest appreciation. He specified that he had been working there for three years and that it was the first time he had received this sort of Kindness. He also mentioned that he was excited to enjoy the bottle of wine with an overdue date night with his wife.
In this moment, my perception of reality, my situation, and myself completely changed. This simple act of Kindness inspired me. I was energized and motivated to persevere. Within a few weeks, I was back on my feet. I secured two exciting new opportunities. I had excellent choices between starting my next chapter in Berlin or Vancouver with Amazon.
The insight sparked a larger-than-life idea (The Power of Kindness)
That incredibly powerful moment I experienced when doing something Kind for someone else was a feeling that I had not experienced before. I couldn’t understand what had happened to me. I began to dive deep into the research and discovered hundreds of academic research papers concluding that the practice of Kindness is one of the most powerful tools humans have to boost well-being and bring their best selves to the world. I was inspired to share my new discovery and to spread the benefits of Kindness to help others also feel more connected, motivated, impactful, and purposeful.
During that time period, I was living and studying at Oxford and was involved as President of Oxford’s AI Society. I saw so many adverse use cases of AI that focused solely on filling the pockets of a few or, in some of the worst cases, actually causing harm. I envisioned the power that AI has to help and support humans. I was motivated to take my new learnings about Kindness and to find a way for the power of technology to serve humanity. I sat down and wrote the idea of KindWorks.AI, using technology to inspire billions of people to practice Kindness, boost their well-being, and bring their best selves to the world while living a more meaningful life.
Turning the idea into action
With the vision of KindWorks.AI written, we packed bags and moved with my wife to Vancouver to work for Amazon. It was a fast-paced and fulfilling experience.
Then the pandemic hit. I saw how people across all types of companies and geographies were struggling. People were burning out faster than ever before. They were quitting, taking unpaid leaves, or staying and languishing. I decided I could not continue doing business as usual as I knew I had a secret that could change the lives of many and truly help billions of people.
I had a great farewell celebration from Amazon, and on the 9th of January, 2021, my journey to build KindWorks.AI started. I was on a mission to build a world where all of us are supported to thrive by developing habits to live a more meaningful life with Kindness.
When I took the leap, I had no more than a plan-on-a-page and the name, KindWorks.AI. I started sharing the idea with everyone I trusted and respected. I was incredibly lucky to quickly build a diverse team that shares the passion for bringing KindWorks to the world.
In less than 2 months, we had a working prototype of our conversational agent ‘Beni’. We have created Beni to be by our users’ sides, motivating and inspiring them to complete personalized acts of Kindness. Beni optimizes to benefit their well-being, work environment, and life motivations. Our AI infrastructure allows Beni to know which is the right act of Kindness for the right person at the right moment.
In our first 18 months, we have seen our platform result in significant changes in purpose, impact, and connectedness for our users and a boost in talent retention, performance, and culture at companies. Seeing the impact that KindWorks is bringing every day to our users and to our own team members makes me feel every day like work never feels like work.
A company and community driving impact globally
Throughout this journey, the best part was kicking everything off with a group of volunteers passionate about the mission. The team started squeezing any minute out of their day to build KindWorks.AI.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that my one moment of Kindness would turn out into what we have built at KindWorks. We have the most outstanding team of full-time co-founders, team members, and engineers. We have built a product that encourages Kindness challenges and content to motivate users to consistently practice and experience the benefits of Kindness. Our product has been deployed in the Americas and the UK at leading global companies (including top 3 management consulting firms, startups, and a world renowned financial institution). We are creating an unimaginable impact on real people and customers. We are now rolling out KindWorks across more companies, industries, and locations so many more people and companies can benefit from the impact of Kindness with Beni.
Results have surpassed my wildest expectations but what’s most exciting is that we are just getting started. Within our deployments, our product has led to a 63% increase in the percentage of people feeling very much impactful at work. The first offices where we deployed have ranked among the top 10 best places to work among hundreds of locations. Based on the impact they have seen, our customers have featured us in their internal town halls, newsletters, and even their own social media.
The most exciting part is that we are just getting started! We couldn’t be more excited to be working with our customers, team members, investors, and advisors to continue building a brighter future of work with Kindness where employees bring outstanding results while working and living their lives in a way that has more purpose, impact, connectedness and makes more sense! We are on a mission to bring this impact and results to as many people as possible across the world as fast as possible.
I would love to share more! Reach out to see how a brighter future with impact, purpose, and results is built.
