How to Build AI That Actually Feels Human (Most Get This Wrong) | Ep. 2 ft. Tanya Coller

Most AI products are built to impress in demos. Tanya Coller builds them to work in real life. Tanya is the Founder of Ayla, an AI Product Strategist, and someone with a rare ability to look at any product workflow and instantly see where AI can remove friction or unlock something new. Before all of that, she was a public health researcher. Turns out, understanding humans was always the skill that mattered most. In this episode we get into vibe coding, empathy-first product design, why most AI products collapse, and what it actually looks like to go from "non-tech" to AI founder. If you've ever wondered whether your background gives you a place in AI, this one's for you. 0:00 She builds AI that actually listens 2:00 Meet Tanya: from registered dietitian to AI founder 5:30 What is Ayla and what gap does it close? 10:00 The name Ayla: a character who became the future 12:00 Public health as a superpower in AI 16:00 Empathetic engineering: coined live on air 22:00 The real product workflow example: the companion and worksheet pivot 29:00 Vibe coding: building instead of downloading 35:00 The wedding app built in one hour (hold my beer) 42:00 Why most AI products fail 47:00 Sisterhood segment: finding your AI community 52:00 Lightning round 57:00 The popcorn confession (misophonia in movie theaters) ________________________________________________________________ The AI Sisterhood Podcast is the show where women building the future of AI share how they actually do it. Hear how they built it. Then go build yours. Every week, host Arthi Rajendran sits down with a woman who is in the arena : shipping ML models, founding AI companies, and doing the hard technical work that rarely gets talked about publicly. No hype. No theory. Just real builders having honest conversations about real systems. We go deep on: → How they actually built what they built → The technical decisions behind real AI systems → Career journeys into AI : the unpolished, honest version → What it takes to build as a woman in a male-dominated space → Where AI is going, from the people actively shaping it Because the AI conversation online is overwhelmingly male, but the women building in this space are extraordinary. This podcast exists to make them visible and to give every listener the fuel to go build something of their own. New episode every Saturday. 🎙️ WANT TO BE A GUEST? Are you a woman building real AI systems? We want to hear your story. Fill out our guest interest form → https://forms.gle/NMRrmjgkz3GSHGiK7 🤝 SPONSOR THE AI SISTERHOOD PODCAST Reach a community of women AI builders, developers, founders, and professionals actively building with AI. To explore partnership opportunities, reach out at → arthirajendran@thearthiaicollective.com 🔔 Subscribe + hit the bell so you never miss a Saturday drop 💬 Leave a comment : Arthi reads every single one & responds 📤 Share this episode with a woman in AI who deserves to be seen 📍 Get in touch: 🌐 Website → https://thearthiaicollective.com/ 📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thearthiaicollective/ 💼 LinkedIn → https://linkedin.com/in/arthirajendran The AI Sisterhood Podcast is part of @thearthiaicollective : a product and community ecosystem dedicated to making AI accessible, buildable, and human. 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get ₹740 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5658854090145792