Akhila Satish became fascinated by science at an early age. When she looked for a way to use her love of science and information to make an impact, she set her sights on the technology space.

Akhila is the CEO of Meseekna, a science-first simulation technology company that helps organizations measure and optimize potential to improve effective promotion, placement and hiring. Akhila is an expert in the science behind decision-making. As a director, she brings a highly collaborative and solutions-oriented approach to governance and is immensely valuable to boards looking to accelerate growth, scale, and product-market fit.

Akhila is also the executive director of The Science Runway, a non-profit dedicated to inspiring girls to join the life sciences. Under her leadership, The Science Runway has grown from an idea at a roundtable discussion to a successful arm of the Center For Healthcare Innovation (CHI).

Akhila’s unique background spans venture capital, SaaS, and science, and she holds degrees in neuroscience, biotechnology, and business. Her research has been published in scientific journals Nature and Human Genomics and her expertise on metacognition, science, and talent management has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNBC, Fortune, and Business Insider.

Why is Meseekna’s work so important?

Using brain-science technological simulations, Meseekna evaluates hidden areas of bias in workplace assessments, hiring or training processes. If similar candidates arrive with competing credentials and qualifications, why does one succeed while the other does not? Meseekna’s simulations seek out answers in order to improve the hiring and training process, ensuring that qualified candidates are much more likely to thrive in their new roles!

Meseekna also helps organizations evaluate management teams and place trainees properly according to how- not what– they think. By understanding complex and nuanced brain science, an organization can use Meseekna to place new people in strong roles within the company or make changes to current structures that aren’t working. And if an individual needs help to develop in their role, Meseekna has training modules to support them as they expand fully into their role, finding satisfaction and excitement in their work. 

How can we begin to assess our own teams?

Akhila often discusses VUCAD in her work – which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity and delayed feedback. Originally developed for the US Army, VUCA (together with the addition of delayed feedback) is a way of understanding a person or organization’s responses to stressors. 

In her own workplace, Akhila notices that she can control some elements of VUCAD, creating a happier and more stable work environment for her team. For example, she can avoid the stress that comes with delayed feedback, telling her team when she will deliver feedback on something so that they know what to expect. She seeks to fully understand each team member’s top VUCAD element in order to place and support them properly, avoiding issues and setting them up for success. 

Akhila Satish is passionate about using brain science to create a better world. She is often the first call for founders struggling to put out fires, from interpersonal team dynamics to negotiating customer contracts.

Quotes

“I started thinking about how I could have the most impact…and the place where science had impact, and where I thought I could contribute greatly was in the technology space.”

“Impact investing is focused on companies that could provide a societal good and a financial return. My firm was looking at companies that were both socially conscious and profitable.”

“I spend a lot of my day translating between science, technology and sales.”

“We love to see incremental and lasting change for organizations that we work with. We want to do simulations…and we form a partnership for lasting change.”

“A lot of our clients are proactive. They’re looking for something different! Companies that seek us out are looking at their data and employee landscape and it’s giving them a piece of the puzzle but they’re missing something. They have candidates coming to them with identical resumes, identical aptitude tests, relatively similar psychometric profiles. One is succeeding and one is not succeeding as well. They’re looking for that X factor of metacognition. These are HR leaders who are very thoughtful. They want both candidates to come in and thrive within the organization.”

“These are HR leaders who are thinking through issues around diversity. They see biases that are creeping into their process. These are typically things that metacognition and a bias reassessment and simulation can help with. These are the leaders who come to us typically!”

“We’re not interested in what they’re thinking, we’re interested in how they’re thinking. It’s context free. The same simulation can apply from the military to a healthcare organization to a bank. We can run the same simulation, but certain measurements may be more important.”

“One of the things I love about being a CEO is the ability to work with people, and see them grow over time.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Resources

Visit Akhila Satish’s website: www.akhilasatish.com 

Visit the website for Meseekna: https://www.meseekna.com/ 

Get Meseekna’s Stress Management Guide: https://www.meseekna.com/how-to-manage-stress 

Get Meseekna’s Decision Readiness Guide: https://www.meseekna.com/decision-ready-guide 

Check out the website for The Science Runway, where Akhila is the Executive Director: https://www.thesciencerunway.org/ 

Gain a deeper understanding of VUCA and get real-life examples from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you 

Connect with Akhila Satish on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhilasatish/

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