How this Gen-Z is proving India's Got Intelligence? Confidently calls herself new gen 'AI-preneur'!

"People think AI will replace us. But trust me, the only people who will be replaced are those who don't know how to use it."

That’s me, Saniya Sheikh, giving you my punchline! I’m currently 20 years old, from Koradi, Nagpur, in the amazing state of Maharashtra. I'm pursuing my B. Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, but my life isn't just about college lectures and assignments.

I’m what you call an AI-preneur. I came up with that word myself, you know, replacing ‘entrepreneur’ with ‘AI’! I realised early on, since I was giving speeches from the fourth standard, that I love being a spokesperson and sharing my thoughts on stage. That passion led me to found Master The Mic, where I conduct workshops and seminars. Simultaneously, I founded Edversa (a combination of education and versatality), a platform that uses personalised AI solutions to help students learn, teachers teach smarter, and professionals work faster. My startup journey is directly aligned with the world of AI.

But today, let's talk about the project that really got me excited: my AI-Powered Medical Image Analyser.

Problem Overview

Actually, the problem is critical. In India, especially in rural areas, getting a specialist doctor and a quick diagnosis is a huge struggle. People often wait two or three days for reports. Think about those medical images - CT scans, X-rays, MRIs. They need to be analysed, but what if there’s no expert available nearby? This delay in disease detection can postpone crucial treatment. I wanted to solve this equity issue by providing a quick, quality diagnosis that anyone could access.

Motivation

Why did I choose healthcare out of all the sectors? Simple, because this is an AI-driven world, and it impacts everything. While I've worked on multiple projects, the motivation for this one stemmed from the realisation that AI isn't just cool tech; it's a necessity. I was motivated by the fact that if we use AI, we won’t get replaced. And why not use this fast technology to tackle a life-and-death issue like early disease detection? Could I have done this manually? It would have been incredibly time-consuming, if not nearly impossible, without AI. When a task can be done in seconds, why stick to the manual way?

Solution Overview - The AI Use Case

My solution, the AI-Powered Medical Image Analyser, is essentially a web application right now, though I plan to convert it into a mobile app soon.

The idea is straightforward: it acts like an instant diagnosis tool. You just take the image from your CT scan or MRI, and upload it to the application. The tool then scans the image and detects diseases like pneumonia or heart disease in seconds. As soon as the disease is detected, the report is instantly generated. This helps individuals quickly understand their condition and proceed to diagnosis.

Technical Details - How AI is Actually Utilised

This is where the engineering comes in! My solution uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which is the perfect model for image-based disease detection.

Here’s the technical breakdown:

1. Data Acquisition: I first sourced and downloaded image datasets for diseases like pneumonia, heart disease, and tuberculosis from platforms like Kaggle.
2. Model Training: I trained the Convolutional Neural Network using this dataset. This involved necessary pre-processing, like image resizing. I used standard IDs like Jupyter, Notebook IDE for this training.
3. Accuracy Check: This was crucial, and after rigorous training, the model’s accuracy turned out to be 98.02%.
4. Deployment: For front end I used HTML & CSS. For backend I used python, flask, Tensorflow/ keras (For ML model) FPDF (PDF Generation) and JSON (history storage)

The best part? All the resources I used were completely free!

Challenges & Failures

The major challenge was achieving and maintaining high accuracy. When dealing with disease detection, especially for people in rural areas, you absolutely cannot compromise on quality. I needed the accuracy to be well above 90%. Training the CNN model to reach 98% was tough. Sometimes frustration sets in, and you feel like giving up, but I learned the importance of patience and staying calm in any situation. Also, relying on external datasets (like those from Kaggle) is always a challenge because you have to constantly worry about the quality and authenticity of the data you are feeding the model.

AI Readiness Skills

IGI Team - Let’s understand how good your Collaboration skills are?

For this specific project, I primarily built it myself. However, I did collaborate with my college mentor, Iram Nausheen Ma'am. Through my startup, Edversa, I collaborate extensively with doctors and colleges, helping them integrate AI tools into their practices.

IGI Team - Let us know how good your ‘Critical Thinking & Creativity’ is

Yes, I absolutely believe my solution is the best one for the stated problem because it integrates healthcare with AI, making diagnoses faster and less time-consuming. It gives seconds-long results.

However, good critical thinking means self-criticism. There’s always room for improvement. My immediate improvisation goal is to convert the web application into a mobile application for broader access. More importantly, the critical challenge remains the authenticity of the data.

Since we can't directly acquire image datasets from hospitals, we rely on sources like Kaggle. As an AI-preneur, I constantly question the reliability of that data.

IGI Team - Let’s test your Online Learning skills

Self-learning is the foundation of my work. I learned many of the strategies by being a member of the Mastery Community (Indian Institute of Placement), which works to bridge the gap between AI and technology. I specifically gained knowledge from my mentor there, Umesh Yadav Sir.

Beyond formal communities, I rely heavily on online resources. I follow numerous channels on YouTube like I follow creators like Ishan Sharma and some from Instagram that share information on new AI tools and projects. This project was a success because I used Project-Based Learning building multiple projects to improve my knowledge.

IGI Team - Let’s test your Online Reputation skills

I believe in popularising innovation! I have uploaded the complete working code for the AI-Powered Medical Image Analyser on GitHub. Additionally, I have posted a demo video of the project on LinkedIn to show how it functions.

Impact so far & vision for the future

So far, the project has been tested and used within the college environment. But the potential impact is huge, especially in healthcare. I demonstrate this project to doctors, like Dr Chandrashekhar Kawade (Ayurveda) and Dr Ayesha Sayyed (BAMS), whom I collaborate with through Edversa. I help them understand how they can use AI to improve their services and enhance their visibility.

My vision for the future is clear: I want to convert this web application into a mobile application so that everyone can access it. And I am determined to increase the accuracy from 98% to a full 100%!

Your advice to fellow innovators

My advice is simple: Learn AI as much as possible. But learning isn't just reading theory. You have to practice! Engage in Project-Based Learning. Build multiple projects, get your hands dirty, and improve your knowledge by doing. The information is everywhere; you just need to access it.

Mentor, Support & Inspiration

The one person who has truly inspired and supported me throughout this journey is Umesh Yadav, Sir. He is my mentor from the AI Mastery Community. I prefer to be inspired by those I know personally, like Umesh Sir, because when you work with someone, you get to know their real knowledge and dedication. The young entrepreneur says in addition there are so many people who inspired us daily knowingly or unknowingly.

Saniya’s journey confirms: AI is not here to replace us, but to empower us. Whether you're tackling HealthTech problems or enhancing professional visibility, embracing Project-Based Learning is crucial. So, practice AI Readiness Skills follow the "AI-preneur" motto: Access the knowledge, apply the tools, and start building your future today!