What does your company do?

Daivergent founder and CEO Byran Dai: Daivergent is a technology platform that maximizes job readiness in the 70 million autism & disability population through AI software that delivers to them and their families the right interventions at the right time.

A question we love to ask every founder: why New York?

BD: New York has both a personal and professional connection to me. It’s my hometown and I grew up here; that’s why I feel even more invested in seeing my community thrive. New York is also home to one of the largest systems in the country supporting job-seekers with disabilities, and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to start.

What types of job training programs are most valuable to the disability community? How are you working with private sector partners and government leaders to deploy those resources?

BD: Training programs focused on industries of the future that have built-in accommodations for the disability community are where we specialize. We work with partners across the technology and startup ecosystems, which have shown an incredible nimbleness around hiring neurodivergent talent. This can include everything from work-from-home allowances to corporate cultures that put equity & inclusion at the center of their corporate ethos.

We want to serve as a hub for those partners to access great talent and resources that enable their success. Then we bring these companies to policymakers to help them understand where the next-generation of jobs are coming from and serve as a bridge to make sure that we provide the training pathways that efficiently use reimbursement dollars to impact the most number of job-seekers possible.

All kinds of industries — especially tech — are prioritizing DEI strategies right now. What steps can tech executives take to welcome neurodiverse professionals that might otherwise be overlooked into their teams?

BD: Technology executives can start by looking into their internal organizations, and reaching out to self-advocates already employed in their teams to recognize their contributions. In doing so, they normalize a culture that promotes neurodiversity, which allows for a flywheel whereby new neurodivergent employees feel themselves invested in building out the next generation of strategies for their organizations.

What’s an idea or piece of advice you got during the NYC Recovery Challenge program you’re most excited to implement?

BD: We’re excited to be more metrics-focused in our MVP development, which came from a conversation with Afsa. The way she broke down the objective methodologies that teams can take to understand their customer’s priorities provided a rigor that we lacked before. I’m excited to deploy these product management frameworks into our organization as we prepare to grow rapidly.

What’s one top growth goal you hope to achieve by the end of 2022?

BD: I hope to capitalize our success within our first reimbursement market, Arizona, by expanding into two new states by the end of 2022. In doing so, we can show both the longevity and the scalability of what we’re doing so that the hard-won progress we’ve had isn’t lost.

Okay, three rapid fire questions.  First: where do you get your favorite pizza slice?

BD: Despite having lived here so long, I only just discovered Pizza Suprema by Penn Station. I’ve always dismissed it as a tourist spot, but once I had my first bite, I realized that it was a total sleeper hit that I’ve had the benefit of incorporating into my daily routine!

What’s the best place in New York for a coffee or lunch meeting (remember in-person meetings)?

BD: Cafe China. Amazing lunch specials, great atmosphere, and conveniently located near Grand Central so that anyone in any borough can get there!

What’s your favorite remote work or productivity hack?

BD: Drink water constantly. I keep a 1L bottle that I fill almost every hour, and the constant walks and inadvertent mental health breaks that it introduces have done more for my productivity than any coffee or tea!