Praneeta Pujari, an IIT Kanpur graduate and former Apple product leader, has launched UniqueHuman, an AI-powered healthcare startup designed to help people manage chronic conditions.
Earlier she worked on iPhone and Apple Watch product planning, now she has decided to build a platform that goes beyond tracking health data. Its AI assistant, Niq, aims to identify patterns that may signal a migraine or other health flare-up and help users connect with doctors. Inspired by her own experience with migraines and her mother’s chronic pain, Pujari wants to make healthcare more personalised and proactive.
Working at a global technology company is a dream for many engineers. But on the other hand Praneeta Pujari chose to take a different path after spending nearly six years at Apple. She is now building an AI-powered healthcare platform to help people living with long-term health conditions.
Pujari is an engineer and product leader who has worked with multiple companies including Flipkart, Amazon and Apple. At Apple, she worked on iPhone product planning before becoming the lead for worldwide Apple Watch product planning.
In October 2026, she launched her new venture, UniqueHuman, which aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help people understand their health data, identify possible warning signs and manage medical care more effectively.
Pujari completed her mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). After completing engineering, she pursued an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the United States.
Her professional journey includes research experience in behavioural science at the London Business School and work with the UK consumer organisation Which?.
She began her corporate career at Flipkart in 2014, where she worked in category management, pricing and product growth team. Later on she joined Amazon as a senior product manager before moving to Apple in July 2019.
At Apple, she worked as product planner for the iPhone and later took on a leadership role in worldwide Apple Watch product planning.
Her experience shows how technology can collect information about people’s daily activities and health.
Pujari’s decision to enter healthcare was influenced by her personal experiences as well as her work in technology.
According to her public statements, she has experienced migraines herself and spent around a decade helping manage her mother’s chronic pain.
Such experiences made her more aware of the difficulties people face when dealing with long-term illnesses.
It is important to note that symptoms can change from day to day, but patients may find it difficult to identify what triggers them. Alongside, they may also have to manage appointments, medication and medical records across different healthcare providers.
While working on Apple Watch products, Pujari became interested in how the body might show warning signs before a person experiences noticeable symptoms.
Therefore, she decided to build a platform that could use such information to help people take action earlier.
Her aim is to move beyond simply recording health data and towards helping users understand it and access appropriate care.
UniqueHuman is a healthcare startup developing AI agents for people living with chronic conditions. Unlike a conventional fitness app or smart watch that mainly tracks steps, heart rate and sleep, this platform aims to connect information from different sources and turn it into useful guidance.
According to the company’s official website, its platform can bring together wearable-device data, medical records, laboratory results and information shared by users. It is designed to support personalised health guidance and connect users with clinicians and other healthcare services.
The platform is being developed for conditions such as migraines, fibromyalgia and chronic pain. However, its broader approach is to help people understand their symptoms and manage care between doctor visits.
A key part of UniqueHuman is its AI assistant, called Niq. The assistant aims to study a person’s health information and look for patterns that may be linked to worsening symptoms.
For example, someone who experiences migraines might record their symptoms alongside sleep patterns, hydration, medication, menstrual cycles and more. Niq aims to analyse this information to identify possible links that the person might not have noticed.
The platform also includes a feature called Flare-Up Monitor, which is designed to alert users to possible signs of an approaching episode. Other functions include maintaining symptom and medication records, preparing reports for doctors and helping users find specialists or seek second opinions.
However, these are intended capabilities, not proof that the system can accurately predict every migraine or prevent an episode.
Its effectiveness will need to be assessed through clinical evidence and real-world use.
A smartwatch mainly collects information such as heart rate, movement and sleep. Whereas, UniqueHuman aims to use this information alongside symptoms, medical history and clinical guidance.
The company says its platform is designed to connect several parts of healthcare, including identifying potential warning signs, connecting users with clinicians, coordinating prescriptions and helping manage insurance-related tasks.
The goal is to make healthcare more proactive rather than requiring patients to wait until symptoms become severe before seeking help. The company also says its AI is intended to support doctors, not replace them.
What one can Learn From Praneeta Pujari’s Career Journey?
Pujari’s journey offers several lessons such as:
First, skills can transfer across industries. Her experience in engineering, product management and marketing has helped shape her approach to healthcare technology.
Second, personal experiences can inspire new ideas. Her family’s experience with chronic pain and her own migraines helped her identify a problem she wanted to address.
Third, technology should solve real problems. Collecting data is only one part of healthcare. Helping people understand that data and access suitable care is another challenge.
Finally, career paths can change. Pujari moved from e-commerce to consumer technology and then healthcare entrepreneurship.
Her journey shows that professional experience can provide a foundation for exploring new fields.
Praneeta Pujari’s journey from IIT Kanpur to Apple and now UniqueHuman highlights the growing role of AI in healthcare. Having worked on products used by millions of people, she is now focusing on a different challenge: helping people living with chronic illnesses make better use of their health information.
UniqueHuman aims to combine wearable data, AI analysis and access to medical care in one platform. Whether it can reliably predict flare-ups and improve patient outcomes remains to be established. Its progress will depend on clinical evidence, privacy safeguards and how effectively it works with healthcare professionals.
For students and aspiring entrepreneurs, Pujari’s story is an example of how technical knowledge, professional experience and a personal motivation can come together to address a real-world problem.
