YC Root AccessThis Startup Is Automating America's Biggest Hospitals
CHAPTERS
- 0:05 – 0:36
Luminai’s mission: AI transformation for hospital operations
Keshav explains Luminai’s role as an AI transformation partner for large US health systems, focused on shifting operational workflows from manual labor to automated systems. The goal is to reduce administrative waste while helping patients access care faster and hospitals run more efficiently.
- 0:36 – 2:08
Case study: automating fax-based referrals and triage at major hospitals
Using Cleveland Clinic as an example, Keshav describes how critical patient referrals still arrive via fax and must be manually sorted and routed. Luminai ingests inbound faxes, triages urgency, extracts key data, matches it to records in the EHR, and routes/schedules appropriately.
- 2:08 – 3:38
From unstructured paper to structured workflows: the platform approach
Keshav broadens the example into Luminai’s platform concept: converting unstructured inputs (like faxes) into structured data, then applying a workflow engine to run specialized agents. He connects this to the scale of administrative waste and the impact on patient access and hospital effectiveness.
- 3:38 – 4:37
Growing up in India: finding identity and focus through Rubik’s Cubes
Keshav shares how he struggled academically in India’s merit-driven system and became deeply invested in Rubik’s Cubes instead. The Rubik’s Cube community gave him belonging, clear goals, and a place where performance mattered more than credentials.
- 4:37 – 8:44
Elite practice habits and competitive feedback loops
He details the intensity of his training—hours daily for years—and the measurable nature of the sport. The constant feedback of timed solves and incremental improvement reinforced a high-performance mindset.
- 8:44 – 11:00
A nontraditional path to the US: UWC, the Silk Road bike trip, and Silicon Valley
Keshav recounts how he aimed to do something bold to get noticed by US schools, including securing funding to bike from Turkey to China. Through foundation support and a visit to Silicon Valley, he became determined to stay and pursue building a company.
- 11:00 – 14:07
Surviving solo at 19: “hacking” hackathons for prize money
Staying in the US without a typical support system, Keshav uses hackathons as a way to generate income. He outlines a systematic approach to winning by optimizing for what organizers (often corporate sponsors) actually value.
- 14:07 – 16:41
Getting into YC with the “wrong” idea—and why YC bet on the founder
Keshav describes applying to Y Combinator with an engineering documentation product, an idea they quickly abandoned. Aaron notes multiple teams had the same idea, but Keshav’s outlier background and behavior signaled founder potential beyond the initial concept.
- 16:41 – 19:24
Pivoting methodically: choosing a mission and validating pain
Keshav argues pivots can be driven with a scientific, methodical process in B2B. He links his healthcare motivation to a family event and connects operational inefficiency to his Rubik’s Cube intuition about reducing steps.
- 19:24 – 23:39
Enterprise sales at 20: selling a champion, not the institution
He explains that enterprise deals are won through individuals inside organizations who will champion the product. The team targeted forward-leaning leaders, used networks for warm intros, and relied heavily on personal narrative when there was little brand or proof.
- 23:39 – 26:51
Warm-intro pipeline engineering: scraping networks and climbing the org chart
Keshav details how Luminai avoided cold outbound early on, instead systematically mining investors’ and supporters’ networks to find relevant contacts. They used lightweight intros to get any foothold, then worked up to the true decision-maker over time.
- 26:51 – 29:50
Reinventing the company: from horizontal automation to healthcare focus and clear wedges
After reaching dozens of customers and millions in revenue, Luminai narrowed focus. They committed fully to healthcare (where most demand already was) and shifted from “we can do anything” to concrete, high-value starting use cases that deliver fast ROI.
- 29:50 – 32:51
Founder advice: scale your ambition—and prove it with intensity
Keshav’s key lesson is that founders can be far more aggressive and ambitious than they think, regardless of background. He frames the current era as unusually level, encourages multi-decade mission thinking, and closes with a Rubik’s Cube solve as a capstone to his story.
