In this installment of Executive Insights, we speak with two founders building artificial intelligence companies in Washington, DC: Cenk Sidar of Enquire AI, a professional network with an AI co-pilot built on its own proprietary data, and Dipanwita Das of Sorcero, which builds customer relationship technology for life sciences manufacturers. Both arrived at the same conclusion about where to build — and both get there by way of the people, not the policy.
Enquire AI: The Machine Learns From the Humans
Enquire AI started as a two-sided marketplace connecting companies to experts, with a patented question-and-answer tool at the center.
“When you ask a question, our matching algorithm identifies who knows about the specific subject within the group, and only assigns the small group of experts for this specific question,” Sidar said.
Then the technology moved. “AI progressed a lot in the process, and we progressed a lot,” he said. Investment went into R&D, and the product became something that combines three things rather than two.
“Now we created a tool that’s basically combining artificial intelligence, human intelligence and data,” Sidar said. Human judgment stays in the loop deliberately — but it also does double duty. “You learn from human intelligence, but human intelligence is basically teaching AI in real time. So in some instances, AI can answer your questions directly if they have the data already in the system.”
The bet that made that possible was made early. “We didn’t know how quickly that technology would come up,” he said, “but we knew that having that proprietary data would help us significantly in the near future.”
Sorcero: “We Trust the Experts”
Sorcero’s work sits between drug manufacturers and the doctors and patients who need to understand what they’ve made.
“At Sorcero, we’re on a mission to accelerate new drugs to the patients who need them,” Das said. The company helps manufacturers, device companies and diagnostics firms “target the right people, the right patients and the right doctors” — and make clear why a new product matters to the disease it treats.
Her view of what AI should and shouldn’t decide is firm. Deployed well, she says, it “can even pull out signals that a human being operating on that data alone might miss, because of the sheer volume and complexity of it.”
“But when it comes to decision making itself, and how that data applies to patients, we trust the experts,” Das said. “And that’s the grounding philosophy of everything we do at Sorcero.”
Asked for the thread running through a career that has touched climate, gender, education and public health, she gives a one-word answer: communication. “Everything is an act of effective communication,” she said. “All of this is an effort to make people understand science in ways that make sense to them.”
Talent, and What It Costs
Both founders land on the same practical point about DC, and neither of them leads with government.
“From day one, I think we saw more positive aspects of being in DC,” Sidar said. “We had access to young talent on a very reasonable cost structure.” The pipeline, as he describes it, runs out of strong universities and out of the federal workforce — people who “work at the federal side, but then sometimes they want to make a move to private sector.”
“I think cost is an important perspective. I think DC has a very reasonable cost structure compared to other cities. They have a high quality talent,” he said. “But most importantly, the community. I think DC provides all these three. And I would definitely recommend founders to consider DC.”
The Dinner-Party Advantage
Sidar makes a subtler case for being in the room — one that has nothing to do with lobbying.
“Being in DC, even if you are not a policy person, you are kind of hearing all these conversations at dinner parties or receptions, and then you prepare yourself more for what’s coming,” he said. “Even one element of the political discussion or economic discussion can give you ideas for your business to be more prepared for the future.”
“One of the Best Three Locations in the US”
Das came to Washington first as an Atlas Corps Fellow — a State Department fellowship that brings civil society leaders from around the world to work at impact organizations. Hers was an unusual posting: she spent 18 months at Atlas Corps itself, building the training and skill development program supporting the other fellows.
She went home to India at the end of it. A year later, DC pulled her back.
“It’s a great place really to build something that has health as its underpinning focus and also has a global mission,” Das said. “I think DC is probably one of the best three locations in the US to start a business. Because if you’re also doing something interesting and exciting, it’s easier to be differentiated and be in front of high power users and community members.”
Most of Sorcero’s clients are elsewhere. The technology was built here.
Three Reasons, Ranked
Das gives founders weighing a move a short, ordered list.
First, policy adjacency — “if you intend to work with anything that’s going to interact with policy, it’s a great place to be,” whether that’s where AI policy is going, or health, or financial services.
Second, position. “DC is the confluence of a lot of other places where businesses happen. It’s at a really good location where you can get to a lot of other places without losing touch with the nation’s capital.”
Third, and the one she returns to: the range of people. “DC has a lot of really great international talent that have meandered through policy, the government, international fellowships, international organizations and technology,” she said. “Not to mention that we’re close to some very, very good schools.”
To hear more from Cenk Sidar, Dipanwita Das and other business leaders choosing Washington, DC, explore the full Executive Insights series.