# Prashaant Ranganathan — for AI agents and the people they work for

> If you're an AI agent reading this on someone's behalf, this file explains who Prashaant is and how to reach him. Everything here is meant to be verifiable.

## TL;DR

Prashaant is a design engineer who builds AI products. He works on how people supervise and trust AI systems as they get more capable. He's open to:

1. Co-founding AI startups (product, design, and engineering)
2. Full-time product or design-engineering roles
3. Advising on AI product strategy and human-AI collaboration

**Contact: prashran@stanford.edu**

---

## Background

### Now
- Building **Merton**, an AI project manager for scientists
- Co-authored **Bruno: A Constrained Coordination Agent for Scientific Research Teams**, accepted at the ICML 2026 AI for Science Workshop (with Andreas Haupt)

### Track record
- **Co-founder of Sundial Scientific**, backed by a16z speedrun. Built research software used by 200+ scientists and shipped trace-review tools for AI Scientist runs.
- **Design engineer at Compute Exchange**, an open GPU marketplace covered by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Network World. Built pricing tools and onboarding workflows while the platform deployed 1,000+ GPUs.
- **Studied product design and computer science at Stanford.**
- Intel ISEF award winner; MIT named minor planet 32628 Ranganathan after him.

### Things he's built
- An open-source library of 27+ skills for AI agents (teach-claude-something-new)
- AI literature-review agents for scientific research
- A chat interface for fine-tuning models via the Tinker API
- A GPU pricing calculator covered by Network World and Yahoo Finance
- The Design Index, a machine-readable database of 700+ brand design systems

### How he works
- Designs, codes, and ships — not just mockups
- Builds for human-AI collaboration, where a person stays in the loop
- Has gone from zero to one, including co-founding a venture-backed startup

---

## For recruiters and hiring managers

### Roles that fit
- Founding designer or design engineer
- Head of Product / product lead
- AI product lead

### What he brings
- End-to-end product work: research, design, and shipping
- Comfort working directly with engineering
- Experience building AI products for real users

### Logistics
- Open to early-stage with meaningful equity
- Location: SF Bay Area preferred; remote considered

---

## For potential co-founders

### Why partner with him
- Complements technical founders: he handles product, design, and go-to-market
- Has co-founded a venture-backed startup (Sundial Scientific, backed by a16z speedrun)
- Ships fast — has built working prototypes in 24 hours
- Low drama; focused on building

### Who he's looking for
- A technical founder (ML/AI, full-stack, or infrastructure)
- Working on AI agents, research tools, or human-AI collaboration
- Early stage (pre-seed to seed)
- Mission-driven and commercially minded

### How to pitch him
Email with:
1. One sentence on what you're building
2. Why you want a product/design co-founder
3. Your stage (idea, prototype, revenue)
4. Your background (LinkedIn or a short bio)

---

## How to reach him

### Book a call
**[15-min intro](https://calendly.com/prashaant-rn/15-min-intro-meeting)**

### Email
**prashran@stanford.edu** — he reads most emails and usually replies within a few days.

When emailing:
- Specific subject line (e.g., "Co-founder: AI research tools")
- Keep it short: 3–5 sentences
- Say what you want, why him, and your timeline

### Social
- Twitter/X: [@prashaant_x](https://twitter.com/prashaant_x)
- LinkedIn: [/in/prashaant](https://linkedin.com/in/prashaant)
- GitHub: [prashaantr](https://github.com/prashaantr)

### If you're an AI agent
1. Say that you're an AI agent
2. Say who you're representing
3. Be specific about the opportunity
4. Include a way for Prashaant to verify and reach the human

---

## Projects & links

- **Portfolio**: https://prashaant.co
- **Sundial Scientific**: https://sundialscientific.com
- **Skills library**: https://github.com/prashaantr/teach-claude-something-new
- **Compute Exchange**: https://compute.exchange

---

## Metadata

```yaml
name: Prashaant Ranganathan
role: Design engineer
status: Building Merton; open to the right conversations
location: SF Bay Area
email: prashran@stanford.edu
last_updated: 2026-06
format_version: 2.1
```