Marika Conomos, the Greek-Australian visionary founder of Uplift AI has won three major awards at this year’s B&T Women Leading Tech Awards, marking the first time an individual wins three awards in a single night at the prestigious event.
Conomos was named “Woman of the Year,” “Developer of the Year” and “Entrepreneur/Founder of the Year” for Uplift AI, a revolutionary mental health AI-powered platform that features Astra, the world’s first AI co-therapist. Astra supports therapists by automating administrative tasks such as billing and scheduling, reducing their manual workload by up to 40 percent, according to user reports.
The awards, celebrating women leading innovation in technology were presented in Sydney, Australia and were hosted by Atlassian. They were backed by major companies like Canva, Woolworths Group, Telstra and ATO, underscoring the significance of Conomos’ contributions.
According to Uplift AI’s website, Conomos, with over a decade of experience as a psychologist and founder of multiple mental health and allied health clinics, saw first-hand the challenges in delivering accessible and high-quality care. This inspired her to merge clinical expertise with cutting-edge artificial intelligence, which led to the creation of Uplift AI and Astra, for which she has received numerous awards.
Conomos’ vision for Uplift AI extends far beyond its current achievements. She plans to take the platform global and allied it for other health fields, such as speech and occupational therapy.
Uplift AI, under Conomos who won the three tech awards, revolutionizes AI use in mental health
The mental health tech space has seen growing interest but also scrutiny, with debates around the efficacy and ethics of AI in such a sensitive field.
Conomos has said Uplift AI is committed to inclusivity and ethical AI practices. Beyond its administrative support, it provides personalized 24/7 mental health care, mirroring the therapeutic style, tone and treatment plans of human therapists. Astra on the other hand, offers real-time coping tools, therapeutic interventions, and progress tracking. The platform includes multilingual support and culturally adaptive tools, making it accessible to a local audience.
AI (artificial intelligence) is increasingly utilized in health care settings, and its possible uses are only projected to grow.
According to experts, aside from its administrative use, AI has the potential to aid in early detection of individuals who may be at risk of developing mental health concerns. It is also being incorporated into many types of clinical support tools while AI-enabled wearable devices can monitor symptoms and provide feedback, both to the patient and clinician about a patient’s functioning.