Today we’d like to introduce you to Roger Rohatgi.
Hi Roger, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Honestly my story starts before I was born right here in the heart of H-town. My dad came here from India, worked in oil and gas, and helped open the first Indian restaurant in Houston with his friends. My mom came from Mexico and went on to become national bilingual teacher of the year after starting out in HISD. The two of them met through the University of Houston. That incredible mix of cultures shaped everything about my life. I was born in Houston, grew up in Sugar Land, graduated from UH just like my parents, and later got married on the home plate of Minute Maid Park, now Daikin Park, through a Sunny 99.1 Dream Wedding. I guess you could say I am a true Houston native through and through.
Our family story means everything to me. My dad and I launched a salsa company here in Houston called Kicante, built around our blended cultures and the flavors I grew up with. We started out selling in all Central Market stores which was a proud moment for us. It felt like a piece of our family history sitting on the shelf for Houston to enjoy. This city gave me so much. Limitless creativity, relentless ambition, deep community, and that Houston heart and hustle that shows up in everything I do.
I started my career fully immersed in the creative world. Early on,I was doing graphic design, creative direction, VFX, video editing, and motion animation for organizations, clients, TV shows, commercials, and music videos. And even worked on projects with Houston’s very own hip hop star, Lil Flip. I loved that era because it taught me how to take an idea and bring it to life fast, in inventive ways, and always with heart.
I had the chance to write and produce a film that went on to win an international film award. That experience opened my eyes to the power of storytelling. After that I helped launch the first social television network in the United States backed by famed producer Mark Burnett. That chapter pulled me deeper into media, tech, digital product, and experience design in a way that profoundly impacted me..
I moved further into UX and digital design and eventually led design at companies like Motorola Solutions. Around that time I was able to also win the Oracle CX Innovation Award for what I called augmented intelligence. That gave me a front row seat to enterprise scale challenges and how design can directly shape outcomes.
That path eventually took me to BP where I followed in my father’s footsteps and became the first global digital design leader in the company’s more than one hundred year history. I led a worldwide team, built an enterprise-wide unified design system, and helped bring a human centered approach to their large scale digital transformation. Those years furthered what I knew about leadership, culture, and how to bring people together around a shared vision.
The next chapter for me was going deeper into human-centered AI. It combined everything I love. Human experience, technology, creativity, and behavior. Today I serve as Chief AI Officer at Chai which began right here in Houston as well. We focus on agentic AI, multi-agent systems, and what we call the future of human-centered intelligence. Our work blends behavioral science, design, and engineering to help companies understand how AI can amplify people and their potential.
Over the years I have been fortunate to work with incredible brands across tech, media, retail, and enterprise. My work has appeared in Fast Company, Wired, USA Today, the LA Times, the Hollywood Reporter, and Forbes. I have been honored to speak at Harvard, MIT, Cannes, Reuters, The Economist, and the UN Goals House. I also serve on the advisory board for the University of Houston Valenti School of Communications which feels like a full circle moment.
And because I believe storytelling and conversation are powerful tools for learning, I host a podcast filmed right here in Houston called Prompting Potential where I talk with leaders across AI, creativity, and innovation. It is another way I stay connected to the city and the community that raised me.
When I look back the path has never been a straight line. It has always been curiosity pulling me forward. Every chapter has taught me something new about how creativity and technology can help people grow. And at the center of all of it is my love or family and my roots in Houston which all shaped the way I think, build, lead, and create.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, it definitely has not been a smooth road nor a straight path. I don’t think anyone who builds a creative or tech career ever has a straight path. I had plenty of moments where I felt like I was starting over or trying to figure things out in real time.
Early in my career I was juggling freelance work, late night edits, and projects that paid more in experience than in actual money. I had to learn how to build trust, how to manage clients, and how to stand on my own creative decisions. There were many moments when I questioned whether I was even on the right path.
Moving into UX and design leadership brought its own challenges. I had to learn how to lead teams and not just the creative work. I had to learn how to handle pressure, how to give and receive feedback, and how to navigate the politics that show up in organizations. There were also times when I was the only one fighting for design in rooms full of people who did not always understand it.
Now being fully immersed in AI, the space moves fast and I am constantly working to take everything I learned about creativity, psychology, and experience design and connect it to this new intelligence frontier. There are many times it feels like we are building the plane while flying it.
On a personal level I also had to learn how to balance my Houston roots, my blended cultural background, and my own sense of identity while moving through industries that were not always diverse or welcoming. That pushed me to stay grounded, stay curious, and stay committed to creating space for others.
But every challenge shaped me. Every setback made me better. Every confusing chapter taught me something that I now use as a leader. The road was not smooth and the path was not straight, but it made me who I am today. And honestly I am grateful for every bump because it gave me the grit, humility, and resilience I need to do the work I do now.
As you know, we’re big fans of Chai. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Chai is an AI Innovation company that started over sixteen years ago right here in Houston. Early on we became one of the first Apple mobility partners in the country and we helped some of the largest enterprise companies bring mobile technology into their operations for over 10 years. We have worked with organizations like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Devon Energy, Constellation, NRG, and many others to modernize field work, inspections, safety, and operations long before anyone was talking about AI. Those experiences have shaped who we are. We were in the plants, the refineries, and the control rooms helping teams solve real problems with real technology.
Today at Chai that same spirit still guides us and the focus has evolved into leading in Agentic AI. We build AI agents that act like intelligent coworkers. They accelerate sales, streamline operations, and take on complex tasks in manufacturing and distribution. These agents can reason, act, detect anomalies, engage customers, and manage insights, issues, data, and scheduling across an entire workflow. They do not just answer questions. They actually get the work done.
Our capabilities cover sales, service, supply chain, and operations. Sales teams use our AI workers to turn quoting cycles from days into minutes. Service teams use them to deliver zero wait experiences with natural human-like voice calls and multilingual support. Supply chain teams use them to automate scheduling, manage E-BOL and POD paperwork, and speed up logistics. Operations teams use them to unlock insights from ERP and MES systems, monitor safety, prevent downtime, and support engineering and R&D.
We also bring deep expertise in generative AI, custom software, UX design, research and AI consulting, and we help organizations integrate AI into their existing systems without disruption. What sets us apart is our human-centered approach. We blend behavioral science, design, and engineering so the AI feels supportive and intuitive for the people who use it. These are AI workers built for the real world, not for hypothetical use cases.
I am really proud of our mission as we believe AI should amplify human potential. We build AI workers to make companies faster, smarter, and more effective. And we stay close to the communities that shaped us. We film our podcast Prompting Potential right here in Houston and we continue to partner with organizations across energy, manufacturing, and distribution because that is where our roots are.
If there is one thing I want readers to know it is this. Agentic AI is not a future idea. It is here right now and it is reshaping how businesses operate. And if your organization wants AI that does more than automate, AI that collaborates, learns, reasons, and drives measurable outcomes, that is exactly what we build at Chai, especially for all our Houstonians. To learn more you can go to our website HeyChai.ai.
What does success mean to you?
For me success has never been about titles or achievements. Success is when the work you do genuinely helps people grow. It is when someone on your team finds their confidence or learns something new because you made space for them. It is when a project creates real impact instead of noise. It is when your work feels connected to who you are and not just what you do.
I also think success shows up in the small moments. It is being able to look back and see that you stayed curious, stayed kind, stayed grounded, and stayed true to the things that matter. It is building something that lifts others and leaves things better than you found them.
And honestly success for me now is also very tied to Houston. If I can take everything this city poured into me and use it to create opportunity, spark imagination, and help others reach their potential, then I feel like I am doing something meaningful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heychai.ai
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogerrohatgi
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerrohatgi
- Twitter: https://x.com/chaione
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeyChaiAI
- Other: https://www.kicante.com/
