Building where others
wait

Josh is the award-winning founder of GeneGuard AI (US patent-pending, dual-use platform), an AI x biotech x defense company building infrastructure to silence vector-borne viruses via AI and modified insects. In 2024, Josh was recognized for original contributions in agricultural biotechnology with institutional collaboration, a global award, fellowship, and invited talks internationally. Current work addresses Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) using a non-transgenic strategy of modifying whiteflies. Josh’s work is supported by leaders in science, policy, media, and business.

My beginnings


Josh was born in London and raised across rural England and suburban Illinois — shaped by a second-generation
Bengali Indian family of artists and white-collar professionals. He also spent time in Canada, Switzerland, and India during his early years.

Growing up serving at food banks
showed me — year after
year — that it’s possible to
create something of value
for the world from
nothing.

I learned to serve before I learned to build — volunteering as an army cadet and at food banks long before founding a biotech company. I spent a few years building in the software/AI, gene editing, and cybersecurity spaces working as a data scientist in Silicon Valley, and since then within AI & biosecurity in deep tech for national defense. I’m maximizing my time every day to try and build an exciting and inspiring future.

17-19 years old

‘Entrepreneur bug’

I didn’t start with connections or capital. I dropped out after one term of senior high school. I cold-called the only major entrepreneur I could find — on a family vacation. He answered. He told me,

“Start with an idea, a vision, a dream, and… a bit of stupidity.”

That was none other than the renowned hotelier, John Spence.


Mr Spence’s words stuck with me every day for the next three years.

2020-2024

The Unlearning Years

Founder (Unpaid) • 100% Obsessed

I left school for good at 17 to chase a question: could one person really build something that matters? I had no fallback. No roadmap. Just a mix of obsession, humility, and some early side projects from lots of YouTube and Wikipedia articles.

That led me to AI, to genomics, and to cassava — the world’s third-largest carb source — where I found an untold crisis killing millions of crops — and indirectly, millions of lives. I built a prototype, won a global hackathon, got a job at a high growth startup as a data scientist in Silicon Valley, and kept going.

I’ve since:

• Published 8 scientific papers
• Filed 4 U.S. patents
• Lived in monk-run temples while being flown to speak at conferences
• Been mentored by CEOs and PhDs at top institutions
• Built GeneGuard AI while sleeping in storage rooms of communes in the Valley with 1 laptop and no salary before being funded

I’m still learning. But I know why I’m building this.

2024 — Present

Founder • USDA & UPenn Backed

Engineering a non-transgenic, insect modification protocol beginning with whiteflies for Cassava Mosaic Disease — protecting food security for over 135M lives in Asia. Backed by leaders in science, policy, and defense.

Josh with Dr. Arupa Ganguly, Director of the Genetic Diagnostic Labratory at UPenn and a Supporter of GeneGuard, in March 2025

Josh built GeneGuard from concept to a globally recognized protocol in AI-biotech defense within a year of him moving to the U.S., garnering partnerships and endorsement from institutions from UPenn, Delaware State University, Temple University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel, with a startup-first approach.

Additionally Josh is architecting, engineering, and testing the full-stack platform of GeneGuard AI. His research is positioned to secure food systems for over 135 million people while strengthening national biosecurity.

By 2050, all major
insect-borne diseases will be eradicated
through a biosecurity infrastructure that
turns insects from destroyers to guardians.

GeneGuard AI

Let’s build a bolder future.

I write on Substack about progress at GeneGuard, my journey as an entrepreneur, and thoughts on the changing AI and tech landscape.