I build AI agents for a living: software that does real work on its own. I run one for myself, 24/7. CoFounder & Head of AI at Phot.AI. Ex-AppyHigh. Ironman 70.3 finisher.

Akshit Raja.

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Gurugram, IN — — IST agent: online

companies I've founded, built for, or worked at

Phot.AI AppyHigh adidas ixigo Snapdeal Futures First Veda VC

MS · Northwestern University  ·  BTech · PEC Chandigarh

~/about

Pick a goal. Build the loop.
Iterate.

I'm Akshit. I build things with AI and I build my own body — and I'm increasingly convinced those are the same skill: pick a goal, break it into something measurable, set up feedback loops, and keep iterating.

Today I'm CoFounder & Head of AI at Phot.AI, where we build agentic creative workflows for ecommerce — testing dozens of ad and listing variations in parallel so brands can find what actually sells. Before that I co-built AppyHigh, a mobile app studio that crossed 600M+ downloads and 55M monthly users.

My path wasn't a straight line: derivatives trader, analytics roles at Snapdeal, ixigo, and Adidas, a data-science master's at Northwestern, a mechanical engineering degree from PEC Chandigarh. The throughline is the same — learn fast, build fast, read the signal, double down or kill it.

Outside work I'm an Ironman 70.3 finisher (Tallinn) now training for Hyrox, an indoor fitness race: 8 km of running broken up by 8 workout stations. And I'm a little obsessed with feeding my own training and recovery data into AI agents to coach myself.

Right now I'm building my personal AI agent — one that runs 24/7 on a tiny server, builds its own tools, and does real work before I wake up — and I'm documenting the whole thing in public. If that's your kind of thing, get on the newsletter.

Akshit with a coffee in downtown Seattle
somewhere between meetings
The Phot.AI and AppyHigh team at the office
the team behind 600M downloads

~/the-chapters

How it's going,
in four photos.

  1. 2019 → now · Gurugram

    AppyHigh, then Phot.AI

    600M+ downloads with this crew at AppyHigh. Then we spun up Phot.AI and did it again, this time with harder problems.

    The AppyHigh and Phot.AI team at the Gurugram office

  2. Aug 2025 · Tallinn, Estonia

    Ironman 70.3

    First triathlon. 1.9K in open water, 90K on the bike through proper rain, then a half marathon. The fist went up early. I knew I had it.

    Akshit walking his bike up the Ironman carpet, fist raised

  3. Apr 2026 · Bengaluru

    HYROX doubles

    8 kms of running, 8 stations, one partner. The finish-line flex was non-negotiable.

    Akshit and his partner flexing at the HYROX Bengaluru finish line

  4. 2026 · Seattle

    Out in the world

    Seattle between meetings. Too much coffee, long waterfront walks, and a notes app full of ideas for the next build.

    Akshit walking up the steps near the Seattle waterfront, ferris wheel behind

~/now-building

Building my personal AI,
in public.

An agent that runs around the clock on a tiny server, builds its own tools, and does real work before I wake up. Every step documented — nothing polished away.

akshit@agent: ~/overnight

$ agent status

● online — doing real work while I sleep

03:14  analyzed 12 ad variants, killed 9

03:42  rebuilt its own scraper tool — v3

04:05  drafted newsletter issue from notes

05:58  pulled Garmin data, updated training plan

$

↑ one real night from my agent's log, while I slept

  • The exact setupthe agents, the server, the tools — nothing hidden behind "it depends"
  • The real costswhat this actually costs per month to run, in rupees and dollars
  • What brokefailed runs, dead ends, and the fixes — the part everyone else edits out
  • What workedworkflows you can copy the same week

~/writing

Field notes, written down.

Longer takes on what I build: how my agent works, what broke, and the exact files I use. New posts land here first.

All writing →

~/where-i-post

Follow the build.

Short, real updates from the build — agent demos, costs, fails and wins.

~/beyond-the-screen

I train like I build —
measure everything, trust the process.

Akshit crossing the Ironman 70.3 Tallinn finish line, arms raised
Ironman 70.3 · Tallinn finish
Akshit riding in aero position through heavy rain at Ironman 70.3
90 km in the rain
Akshit on the rower at Hyrox Bengaluru
Hyrox Bengaluru · the row
Akshit driving low on the sled push at Hyrox Bengaluru
sled push · drive low

next start line

Hyrox.
Measured.
Coached by my agent. Watch the training →

~/soundtrack

What's playing.

Two playlists run my life: long sets for the desk, and the mix that gets me out the door.

HouseParty

techno & house · desk volume

Open playlist →

Running Music

the get-out-the-door mix

Open playlist →

phot.ai, my startup, picked for these programs