“I Can Predict What You’ll Buy Before You Even Know You Desire it”

How This Berkeley Ph.D. Turned Brain Science Into Marketing and Innovation Gold and Built Multiple Companies

In an era where consumer choices seem limitless, knowing what buyers want—before they even realize it themselves—can be a game-changer. Drawing on the fascinating interplay between neuroscience and artificial intelligence, we can now transform our understanding of brain science into potent marketing strategies that redefine consumer engagement. As someone who has explored the depths of this cerebral landscape, I can confidently share how insights into the nonconscious mind are the goldmine every marketer dreams of.

The journey began at UC Berkeley, where I got my Ph.D in engineering, and this journey taught me intellectual discipline. Next steps as a scientist at General Electric’s R&D exposed me to pragmatic problem solving of hard problems – all the way from Satellite Navigation, Artificial Diamond Making, and X-ray Mammography. GE’s management best practices under the tutelage of Jack Welch were drilled into my nonconscious mind. My first software startup BoardVantage (focused on corporate governance), was acquired by Nasdaq, and my second startup NeuroFocus kickstarted my adventure into Neuroscience. Working with an extraordinary set of minds from Harvard, Berkeley, MIT, and Stanford I pondered the billion dollar question –  how do our brains make purchasing decisions, often driven by nonconscious cues rather than rational thought? This revelation led me to wonder: Could understanding these neural processes help us predict consumer behavior, and could this knowledge be translated into successful business ventures? The answer, it turns out, is a resounding yes.

Central to this endeavor is the recognition that our nonconscious minds play a pivotal role in decision-making, and by pivotal we mean 95% of decision making is made nonconsciously. Emotional responses, sensory memories, and deeply ingrained habits guide our choices and create desires that we are not even aware of participate in this mysterious alchemy of Desire and Decisions. Nonconscious Desire guides consumer decisions, and therein lies the vexing conundrum – How can consumers articulate desires they are not even aware they have? Naturally focus groups and surveys and typical market research that focus on conscious and rational responses cannot deliver on the architecture of the nonconscious. This led me to create my third company Sensori.Ai. And did I mention that NeuroFocus, my second company was acquired by Nielsen 🙂 

DesireGPT, the flagship platform of Sensori.Ai is built around the six dimensions of desire that influence consumer choices: novelty, trust, simplicity, social bonding, self-actualization, and reward. Each of these dimensions is tied to specific brain networks and neurotransmitters that form the evolutionary basis of Desire, a fundamental biological imperative that is key to survival. As desire is firmly lodged in the Nonconscious, it is now critical to use the data consumed by the Nonconscious mind in extracting desires key to consumer decisions.  By aligning products and messages with these desires marketers can seamlessly blend their offerings into the nonconscious fabric of consumers’ lives. Sensori.Ai differentiates itself from the millions of companies in the GenAi market with simply 2 key differentiators – the blending of Neuroscience of Desire with GenAi, and the use of Nonconscious Data in extracting and constructing templates of Desire in the consumer’s mind. 

In practice, this means leveraging cutting-edge Neuroscience Powered GenAi platforms to analyze vast Nonconscious datasets, to do a few critical tasks for Marketers and Innovators:

1. Extract consumer personas and insights into their Desires from their nonconscious mind

2. Create Desirable product innovations designed to delight and persuade consumers to try and embrace renovations and disruptive innovations

3. Create Desirable messaging with specific goals to are focused on purchase

4. Create Desirable Pricing and Promotions that drive volume and profit

5. Create Sensorials for Success – differentiate by creating fragrances, flavors, and sonic branding personalized for the brand and the consumer segment

The success of my ventures is intimately tied to the application of NeuroAi principles focused on Desire. Companies I’ve built have harnessed the power of neuroAi to develop products that not only captivate but also anticipate consumer desire. From crafting brand experiences that evoke a deep sense of belonging, to predicting market shifts before they occur, understanding the brain’s pathways has provided a competitive edge that is both sustainable and scalable.

The key to modern marketing excellence lies in decoding the nonconscious mind. By blending the Neuroscience of Desire with the capabilities of AI, we can preemptively understand and shape consumer desires—an approach that shifts paradigms and sets the stage for future goldmines of innovation and growth. Brands can feel confident in telling the consumer, “We know you, and understand you deeply. What you Desire is already on its way.”

Dr. Pradeep, CEO & Founder, Sensori.ai