ExtraMile by HiTechNectar brings you exclusive insights from thought leaders and experts who are shaping the future of the industry.
In today’s session, Burhan Syed, the CEO and Co-Founder of Rondah AI, joined us to share his wisdom and knowledge. The firm pioneers in developing AI receptionists and agents for Dental Service Organizations (DSO). It aims to integrate intelligent automation while boosting patient engagement and experience.
As a determined leader, Burhan Syed led Rondah AI to be a trusted platform by noted DSOs all over North America. His objective is to enhance revenue and patient experience with automated scheduling and appointment booking.
Discover Syed’s expertise and understand how Rondah AI works to support DSOs in this informative discussion.
Welcome, Burhan; we are glad you could join us today!
Q1. You have come a long way from serving popcorn in a part-time job to building an AI company. How did you start your entrepreneurial journey, and what has been your inspiration throughout your career?
Ans. I started my journey throwing nightlife events while I was still in college. We scaled that hustle into a full business, promoting events across Canadian universities and growing it to $18K MRR. After that, I built Alibi, a SaaS platform for nightlife venues — think OpenTable meets Salesforce for events. We partnered with venues across Canada and integrated with platforms like SevenRooms to help operators manage and activate their audience data.
During that time, I also worked at dental clinics with my co-founder Allan. Phones ringing nonstop, staff stretched thin, patients falling through the cracks — it was clear how broken the front desk was. That experience gave us the insight and conviction to start Rondah AI and build a real solution from the ground up.
Q2. How does Rondah AI work? Which industries can utilize it for optimized operations?
Ans. Rondah AI builds voice AI receptionists for dental practices and DSOs. Our agents answer every call, 24/7, schedule and reschedule appointments, handle reactivation, and sync with the clinic’s systems in real time. While the infrastructure could technically support other verticals, we’re laser-focused on dental. We believe a massive business can be built by going deep in this space — and we’re obsessed with solving for the operational complexity of modern dental enterprises.
Q3. AI is one of the most revolutionary innovations. According to you, what opportunities does AI provide?
Ans. AI breaks down barriers. It gives small businesses the same firepower once reserved for large teams. With swarms of agents doing the work, you can now start a business, run ops, and scale — without needing a massive headcount. But more importantly, it’s not about replacing people — it’s about augmenting them. In every clinic we’ve worked with, Rondah AI has never led to someone being fired. We fill a gap, not a seat. AI lets front desk teams offload the repetitive, stressful tasks and focus on more meaningful work. That’s the future — a collaboration between people and AI, not a replacement.
Q4. Investments are crucial for startups. How do you manage investments for Rondah AI?
Ans. We raised $1.8M in our pre-seed round, co-led by 2048 Ventures and Twelve Below. We only raised what we needed — despite being offered more. That’s by design. We’ve always believed in building lean, staying focused, and not raising for vanity. Every dollar we took came with intent, and we’re disciplined about how we deploy it.
Q5. Data privacy is crucial in today’s digital world. How do you ensure data privacy and security while providing quality services?
Ans. We work exclusively with healthcare clients, so privacy isn’t optional — it’s baked into everything we do. Rondah AI is built with end-to-end encryption, access controls, and strict data handling protocols. We’re fully HIPAA compliant and constantly investing in both infrastructure and process to stay ahead of compliance requirements.
Q6. Appropriate marketing and sales strategies are important for startups. What strategies do you adopt for this purpose?
Ans. Honestly, we don’t spend a single dollar on marketing. This is a network game. We landed a few large DSOs early on, and from there, the referrals took over. We’ve been lucky to have incredible champions — people like John from Independence DSO — who’ve advocated for us and opened doors. We’re also big believers in founder-led sales. We don’t have a sales team, and don’t plan to for the foreseeable future. When you’re solving a hard problem in a complex industry, no one tells the story better than the founders.
Q7. What operational challenges does Rondah AI usually encounter while managing multiple clients at a time?
Ans. Early on, our biggest challenge was QA and observability — testing edge cases, catching bugs, and maintaining quality across every client config. We solved that by building our own internal swarms of AI agents to run tests, simulate calls, and report failures. Most people assume we have a much larger team than we do. We use AI internally to operate like a 50-person company with a fraction of the headcount.
Q8. What does success mean to you? Where do you want to see Rondah AI in the next couple of years?
Ans. Success is simple: no missed calls, no missed patients. Every time someone reaches out to a clinic, they get what they need — instantly.
In the next few years, we’re building toward full front-office automation: scheduling, follow-up, insurance, billing, payments — all run by AI. We want to be the operating system for dentistry.
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