Devika Toprani

About Devika

Devika Toprani is a human-AI learning systems architect who pioneered the pre-AI sense-making layer on March 6, 2026, independently and without funding or institutional backing, after identifying a gap no existing AI literacy framework had named. Her framework, Somagraphic Learning™ and deployable thinking protocol, Map Before Machine™, give users a structured way to externalize their own reasoning before any AI interaction begins, grounded in embodied cognition and cognitive load theory. The Map Before Machine™ Pre-AI Thinking Card is now available to purchase on Gumroad.

Born in Oman, Devika holds an MS in Management from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, dual degrees in Psychology from George Mason University and the University of Mumbai, and a Google UX Design certification.

She has built her career across India, the UAE, and the US, coordinating national accreditation and competency evaluation pipelines at UIUC's School of Social Work and developing centralized learning infrastructure across K-12 and higher education.

Devika is an individual research contributor to the Oxford AIEOU Human Flourishing Lab, with collaborative work archived in the Oxford University Research Archive alongside 550+ global educators. She authored the chapter "Pre-AI Sense-making Before Scale" in AI Everywhere Vol. 3 (Six Peas Press, Nov 2026).

She has spoken about human-centered AI at University of Illinois WebCon 2026 and Northwestern University TEACHx 2026, Google NextGen DevCon 2026, Microsoft's Data Platform DEI Group, Power Platform Classmates Dubai 2026 and had upcoming speaker sessions at CognitionX Emirates 2026, Global Data & AI Virtual Tech Conference.

Her work has been featured in the Global Citizenship Education Interview Series, She Leads AI, Teach Coach Mentor, Cornucopia of STEM, and Empowered by AI.

Devika believes that "Learning is not AI-made. It's Soul-made. AI only refines what YOU bring to the chatbot." She writes the Substack newsletter, Soulful Learning with AI, read by 800+ subscribers.

Expertise

Focus

Culture

Sessions

Interactive & Passive

Facilitation

Yes - Interactive

Speaking

Available

Background

Corporate Experience

Moderate

Past Clients

Presented at several global conferences and invited speaker at several.

Certifications & Credentials

Services:
- Institutional & Enterprise Immersive Pilot Retreat
- Institutional & Enterprise Pilot Program
- Map Before Machine™ Thinking Card (Custom Editions)

● Facilitate bespoke leadership and corporate workshops on specialized Map Before Machine™ Pre-AI thinking protocol (custom e-copies/pre-AI interaction layer before chatbot deployment), to drive team cohesion, strategic creativity, resilience and global Somatic AI Literacy™

● Custom, niche, industry-specific Map Before Machine™ Pre-AI thinking cards for workforce and training programs, available on request

● Advisory on implementing the human-first framework Somagraphic Learning™ + DEI-driven Shape-Emotion Grammar™ + building Global Somatic AI Literacy™

● Speaker session invitations on Pre-AI Embodied Sense-making Before Scale
View my Sessionize profile for my past/upcoming sessions: https://sessionize.com/devika-toprani/

● Research-backed thought leadership for international journals and executive networks, bridging traditional cultural insights with modern corporate strategy

● Pre-AI Workflow Mapping sessions with Map Before Machine™ (individual/group)

Follow the SOULFUL journey! :)
For structured pre-AI sense-making frameworks + messy doodles + innovative research-backed insights, join 800+ subscribers on Substack (Soulful Learning with AI): https://soulfullearningwithai.substack.com/

For more details on my qualifications, professional trajectory or research timestamps, please visit my website: https://soulfullearningwithai.carrd.co/

Available for all sessions in Dubai, UAE (In-person) or globally (Remote)
Please connect with the Culture Vitale team to avail these services with Devika Toprani.

All keynotes and workshop materials are derived from the proprietary Somagraphic Learning™ framework (Protected under CC-BY NC ND Research DOIs). Attendance or licensing does not grant redistribution or publishing rights.

This license permits personal, academic, and non-commercial reference use only, with attribution required.
It prohibits adaptation, remixing, or derivative works, and prohibits any commercial use, resale, or repackaging without a separate written agreement.

Commercial deployment, SaaS or LMS integration, enterprise training curricula, AI onboarding UI integration, or any institutional adoption requires a direct Institutional Framework License from Devika Toprani, available on request.

Patent-pending IP. Somagraphic Learning™, Map Before Machine™, Shape-Emotion Grammar™, and Somatic AI Literacy™ are trademarks of Devika Toprani (USPTO filing pending).

Availability

Schedule

Weekdays, Weekends, Variable/Other

Travel

Available for all sessions in Dubai, UAE or globally

Other Details

Please book sessions atleast 15-20 days prior to the scheduled event.

Devika's Offerings

Workshop

Map Before Machine™ Thinking Card: Career Pivot Edition

Map Before Machine™ is an analog-first pre-AI thinking card. It structures human reasoning in three steps (Attempt → Map → Refine) before anyone opens a chatbot. AI enters…

10 – 10 min30 – 10000 ppl

Program

Institutional & Enterprise Pilot Program

A structured pre-AI onboarding and pilot framework integrating Somagraphic Learning™ and Map Before Machine™ into learning management systems and enterprise environments. This program provides systematic integration, pre-integration advisory,…

1 – 30 min1 – 60 ppl

Retreat

Institutional & Enterprise Immersive Pilot Retreat

An immersive institutional co-design retreat structured for up to 60 participants, tailored for corporate L&D, educational institutions, and enterprise compliance teams to integrate pre-AI governance guardrails and Somagraphic…

1 – 3 min1 – 60 ppl

Good to Know

Client Requirements

All keynotes and workshop materials are derived from the proprietary Somagraphic Learning™ framework (Protected under CC-BY NC ND Research DOIs). Attendance or licensing does not grant redistribution or publishing rights.

Additional Notes

Founded and operating under Sole Establishment: Map Before Machine AI Developing Services (UAE E-Trader License #1641121)

Available for all sessions, including in Dubai, UAE (In-person) & globally (Remote)

All keynotes and workshop materials are derived from the proprietary Somagraphic Learning™ framework (Protected under CC-BY NC ND Research DOIs). Attendance or licensing does not grant redistribution or publishing rights.

This license permits personal, academic, and non-commercial reference use only, with attribution required.
It prohibits adaptation, remixing, or derivative works, and prohibits any commercial use, resale, or repackaging without a separate written agreement.

Commercial deployment, SaaS or LMS integration, enterprise training curricula, AI onboarding UI integration, or any institutional adoption requires a direct Institutional Framework License from Devika Toprani, available on request.

Patent-pending IP. Somagraphic Learning™, Map Before Machine™, Shape-Emotion Grammar™, and Somatic AI Literacy™ are trademarks of Devika Toprani (USPTO filing pending).