Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Haseeb Qureshi, known as HQ, has been in the entrepreneurial scene for a long time. First, as the founder of his first company, Audiohand, where he went through the first rendition of THE WORKS accelerator at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC). Then, he worked as a start-up attorney, helping founders navigate the complicated legal process of starting a business.

In recent years, he’s been focused on teaching hundreds of students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) about entrepreneurship. HQ even launched the inaugural UTK Startup Studio in the summer of 2024, helping about ten students launch and commercialize their business ideas.

Now, HQ is shifting focus toward an idea of his own. It’s an artificial intelligence (AI)–driven software that helps grade papers and assignments.

“In many ways, it was inspired by my own curiosities about AI, and my experience as an educator spending hours, sometimes days, grading hundreds of papers, projects, and assignments,” he said.

One semester, about a year ago, HQ stared at 90 student business model canvases.

“It’s a heavy lift as a professor to go through each one tediously,” he said. “So, I wondered if I gave AI the right prompts and materials if it could help me do the job.”

HQ explained his fixation on the idea and the eight intense hours that followed. He fed the AI transcripts from his video lectures, assignments, and grading rubrics, then made suggestions of what to look for, and where to dock points. Afterward, he ran all 90 papers through his newly invented AI grading system and received suggested grades within minutes.

“I was shocked at the results. It provided good feedback – strengths, weaknesses, suggestive edits, and projected grades compared to the work of their peers,” he said. “I went through each one, changing only a few things, and handed the papers back to my students.”

HQ was fully transparent with his students that the grades came from AI. It was important to him that they were comfortable with the concept.

“As educators, we need to allow students to work with AI and grow from it. It’s part of our world now,” HQ said.

He allowed the students to make any suggested edits before submitting their projects again for a final “professor-reviewed” grade.

“These tools make us hyper-productive, so in that way, I don’t think it’s bad. AI helps raise the bar in academia to where the average answer won’t be good enough anymore. Students will have to exercise their ability to think outside of the box,” HQ said.

During a conversation with the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI), HQ revealed his innovation – sharing an 80-90 percent reduction in time spent grading. He was met with astounding interest from other professors and decided it was time to launch it into an official business.

Over the next five weeks, HQ coded a full-fledged app called ‘Entreheart.ai,’ where the AI grader, which he calls ‘Ash,’ can provide students with rapid analysis of their projects, make suggestions, and offer a real-time feedback loop. It also helps professors stay on track with student progress and serve as a co-pilot in the grading process. Educators can feed their unique materials into the system – lectures, lessons, past assignments, grading rubrics, and suggestions into the AI model.

In September, HQ also joined 121 Tech Hub in the Old City Knoxville to surround himself with like-minded creators. He said the community resulting from that decision has been game-changing, especially compared to his experience with Audiohand.

“I’m not afraid to tell people that I failed at my first company because I didn’t ask for help. I didn’t ask enough questions, and I didn’t know what I was doing with my business plan,” HQ said. “I feel a lot more confident this go-around, and I know where to ask questions.”

One idea he’s exploring with his membership at 121 Tech Hub is hosting a casual group for UTK students who are interested in starting companies. His goal is to expose them to Knoxville’s robust entrepreneurial scene in a way that is approachable and inviting.

In the meantime, HQ is putting a lot of his time and energy into getting Entreheart.ai into the hands of professors who need it.

“I think this is a tool that can enhance the grading process as we know it,” HQ said.

Connect with Haseeb Qureshi (HQ).

Learn more about Entreheart.ai.

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