For years, Aviv Shoshan felt he experienced the world differently. Diagnosed with attention and concentration difficulties, and with a younger sister on the autism spectrum, he grew up aware of how hard it can be to read social cues. “I was surrounded by people but felt on the outside, like I wasn’t really part of the experience,” he recalls.
That feeling eventually led the 22-year-old, a graduate of the “Masa El HaOfek” program, to develop a virtual “assistant”—an AI-based tool that simulates everyday conversations and lets young adults on the spectrum practice social situations such as job interviews, dates or casual chats. The idea, he says, is to train and build confidence in a discreet, judgment-free environment.
His partner in the project is his mother, Hani, a special-education kindergarten teacher and single mother of three, two of whom have ADHD and one who was diagnosed on the spectrum. “Aviv is a computer genius,” she says. “But like many others, he used to struggle in job interviews. There are incredibly talented people who simply can’t show who they really are—and everyone loses out.”
Their initiative was selected for OfekTech, the tech-innovation track of the nonprofit Masa El HaOfek, which supports young adults after military or national service. There they met their mentor, Rimon Tubin—an AI expert, longtime tech executive and father of a son with autism. Tubin has been guiding the two both professionally and personally. “I invited Aviv and Hani home so they could meet my son and share experiences,” he says. “It creates a shared language that helps understand the need and the solution.”
Tubin, who founded “Hactivism,” a community developing tech tools for people with autism, emphasizes that no two people on the spectrum are alike. “When someone with lived experience leads the project, it has a different kind of power,” he says. “That’s why Aviv is the face of it.”
The project comes at a time when diagnoses are rising. “One in 36 children in Israel is now diagnosed with autism,” Tubin notes. “Projections say it could reach one in 20. Families wait years for public evaluations or pay thousands privately. The system is overloaded—we need better support.”
Eti Ilan, founder of OfekTech, says the program was created after graduates consistently expressed interest in tech and science but lacked the support to pursue entrepreneurial ideas. Fourteen ventures were selected for the current four-month accelerator, which provides mentorship from leading tech professionals, legal guidance, financial support and investor connections.
“We tell them we believe in their vision,” Ilan says. “You don’t need a degree from the Technion to build something meaningful.”
Maj. Gen. (res.) Ram Rothberg, CEO of Masa El HaOfek, says the program reflects the organization’s mission: “Young people finish their service with values, passion and tremendous abilities. We’re here to give them the tools to turn that into ventures that can change society.”