Light AI Appoints John R. Luna as Chief Executive Officer

• Medical Technology Industry Veteran to lead Company regulatory and commercialization initiatives
• CEO and Founder, Peter Whitehead, transitioning to Chief Innovation Officer role to lead Company medical offering expansion
• Company transitioning to a fractional CFO

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2026 /CNW/ - Light AI Inc. ("Light AI" or the "Company") (CBOE CA: ALGO) (FSE: 0HC) (OTCQB: OHCFF), a healthcare technology company specializing in AI-driven diagnostic and wellness solutions, today announced the appointment of John R. Luna as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 19, 2026. The Company's former Chief Executive Officer and founder, Peter Whitehead, is transitioning the role of Chief Innovation Officer, to continue to lead the Company's medical diagnostic offering and related intellectual property expansion.

As CEO, Mr. Luna will lead Light AI through its next phase of growth, with a strategic focus on regulatory authorization, evidence generation, and early commercialization, positioning the company to scale its AI imaging platform across global healthcare markets. Mr. Luna brings more than 30 years of global leadership experience across healthcare technology, artificial intelligence, regulated medical devices, and digital health, with a proven track record of advancing innovation from regulatory authorization to global commercialization. Mr. Luna is a recognized executive and thought leader in AI-enabled medical technologies, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), and wearable and regulated health platforms. He has led organizations across startup, growth-stage, and publicly traded companies, consistently delivering disciplined execution in highly regulated environments while building scalable, revenue-generating platforms.

"Light AI represents the future of diagnostics in healthcare - where artificial intelligence becomes a scalable software imaging platform capable of detecting, diagnosing, and managing disease on a global scale," said John R. Luna, Chief Executive Officer of Light AI. "What excites me most is the opportunity to build a regulatory-grade AI platform that delivers clinical credibility, economic value, and global accessibility. By aligning disciplined regulatory execution with capital-efficient commercialization, Light AI has the potential to fundamentally change how disease is identified and managed worldwide."

Most recently, Mr. Luna served as Executive Advisor to EssilorLuxottica, where he collaborated with the Super Audio team on advanced smart eyewear and software-based hearing technologies. In this role, he helped guide the FDA 510(k) clearance of the Nuance Audio Hearing Aid Software, the first FDA-cleared SaMD hearing aid embedded in smart glasses, establishing a new benchmark for integrating AI, cloud connectivity, and real-time computing into consumer-grade medical platforms. Previously, Mr. Luna served as CEO of a publicly traded medical technology company, where he led the launch of the first FDA-cleared, self-fitting OTC hearing aid integrated with medical-grade diagnostic software. His career reflects deep expertise in FDA De Novo and 510(k) pathways, global market expansion, enterprise partnerships, and capital-efficient growth.

The Company has total cash and investments as at December 31, 2025 of approximately CDN$6.5 million and anticipates having sufficient capital to fund its regulatory and commercialization initiatives in addition to operations beyond the third quarter of 2026. Due to the Company's transition from the development phase to its regulatory and commercialization phase, it anticipates a significant reduction in its research and development expenses and other operating expenses while increasing investment in its regulatory and commercialization initiatives. As part of the Company's financial runway preservation initiatives while supporting incremental investment in its regulatory and commercialization initiatives, George Reznik, Chief Financial Officer, is transitioning from the Company with the engagement of a part time fractional Chief Financial Officer.

"I am excited to welcome John R. Luna as Light AI's new Chief Executive Officer with his wealth of regulatory and commercialization experience in the medical technology industry to accelerate the capitalization of Light AI's market opportunity. John brings deep expertise in FDA De Novo and 510(k) pathways, AI-enabled medical platforms, capital-efficient growth, and global market expansion, positioning Light AI for successful regulatory authorization and early-stage commercialization," stated Steven Semmelmayer, Chair of the Company's Board of Directors. "I would like to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the Company's founder, Peter Whitehead, over the past decade which have positioned the Company as a leader of AI medical diagnostic solutions. Peter's continued leadership and innovation will continue to serve the Company well as it further expands its offering going forward. I would also like to thank George Reznik for his significant contributions and leadership over the past year. I look forward to John's leadership and partnership with Peter and am very optimistic regarding the Company's outlook."

About Light AI Inc. (CBOE CA: ALGO / FSE: 0HC / OTCQB: OHCFF)

Light AI Inc. is a technology company focused on developing artificial intelligence health screening and diagnostic solutions. Light AI is developing a technology platform which represents the next generation of patient management: it applies AI algorithms to smartphone images--starting with images of Strep A and anticipated expansion with COVID19 along with other medical conditions --to identify the disease in seconds. Its patented, app-based solution requires no swabs, lab tests or proprietary hardware of any kind--its hardware platform is the 4.5 billion smartphones that exist in the world today. Light AI is at the forefront of developing innovative screening and diagnostic solutions aimed at improving healthcare delivery worldwide. Their cutting-edge AI powered technology offers rapid, accurate, and cost-effective screening and diagnostic tools designed to address critical healthcare challenges.

In pre-FDA validation studies, Light AI's algorithm demonstrated remarkable accuracy in differentiating between viral and bacterial pharyngitis, specifically targeting Group A Streptococcus (GAS). The algorithm achieved a 96.57% accuracy rate and attained a Negative Predictive Value of 100%, indicating its high reliability in confirming the absence of Streptococcus A infection. Viral and GAS pharyngitis affects over 600 million people annually worldwide. If left untreated, GAS pharyngitis can lead to serious complications such as Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), which imposes a global economic burden exceeding $1 trillion annually. Light AI's technology offers a significant advancement in the accurate and timely identification of GAS pharyngitis, potentially reducing the incidence of RHD and its associated costs. Light AI's approach to applying AI to smartphone images can be expanded to other throat conditions, as well as other areas of analysis, such as the human eye and skin. Light AI's vision is to combine the smartphone with AI in-the-Cloud to create a Digital Clinical Lab that provides quick and accessible diagnosis for countless conditions that today require expensive and time-consuming imaging or lab processes.

ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY

George Reznik
Chief Financial Officer
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

For more information, please contact the Company at [email protected] or visit https://light.ai/.

Website: https://light.ai/
LinkedIn: LinkedIn/company/Light AI
X (Formerly Twitter): @lightaihealth

Forward-Looking Information:

This news release includes information, statements, beliefs and opinions which are forward-looking, and which reflect current estimates, expectations and projections about future events, including, but not limited to, the Company's research and development and commercialization initiatives, the anticipated inflection of the business, the Company's financial and operational performance and outlook and other statements that contain words such as "believe," "expect," "project," "should," "seek," "anticipate," "will," "intend," "positioned," "risk," "plan," "may," "estimate" or, in each case, their negative and words of similar meaning. By its nature, forward-looking information involves a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome of the plans and events described herein. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which is based on the information available as of the date of this news release.  For a list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's annual information form dated April 14, 2025 and other filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (which may be viewed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca). Light AI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law. The forward-looking information included in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Light AI Inc.