Meet the Network: Diana Ognesian, Co-founder & CEO New Nörm

The Life Sciences & Health ecosystem within the Rotterdam region is a dynamic network of companies, service providers, educational institutes, healthcare providers, and more, working together to innovate in healthcare. In this series, we would like you to get to know this network. This time, we would like to introduce you to Diana Oganesian, Co-founder and CEO of New Nörm. 

Could you please introduce yourself first?

My name is Diana Oganesian, I am a scientist and entrepreneur originally from Gyumri, Armenia, where witnessing my grandfathers’ recovery from post-earthquake depression sparked my lifelong interest in mental health.

I began my career as a journalist at 16 and later worked in global companies like Orange Telecom and Travelport, before returning to Armenia to build several ventures, including MAROG Creative Agency, Digital Factory, and Yell Extreme Park, all of which I successfully exited. Through these experiences, I realised that after environmental sustainability, the next essential area for our future is mental health, which led me to shift fully into behavioural science. I am now pursuing a PhD in Psychology, researching how AI and evidence-based therapeutic approaches can work together to support emotional resilience. Today, from my new home in Rotterdam, I am building New Nörm, an AI-supported therapy and thinking space designed to help people gain clarity and take care of their mental well-being in everyday life.

What does New Nörm do?

New Nörm is an AI application built on psychological science, designed to help people manage stress, improve self-awareness, and navigate complex emotional situations. Powered by our proprietary Human Memory Database Engine, it analyses patterns across your thoughts and experiences and offers structured, therapeutic-style guidance — not superficial reassurance. It’s designed to support your mind, strengthen emotional regulation, and help you keep daily mental hygiene, not to please you. The app speaks Dutch naturally, and today more than 15% of our users are already from the Netherlands.

What are you currently looking for within the Life Sciences & Health network?

I am looking for partners who share a long-term view on the future of humankind. My scientific focus is developing new ways to train AI together with mental-health professionals, so the technology can support emotional regulation, clear thinking, and healthier communication, the capacities that will define our future as much as any physical health innovation. I believe the next big step for humanity is not only technological progress, but psychological progress: raising a generation of psychologically mature adults who can think critically, act responsibly, and collaborate with a win-win mindset.

This can only happen if science, practice, and technology come together. So within the Life Sciences & Health network, I’m looking for researchers, clinicians, and organisations who want to join forces and co-create the mental-health infrastructure that the future of humankind will depend on.

What are some exciting upcoming developments or future plans for New Nörm?

Here at New Nörm, we believe that mental hygiene will become a new norm in society. Just as physical hygiene once reshaped public health, daily mind care, by understanding emotions, patterns, and inner tension and will define the next stage of human well-being. This shift can create a more mature and prosperous society, where people address their inner pain with awareness rather than acting it out on others. We are building New Nörm to support this transition with an accessible, science-informed application that strengthens clarity, emotional regulation, and reflective thinking. Our aim is simple: make mind care an everyday habit that quietly improves lives, relationships, and communities.

Date: December 15, 2025