“A Game Changer”: How Be My Eyes Became Part of Sana’s Everyday Life

On Independence, Privacy, and the App She Wishes She’d Found Sooner

Sana didn’t rush to download Be My Eyes. She’s honest about that.

“I’m not the most technical person, and often when there’s new technology, I’m not the first one to use it,” says Sana, who has been totally blind since birth. It wasn’t a headline or a product launch that changed her mind, it was a friend checking her lipstick in the mirror through the app.

“I thought, wow, I’m missing something here.”

That moment of recognition set off a habit that now shapes every single day. Sana, who is Global Chief Privacy Officer at WSP — a multinational engineering and professional services firm — and leads the company’s AI governance strategy, hasn’t gone a day without Be My Eyes or Be My AI since.

From Hotel Phones to Online Shopping

For Sana, no two uses of Be My Eyes look quite the same. When she’s traveling for work, she uses it to navigate the touchscreen panels in hotel rooms, decipher unfamiliar display menus, and read documents on the fly. Once, unable to find the number to call reception, she pointed her camera at a card near the phone. Seconds later, she had the answer.

At home, she uses it to get the information that most shopping websites simply don’t bother to include.  The day before sharing her story, she’d been searching for a coat: “I wanted to know whether the coat had a belt, what color the zips and buttons were. The descriptions on the websites aren’t always very full.” Be My AI filled in the gaps.

The Privacy That Sighted People Take for Granted

One of the most quietly powerful things Sana describes isn’t a travel hack or a shopping workaround. It’s something more intimate. For many blind people, asking for support has historically meant letting someone else in, into a personal question, a private concern, a moment of vulnerability you’d rather keep to yourself. Be My AI changes that equation entirely.

“If something isn’t quite looking right on your skin, or something really personal that you need a sighted person’s help with but it’s too personal to show somebody — you can just take a picture and ask Be My Eyes to help tell you what it can see.”

At 44, Sana has a long memory of what came before. The assistance that had to be asked for. The things that couldn’t stay private. This, she says, is “extremely liberating.”

A Note to Anyone Still Hesitating

Sana understands the reluctance. Learning something new takes time. But she’s unambiguous about the return on that investment: “In the end, it always saves time. I would encourage people to really look at Be My Eyes and explore all the options. They’ll be super useful in daily life, and for many people, in their work life as well.”

She pauses, then lands on the phrase she keeps coming back to.

“It’s an app that is a complete game changer.”