Who is Tejesh Vaish? IIT Kanpur grad's journey from making samosas, jalebis to AI industry shows hard work pays off
From helping his father prepare samosas and jalebis at a family sweet shop in Lucknow to building artificial intelligence (AI) products for businesses in Dubai, 26-year-old Tejesh Vaish has come a long way.
“I grew up in Lucknow, where my father sold sweets. I went on to study computer science at IIT Kanpur and now work from Dubai. I report current annual earnings of ₹2.5 crore,” according to his personal website.
His journey is a testament to how hard work pays off, highlighting how academic perseverance and practical industry experience can open doors to remarkable opportunities in the technology sector.
Vaish grew up in Sadar Bazaar, Lucknow Cantonment, where his father, Ashok Kumar Vaish, runs a small sweet shop. Coming from a family without a background in technology, his journey into engineering began with an interest in mathematics and problem-solving.
According to his personal website and a News18 report, he studied at St Paul's College in Lucknow and joined IIT Kanpur in 2019 to pursue computer science. His academic journey was not always smooth. He scored 48% in Class 5, but his performance improved over the years, with scores of around 94% in Class 10 and 95% in Class 12.
A drop year before the engineering entrance examinations proved to be a turning point. He followed a demanding preparation schedule, attending around six hours of coaching classes and spending several additional hours solving questions and taking mock tests.
His efforts helped him secure All India Rank 9 in the Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Examination (UPSEE) 2019. He also scored 99.80 percentile in JEE Mains 2019 and secured admission to IIT Kanpur through JEE Advanced.
Vaish graduated in 2023 with a BTech degree in Computer Science and Engineering, with a Cumulative Performance Index (CPI) of 9.14.
During college, he received the PD Murti Scholarship, the AlphaGrep Merit Scholarship and recognition as a C3iHub Undergraduate Fellow. He also received the Academic Excellence Award.
His internship at Texas Instruments resulted in a pre-placement offer, while he also secured an opportunity at Squarepoint Capital through campus placements.
After graduating, Vaish built his career through roles at technology companies including Texas Instruments, Securonix, Squarepoint Capital and Abacus.AI.
His work has involved artificial intelligence, machine learning, enterprise software and large-scale technology infrastructure. At Abacus.AI, he worked on machine-learning platform integrations and enterprise connectors before moving to Lumian.ai in Dubai.
According to his personal website, he focuses on building reliable end-to-end AI applications, AI agents, and applied machine-learning systems.
His personal website also highlights several technical achievements from his professional career. These include developing data connectors that process more than 50TB of data every month, systems with 99.9% uptime and machine-learning applications serving 300,000 users.
He also reports developing more than 10 AI agents across security, infrastructure and AI commerce, besides building over 200 internal tools and automating workflows using AI agents and Python.
Vaish's journey from a family sweet shop in Lucknow to the AI industry in Dubai reflects the role of education, sustained effort and practical experience in building a technology career.
His professional profile also shows how his focus has moved beyond software development towards designing and deploying AI systems that businesses can use at scale.
Sheetal Goel is a Content Producer at Livemint, where she covers corporate developments, personal finance, business trends, markets, and SEBI-related updates. She focuses on simplifying complex financial concepts and presenting them in a clear, reader-friendly manner, thereby helping audiences better understand investment trends, personal finance, and market developments. Her writing focuses on making finance more accessible to everyday readers while maintaining clarity, accuracy, and relevance. <br><br> She holds a degree in Economics (Hons.) along with an MBA in Finance, which has helped her develop a strong foundation in financial analysis, market understanding, and business reporting. Before joining journalism, she worked with finance and broking firms, where she closely followed market developments, investment strategies, and evolving industry trends. This practical exposure strengthened her understanding of financial markets. She has also written content across multiple formats and platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. <br><br> Over time, she has developed expertise in covering market-linked stories, investor-focused topics, and regulatory updates in a simplified yet informative style. She also enjoys reading and listening to Hindi poetry, reflecting her appreciation for literature and creative expression beyond the world of markets and numbers.
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