IIT graduate’s father was a sweet seller in Lucknow; he got 48% in class 5, later went on to get top grades in IIT, today earns more than Rs 2 crore per year as AI engineer: ‘I earn in a month…’

Once upon a time, he was the son of a humble sweet seller in Lucknow and academically struggling at school. Today, Tejash Vaish has a degree in computer science from IIT Kanpur and a high-paying job in Dubai, where he earns over Rs 2.5 crore annually. Yet, once upon a time, he did not do very well academically. He scored only 48% in class 5, but he gradually improved his academic records and scored 94% in Class 10 and 95% in Class 12. According to his website, he received an Academic Excellence Award in IIT and earned a top-notch 9.14 CPI. During his time at IIT, he was the Alpha Grep Merit Scholar, C3iHub UG Fellow, and PD Murti Scholar.

Taking a year off to get ready for engineering entrance exams became a pivotal moment in his educational path. He implemented a rigorous study schedule, allocating around six hours each day to coaching sessions and spending additional hours on problem practice and taking mock tests.

An Impeccable Academic Record

His unwavering dedication bore fruit when he secured All India Rank 9 in the 2019 Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Examination (UPSEE). He achieved a 99.80 percentile in JEE Main 2019, ultimately obtaining admission to IIT Kanpur via the JEE Advanced exam.


According to The Better India, he began working in Bengaluru in various organisations such as Texas Instruments, Securonix, Squarepoint Capital, and Abacus.AI.

Where Does He Work Today?

According to a Times Of India report, Tejesh currently works in a Dubai-based company, Lumian AI, as an AI engineer and builds AI production agents for various brands in Amazon. He also constructs systems that support the products.

Despite having a thriving career in AI, he maintains that an IIT degree is not essential to being an AI expert and all his alma mater provided were top-notch academics, internship and work opportunities and an unparalleled alumni system. But that won’t prevent students from other colleges become AI engineers if they can master Python, SQL, data structures, probability, statistics, and linear algebra, then learning practical skills like APIs, Git, and testing.

“IIT helped me because of the academic environment, the people around me, and the opportunities that came with it. But students from other colleges can build strong careers in AI too,” he said.

Regarding his journey towards becoming financially prosperous, Tejesh told The Better India that he earned more in a month than what his father made in a year as a halwai.