Lucknow sweet seller's son earns Rs 2.5 crore annual salary after scoring just 48% in class 5; heads an AI company in Dubai now

A 26-year-old engineer from Lucknow who scored just 48% in Class 5 now earns Rs 2.5 crore annually while leading AI engineering at a Dubai-based company. Tejesh Vaish, whose father ran a small sweet shop, went on to study Computer Science at IIT Kanpur before building a career in artificial intelligence, according to TOI.

Vaish joined IIT Kanpur after securing the ninth rank in UPSEE 2019. He graduated in 2023 with a cumulative performance index (CPI) of 9.14 and now works at Lumian.ai, where he leads AI engineering. His journey and career details were reported by India Today, according to a Times of India report published on November 6, 2026.

From 48% in Class 5 to IIT Kanpur

Vaish grew up in Lucknow in a family where his father operated a small sweet shop. His academic journey did not begin with exceptional school results. He scored 48% in Class 5, a result that was far removed from the academic performance he would achieve in later years.


His marks gradually improved. He scored around 94% in Class 10 and 95% in Class 12.

After school, he took a drop year to prepare for engineering entrance examinations. His preparation involved around six hours of coaching and nearly 12 hours of self-study each day.

His efforts helped him secure the ninth rank in UPSEE 2019, through which he entered the Computer Science programme at IIT Kanpur.

Scholarships, internships and a 9.14 CPI

His time at IIT Kanpur exposed him to opportunities beyond classroom learning, including internships, research and open-source projects.

In an account of his experience, Vaish said IIT Kanpur helped him understand the different opportunities available to undergraduate students. Interacting with peers involved in research, internships and open-source contributions encouraged him to explore similar avenues.

The PD Murti Scholarship also helped ease the financial pressure on his parents. IIT Kanpur's scholarship page carries an acknowledgement from a Tejesh Vaish, identified as a BTech Computer Science student and scholarship recipient, who expressed a hope of supporting other students in the future.

During his studies, Vaish interned at Securonix and Texas Instruments. He also worked on research with IIT Kanpur Director Professor Manindra Agrawal before graduating in 2023 with a CPI of 9.14.

What does he do at Lumian.ai?

Vaish currently leads AI engineering at Dubai-based Lumian.ai, where he earns Rs 2.5 crore annually, according to the report.

His work involves building production AI agents for Amazon brands. He also develops the supporting systems that make these agents dependable, including permissions, approval processes and evaluation mechanisms.

Explaining the technical requirements behind such systems, Vaish said a user request becomes useful only when an AI system can access the right tools and information, retain relevant context and handle failures in an understandable manner.

Why he started working on Homeo AI

Vaish's work with artificial intelligence also took a personal direction after his mother, Mamta Vaish, was diagnosed with cancer around 2024. She later went into complete remission.

During this period, he interacted with homoeopathic practitioners and began developing Homeo AI, a support tool designed to help with record-keeping, reference searches and document preparation.

The tool is intended to assist practitioners with these tasks, while they remain responsible for reviewing the information and making clinical decisions, according to the report.

His message to students who want to build AI careers

Despite studying at IIT Kanpur, Vaish believes an IIT degree is not essential to build a career in artificial intelligence.

He has pointed to the academic environment, people and opportunities at IIT as important parts of his own experience, while stressing that students from other colleges can also develop strong careers in AI.

His suggested starting points include Python, SQL, data structures, probability, statistics and linear algebra. He also recommends developing practical skills in APIs, Git and software testing.

In his message to students, Vaish said an early academic result does not have to determine someone's future and encouraged them to focus on improving one subject, learning one skill or completing one project at a time.

Inputs from TOI