India

From Lucknow Sweet Shop to Dubai AI Engineer: Tejesh Vaish’s 2.5‑Crore Journey

By Livemint

Tejesh Vaish, 26, the son of a sweet seller in Lucknow’s Sadar Bazaar, earned a scholarship to IIT Kanpur, where he studied computer science and graduated with a 9.14 CPI. He also held the Alpha Grep Merit Scholarship, C3iHub UG Fellowship and PD Murti Scholarship, and ranked 99.9 percentile in JEE and 9th in UPSEE. During college he completed several internships, earning more than ₹2 lakh before graduation, and built a mobile app that sparked his interest in software development.

After graduation, Vaish began his career in Bengaluru and later worked at Texas Instruments, Securonix, Squarepoint Capital and Abacus.AI, focusing on AI applications, machine‑learning systems and large‑scale infrastructure projects. He now holds a hybrid AI engineering role at a U.S.‑based AI startup’s Dubai office, earning a salary of ₹2.5 crore.

Vaish noted that the high cost of living in Dubai, especially rent, was a key factor in his move. He saves about ₹3 lakh each month and invests a similar amount through systematic investment plans, using the remainder to fund a new family home in Lucknow. "I make in a month what my father used to make in years," he said, highlighting his pride in helping his family build a new house.

The story was reported by Money Control and published by Livemint’s News Desk.