India’s ‘AI kid of India’; 16-year-old boy from Kochi pays father Rs 2 lakh as monthly salary

KOCHI: At an age when most students depend on their parents to meet their educational expenses, a teenager who runs his own company is now grabbing media attention. The young achiever is 16-year-old Raul John Aju, who has carved out a niche for himself in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). His father, who works for Raul’s company, earns a monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh.

Raul John Aju is a Plus Two Commerce student at Government Higher Secondary School in Kunnumpuram North, Edappally, Kochi. He has already earned the title ‘AI Kid of India.’ His journey began with self-directed learning in AI at the age of nine. His interest in technology was initially sparked by video editing. When his father got a job at Adobe, Raul gained access to premium tools, which encouraged him to explore the world of AI in greater depth.

Things began to take a different turn when he introduced a robot called ‘Mebot’ for a school science project. Today, 15 people work at Raul’s startup, AI Technologies, while the company also has employees in different parts of the world.

Raul is reportedly said to have already provided AI training to around five lakh students. Raul’s employees include his own father, who earns a monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh. When asked why he hired his father specifically, Raul gave an interesting answer to the media. ‘I can gain as much knowledge as I want through my phone, but I cannot get the experience my father has gained through a phone. He has worked at companies such as Amazon, Adobe, Wipro and IBM. I have a lot to learn from him. In fact, it is also good for marketing,’ said Raul.