Building Before Specialising: Janaki’s Journey From Young Developer To Entrepreneur

"I have always been more interested in building something with technology than simply learning about it."

For Janaki Tansen Chaudhari, this is more than a statement of intent—it is a philosophy that has shaped her journey from a curious young programmer to a developer, AI/ML explorer and entrepreneur. At a time when most students are encouraged to choose a specialisation early, Janaki has followed a different path: she has built first, explored widely and allowed experience to define the direction.

Her relationship with technology began early. She learned JavaScript, Python, HTML and C++, not simply as academic subjects but as tools for creating things. A barcode scanner, a planet-tracking information application and a car-racing game were among her early projects. Each one reflected the same instinct: identify an idea, learn what is required and turn it into something that works.

That problem-solving mindset was evident even before programming. Janaki's early achievements in abacus and mental arithmetic—including finishing as third runner-up at the 20th International UCMAS Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Competition in New Delhi and securing third place at the international round in Dubai—gave her a strong foundation in numbers, logic and structured thinking.

As her confidence grew, so did the complexity of her projects. She moved into app and game development, earning certifications in both fields, before progressing to full-stack development. Building websites and data-driven platforms, including projects involving data scraping, introduced her to the broader dimensions of software engineering—from user interfaces to data flows and back-end systems.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning became the next frontier. Janaki began exploring recommendation systems, generative AI, chatbots and data science. Once again, the motivation was not simply to understand emerging technology but to discover what could be built with it.

Her experiences outside conventional classrooms further expanded that ambition. At IIT Madras, she worked on AI and chatbot-related projects, while a three-month internship at IIT Bombay exposed her to drone navigation, robotics and real-time systems. Earlier, in Class 9, she also had the opportunity to write code for a NASA satellite—an experience that offered an unusually early glimpse into the precision and discipline required in aerospace technology.

The entrepreneurial dimension of her journey took shape after Class 12, when she co-founded Intervue: AI mock interviews for CS freshers, featuring separate agents for technical, coding, MCQ, system design, and HR rounds; questions tailored by the algorithm to the target company and role; and a scored report after every session. The product attracted interest from potential buyers and partners, including EduplusCampus, an ERP platform tech company serving nearly 200 colleges and around five lakh students, and was eventually integrated into enterprise products. What began with an engagement ultimately contributed to an opportunity that led to the brand being sold, with the team taking a seven-figure exit — a milestone that demonstrated her technical curiosity could translate into tangible value beyond experimentation and academics. Since then, she has been developing a new venture of her own, continuing to build even as she prepares for the next stage of her academic journey.

Now, Janaki is entering a new chapter at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she will study data science. The university experience will give structure and depth to a skill set she has already developed through hands-on exploration.

What distinguishes Janaki is not one achievement, but the breadth and continuity of her journey. She has moved across software, gaming, full-stack development, AI, data science, robotics and aerospace without losing sight of her central instinct: to build.

While many specialise before they begin creating, Janaki has followed the opposite route. She built before specialising. At UCSB, that wide-ranging foundation now meets formal expertise—opening the possibility of turning years of curiosity, experimentation and entrepreneurial thinking into the next generation of technology-driven ideas.