Mr Yash Dutt

Entrepreneur

Yash Dutt (class of 2018) is the founder and CEO of Yuva AI, a software company that is working to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence globally.

When he was only 14 years old, Yash started his first business venture, TechFlow, which aimed to bridge the gap between youth and technology by creating a platform where teen innovators could come together and collaborate. TechFlow rapidly gained traction, amassing more than 4 million views and becoming one of Australia's most-read websites.

Yash fondly remembers his high school days as an unconventional teen, writing emails or making calls between classes and having informal meetings with his TechFlow members, who were also his classmates at lunch.

TechFlow created a lot of excitement throughout the school and with the support of teachers and staff, Yash's team presented at assembly and subsequently recruited nearly 30 new writers. The walls of the school displayed their promotional stickers and he and the other members would routinely walk around campus during lunch promoting the company.

Yash explained, "people in the grades above were asking for shares in the company even though we technically didn't have any because our parents were the directors". He believes that those experiences typify what makes State High so great, saying, "It shows how students and teachers embrace new ideas".

A concrete legacy Yash has left behind at State High is the Innovation Studio built at I block. With the help of Mr Haynes and Mr Gorman, his team had a sectioned space to use for their meetings in the school library. This later sparked the idea of having a dedicated room in the school to foster innovation.

Written by Julie Blaga*