Yash Dutt using AI to empower youth worldwide

(July 24, 2025) In the corridors of a Brisbane high school, a 14-year-old Yash Dutt could often be found firing off emails between classes and huddling over lunchtime meetings with friends. An unconventional teenager of Fijian-Indian heritage growing up in Australia, Yash was already on a mission. At an age when most teens were worried about homework, he co-founded TechFlow, a youth-driven tech blog and community platform. “TechFlow was about conversation. My friends and I were concerned about how technology was going to affect our future careers, but no one we knew was really talking about it,” Yash recalls of his early venture. Together with a classmate equally passionate about STEM, he built TechFlow to spark dialogue on how emerging technologies would shape the future for Generation Z.

What started as a small school project quickly took off. With help from their teachers, Yash and his friends promoted TechFlow at school assemblies, put up stickers around the hallways, and got dozens of other students to join in. Before long, the site was getting attention beyond their school. TechFlow went on to earn over 4 million views and became one of the most-read youth tech websites in Australia. Older students were so impressed that “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,” Yash laughs. That early success gave him more than just a taste of entrepreneurship — it gave him confidence. “Starting early with TechFlow gave me self-belief – it allowed me to see a whole different world of people who were able to build a successful business… I thought, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’” he said in an interview. It was the beginning of his journey — the moment he realized he could build something of his own.

Yash Dutt

The Call to Innovate: Birth of Yuva AI

Getting into tech at a young age helped Yash discover something bigger than just coding or websites. As a teen running a tech blog, he began to see how fast artificial intelligence (AI) was growing and changing the world. But what worried him was that many young people weren’t being prepared for it. “Education systems failed to keep up and students weren’t learning the necessary skills to succeed in today’s changing world,” Yash said. He saw it clearly through his Gen Z audience — curious and capable, but lacking the tools. At the same time, youth unemployment in Australia was hitting record highs, and across the world, more than 600 million young people were out of school or work. That’s when it hit him: if young people weren’t brought along for the AI revolution, they’d be left behind. This was Yash’s turning point — his call to action. He knew he had to do something.

In January 2020, when he was just 18, Yash took the leap and launched Yuva AI — a startup with a bold idea and a clear purpose. His goal was to put young people at the center of the AI revolution. The plan was ambitious but clear: train youth, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, in real-world AI and digital skills, and then connect them with companies that needed fresh talent. While TechFlow had sparked important conversations, Yuva AI was all about action. Yash wanted to solve two big problems at once — youth unemployment and the lack of diversity in tech. “I had to make whatever vision I had for Yuva AI a reality,” he said, crediting his mentors and family for giving him the courage to start a company straight out of high school. With their support behind him, Yash set out to prove that even a teenager could build a startup that makes a real difference.

Trials and Tribulations of a Young Founder

Like any journey, Yash’s path came with its fair share of challenges. The early days of Yuva AI were far from easy. He had entered a tough, technical industry—artificial intelligence and data—where young faces were rare. Often, in meetings with potential clients, people didn’t take him seriously. “At the start it was very difficult, because I’d be pitching to people with kids my age. There were times when people would say to me, ‘I thought you were the intern’, or ‘I’ve got a team of people with PhDs, why should I ask you to help us?’”

But Yash didn’t let that stop him. He worked hard, sending hundreds of messages on LinkedIn, each one tailored to the person he was trying to reach. Most didn’t reply. He learned from every rejection and kept improving his pitch. Eventually, someone said yes — and that first win changed everything. “You just need to get that first win, get that first person to say yes,” Yash said. “And once I got that win, having put in all the hard work up front, it was a lot more satisfying.”

Starting Yuva AI in early 2020 came with an unexpected challenge. Just weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, turning the world upside down. For many young founders, it could have been a huge setback. But Yash saw it as part of the journey. With businesses closing and jobs disappearing, there was a growing demand for digital skills and remote work. Yuva AI stepped in to meet that need, training and hiring young people who had been affected by the crisis. In fact, about half of the company’s first hires in 2020 were youth who had lost their jobs or had their hours cut because of the pandemic. Instead of slowing things down, the pandemic actually showed just how important Yuva’s work was—helping young people find new chances in an AI-powered world.

Transformative Impact of Yuva AI

One of the biggest challenges companies face when using AI is getting their data ready—cleaning it, sorting it, and making sure it’s usable. That’s where Yuva AI steps in. The startup built a platform where businesses can send raw data—like images or documents—and have it cleaned, labeled, and even turned into synthetic data so it’s ready to train AI models. To do this work, Yash turned to the very people he wanted to help. He trained young people from around the world to take on these projects, giving them real skills and experience in the process. By 2020, Yuva AI had hired more than 250 youth across six countries, many from underserved backgrounds. These team members, aged 16 to 30, earned solid wages—sometimes even doubling their family’s income through their new tech jobs. It was a win on both sides: companies got the high-quality data they needed, and young people got a powerful way to break into the tech world.

Yash Dutt

The results speak for themselves. Yash’s team of young professionals has supported major companies—like Johnson & Johnson, GenesisCare, and Max Kelsen—in building advanced AI tools worth around $100 million. By the end of 2021, Yuva AI had paid over $500,000 in wages to its global team, much of it going to areas hit hard by youth unemployment. On the tech front, Yash also made history as the youngest person in the world to commercialize synthetic data for AI. What began as a teenager’s dream is now a platform creating real impact—both socially and in the business world.

As Yuva AI grew, so did the recognition. In 2021, at just 20 years old, Yash was named one of Australia’s most influential Asian-Australians under 40—a big honour for someone fresh out of high school.

Navigating Two Worlds: The Global Indian Perspective

Yash Dutt’s journey is more than just one young man’s success—it reflects the growing influence of the Indian diaspora in Australia. Born to immigrant parents with roots in India via Fiji, Yash grew up navigating two cultures. He admits that some Aussie habits, like calling people “mate,” didn’t feel natural to him. “Because of my background you don’t call people mate, it’s not as respectful,” he told ABC. Instead, he learned to balance being polite and friendly—an approach that later helped him in business. “Time and again what has driven my success so far is understanding people and the idea of empathy,” he said in an interview.

His story also highlights the impact of the wider Indian-Australian community. Once a smaller group, the diaspora now includes over 780,000 people—about 3.1 percent of Australia’s population. It’s a young, skilled, and fast-growing community. Nearly 88 percent are of working age, many in fields like engineering, IT, and healthcare. Indian-Australians are now the second-highest tax-paying immigrant group, contributing more than $12 billion a year to the economy. Many hold leadership roles, and Indians are among the top sources of skilled migrants and international students in the country. Together, they’re shaping a vital part of Australia’s multicultural success.

The Road Ahead: A Vision with Purpose

From curious schoolboy to global tech CEO, Yash Dutt now stands at a new stage in his journey. Yuva AI has grown into a global company with clients across industries, and the focus now is on scaling. “We’re one of the premier players in the world now,” he told Indian Link. Yash is exploring new partnerships and funding opportunities to expand Yuva’s reach—creating more jobs, supporting diverse youth (including those on the autism spectrum), and offering open-source AI datasets to make innovation more accessible. For him, profit and purpose go hand in hand.

His story is proof that innovation has no age or borders—and that a teenager from Brisbane can spark global change. “If you understand a person better, you will design a solution that’s better for their problem,” he says—a simple truth he lives by, and one he now shares with others on the path.