From Code at 7 to CEO at 16
The journey of Pranjali Awasthi began very early. Encouraged by her computer engineer father, she started coding at just 7 years old. By the age of 13, she was already interning at advanced research labs like Florida International University’s Neural Dynamics of Control Lab, diving deep into machine learning and AI.
At 16, she founded Delv.AI in Miami, aiming to simplify academic research by helping users extract, summarize, and organize information from academic PDFs and documents—saving hours of repetitive research work.
Delv.AI: Disrupting the Way the World Does Research
Delv.AI isn’t just another AI tool. It lets researchers search multiple documents at once, connect cloud drives, and export data seamlessly. Backed by investments from Backend Capital and Village Global, the platform raised over ₹3.8 crore ($450,000) and scaled quickly.
Within a year, it earned a ₹100 crore valuation, becoming a favorite in the R&D space for its ability to cut down manual work by 75%.
What’s Next?
Dash – The Action-Oriented AI Assistant Now 18 and pursuing her Bachelor’s in Computer Science at Georgia Tech, Pranjali Awasthi is focusing full-time on her new venture Dash (usedash.ai), working alongside fellow tech minds Dhruv Roongta and Harsha Gaddipati.
While Delv.AI helps researchers read better, Dash is designed to do more.
“Think of Dash as ChatGPT with hands,” says Pranjali.
It goes beyond conversation, enabling real-world automation, task execution, and intelligent actions. Dash recently hit #1 on Product Hunt, a popular product launch platform, and its Discord community is growing fast.
Redefining What’s Possible at 18
Pranjali has also interned at top institutes like the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, led AI workshops, and completed the Creative Destruction Lab’s Apprentice Program—exploring everything from neuroscience to agriculture.
She’s not just building tools—she’s redefining how young women lead in tech. From hackathons to headlines, her vision is bold: Create AI that’s useful, accessible, and action-driven.
