High School Student Lands Full-Time AI Job Before Starting College

An 18-year-old college freshman has a full-time role at an AI health startup after building technical skills from a young age and cold-emailing a university professor. The individual learned block-based programming at age 8 using Scratch and later taught himself app development by watching YouTube videos during the pandemic.

He entered an annual app-making competition for students and became one of 350 winners, the youngest that year. The competition led to a virtual meeting with Apple's CEO, where he discussed an app designed to reduce grocery wait times for elderly people in his neighborhood.

He went on to publish five apps. A year later he sent a cold email expressing interest in healthcare app work to a Stanford professor who had developed such tools. The professor responded the next morning and brought him on as a teaching assistant, where he spent five years assisting undergraduate and graduate students while collaborating on research projects.

One project involved an FDA-cleared algorithm for detecting aneurysms. D. student at the time. In fall 2025, during his senior year of high school, that future CEO contacted him about joining a new startup focused on AI models to help radiologists work faster.

After an in-person discussion arranged by the Stanford professor, the student received and accepted a job offer while stating his intention to attend college.

The student applied to Stanford through its restrictive early action program but was rejected. He later enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. He said the experience showed him that the admissions process can be unpredictable and that multiple paths exist beyond a single dream school.

As a freshman, he serves as technical product lead at the AI startup called Cognita. He registered for early-morning classes to accommodate his work schedule. After classes he eats lunch and works until late at night, taking breaks to spend time with friends and play basketball.

The student described his approach as leaning into passions early, seeking mentors, maintaining focus on the present, and committing to lifelong learning. He continues to balance his studies and full-time responsibilities.