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Meet Navya Tuteja: Teen Entrepreneur Turning an AI Ban into Innovation

Navya Tuteja, a 17-year-old student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, has built Raaha, an AI-powered platform designed to help neurodivergent job seekers evaluate job opportunities.

Written By : Soham Halder
Reviewed By : Manisha Sharma

A school that blocked ChatGPT has become an unlikely part of 17-year-old Navya Tuteja’s journey into AI entrepreneurship. A senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, Tuteja recently launched Raaha, a free platform designed to help neurodivergent job seekers assess whether a job listing could be a suitable fit before applying.

Raaha has already attracted more than 1,000 users and 20,000 job listings, according to reports. Tuteja built the platform herself and is currently keeping it free as she develops the product.

How Raaha Started

The idea for Raaha partly grew from Tuteja’s experience with her mother, who is hard of hearing, and from her observations of job advertisements aimed at neurodivergent candidates. She noticed that many job descriptions focus on what employers expect from applicants but provide little information about the actual workplace experience. 

Raaha attempts to address this gap by analyzing job listings across several factors, helping candidates get a clearer picture of whether a role might suit their needs. Tuteja has also considered a future business model in which employers and workforce organizations could pay to use the platform or improve their job postings.

She Uses AI, but Sets Her Own Limits

Tuteja’s relationship with AI is particularly notable because her school’s Wi-Fi blocks ChatGPT, Claude, and similar generative AI services. She said the restriction meant she used AI much less during school hours and pushed her to handle learning and exam preparation independently.

At the same time, she does not believe banning AI is the answer. Tuteja, who is also president of her school’s AI club, uses AI for practical tasks such as drafting emails and organising complicated information.

For Raaha, she wrote the underlying algorithm herself and mainly used AI for more mechanical elements, including aspects of the website’s design. She has argued that being transparent about how AI is used matters.

Also Read: Education Technology Trends 2027: AI Tutors, Skills, Digital Learning

Another Project Focuses on Special Education

Raaha is not Tuteja’s only technology project. She has also created Legible, a tool intended to translate complex special-education documents, including IEPs and 504 plans, into simpler language for families.

The project came from concerns that AI-generated summaries can sometimes leave out the sources behind important information. Tuteja subsequently developed a proposed transparency framework called Traceable Accessibility and has discussed the idea with state lawmakers and the US Department of Education.

Tuteja plans to attend college, but she has said she could consider running Raaha full-time if the startup continues to grow.

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