Teen innovator wins national honour for AI safety solution

July 15, 2026 Innovation Valli Sarvani

Young minds continue to demonstrate that innovation knows no age, developing practical technologies that address real-world challenges and create meaningful societal impact.

Fourteen-year-old Prateek Sethi, a Class IX student of DAV Public School at NTPC’s Talcher Thermal Power Plant in Angul, Odisha, has emerged as the national winner of the Vivo Ignite: Technology and Innovation Initiative Ver. 3.0.

His innovation, WISECAD, secured the top position during the grand finale held at The Ashok in New Delhi last year. As a result, he received a ₹4 lakh scholarship and a prestigious trophy.

Organised as Vivo India’s CSR initiative, the competition invited students from Classes VIII to XII across the country.

Moreover, knowledge partners included CIET-NCERT, IIT Madras, Pravartak Technologies Foundation, and UN Global Compact Network India. This edition attracted nearly 37,000 entries and over 5,600 technology-based projects focused on social good.

Prateek’s award-winning prototype, WISECAD, is an AI-powered passive criminal activity detection system. Instead of relying on cameras or wearable devices, it analyses Channel State Information from Wi-Fi signals.

Consequently, the system can identify suspicious activities such as physical assaults, theft, and forced entry through sensorless sensing. The approach offers a low-cost and privacy-conscious alternative for improving public safety.

The young innovator credits much of his success to the guidance of his mentors. Furthermore, he expressed gratitude to his parents, school principal, and teachers for encouraging him throughout the competition.

Looking ahead, Prateek aims to refine and expand WISECAD by working with law enforcement agencies and civic organisations.

He also plans to integrate more advanced artificial intelligence to improve the system’s accuracy.

Beyond developing future innovations, he hopes to pursue a computer science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

Eventually, he plans to establish a startup dedicated to ethical surveillance and public safety technologies, creating solutions that address pressing societal needs.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Published on December 15, 2023