Meet Kautilya: Youngest programmer to hold a Guinness World Record

Kautilya Katariya of Northampton, U.K., bagged the Guinness World Record as the youngest programmer at the age of 6 years and 346 days in winter 2020. In case anyone thinks this happened just by chance, let’s check out the updates from little Kautilya’s website (yes, he made it himself) and LinkedIn page: He has 4 certifications from IBM for Python programming and Artificial Intelligence (AI). He is a certified Microsoft Technology Associate and a has a Stanford University credential for Computer Science.  

Strange? Well, but he is not the typical geek one would imagine him to be. Kautilya is adorable and super active, like any 7-year-old. When the press asked for a reaction on his World Record, he said, “It was OK,” while continuing to fidget and play.  

Kautilya’s tryst with coding 
Kautilya started devouring any book he could grab since he was 3. By the time he was 4, his parents noticed he was deeply interested in non-fiction and science. At 5, Kautilya's attention was caught by a game called Bubble Blaster. His dad  Ishwaryaprasad has reportedly told a UK-based media house in an interview, "He had never played it himself. He was more interested in asking us questions about how he could make it himself while following instructions from books and videos." The parents thought it was just a childish whim, but to keep him occupied, they got him an early-learning book on coding and computers. And Kautilya built his own version of Bubble Burst!  

What course did Kautilya take up?  
His parents enrolled Kautilya into IBM’s Developer Skills Network to pick up computer programming basics. The boy progressed deep into Python and AI, clearly engrossed in these. His parents saw that he was writing algorithms for pathfinder tools, password verification systems, his own website, and finally a chatbot. By November 2020, he had bagged multiple certificates form IBM, so his parents kept leading him to the Stanford and Microsoft exams. His mother, Trupti, was a bit nervous about the exam for clearing the Guinness World Record. She wanted him to rest and concentrate. But Kautilya dashed off to play with friends, returned 5 hours later, and passed with flying colours.   

What are Kautilya’s future plans?  
The boy is super excited with AI. He plans to go deeper towards making his own robot.