Tanmay Bakshi, Tanmay Bakshi Software Solutions | IBM InterConnect 2016
Channel: SiliconANGLE theCUBE
Date: 2016-03-04

https://siliconangle.com/2016/02/23/the-life-of-a-12-year-old-software-developer-ibminterconnect/

“The world needs more developers,” Tanmay Bakshi, 12-year-old software developer and entrepreneur, asserted during his debut on theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during IBM InterConnect 2016.

While his poise is enviable at any age, Bakshi has only been developing for three years. With his career in making a wide-range of helpful apps for college students, surely the tech world has just begun to learn about this brilliant mind. Bakshi developed his first app at the age of nine. Since then, he has continued to develop at an astonishing rate as he acquired more programming languages. (Bakshi is fluent in most if not all of the major codes in use today).

As prolific as Bakshi is, he has also found time to make and upload over 80 how-to solution videos to his YouTube channel, Tanmay Teaches. The developer remarked this is his primary focus. When theCUBE cohosts Dave Vellante and John Furrier inquired about when he’s last coded, Bakshi responsed, “This morning,” with the sheepishness of a much older workaholic.

A computer’s natural language
Bakshi listed his current projects as trying to figure out how to get the Apple Watch to work independently from the iPhone, a few apps for iOSX, and an app to help college students and developers look up algorithms. With eloquence, Bakshi discussed the intricacies of AI in the future, explaining that natural human language is a far-fetched short-term goal as “computers’ natural language is math,” not words. However, he holds hope for a “really powerful answering system” in “many years” with “100 percent accuracy.”

Recently, Bakshi has used both Watson and Bluemix to develop a simple answering app, e.g.: “Who is the CEO of IBM?” Bakshi presented at IBM InterConnect 2016, and due to this collaboration, a representative from IBM, James Arcieri, cloud advisor at IBM, was present during the interview. Surely IBM and Apple are watching this bright star, but theCUBE cohosts made sure to offer Bakshi a position at SiliconANGLE, bringing us into the future with holographic talking heads.

Other recent accomplishments include developing “Speak for the Handicapped,” an app that literally speaks for those who cannot. He developed this app with one of his YouTube viewers, Ron Clemens. In addition, Bakshi is working on his first book on coding with Swift and the possibilities if it is used with programs like Watson.

Advice for aspiring coders and developers
When it comes to advice for aspiring coders and developers, Bakshi recommended everyone “use the Internet.” Bakshi’s YouTube sensation, Tanmay Teaches, is only one of many resources available to learn coding and other skills for free.

“Start out slow … with a simple app,” he said. Bakshi also cautioned against developing with you “need to develop. Develop because you want to.” While Bakshi may credit his father, a developer, with getting him started, it is quite clear that we all will be seeing more of this Canadian prodigy.