Like many Indians, Niki Parmar as soon as believed one examination had determined her future. She had executed what thousands and thousands of scholars do yearly: studied relentlessly for IIT-JEE, hoping to earn a seat on the nation’s most prestigious engineering institute. She liked arithmetic. She liked pc science. However she could not clear IIT JEE. She was left heartbroken.“I assumed, ‘That is it. I missed my likelihood,'” Niki later recalled in an interview with NDTV.
6 Might 2026 | 16:56
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Anybody who has ready for a aggressive examination in India is aware of that feeling. When years of effort come down to 1 outcome, it is easy to consider there is no such thing as a Plan B.For Niki, although, life had quietly begun writing a distinct script. Years later, she would develop into one of many researchers behind “Consideration Is All You Want,” the groundbreaking paper that launched the Transformer structure. At the moment, that know-how powers fashionable AI methods corresponding to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and most of the instruments thousands and thousands of individuals use every single day.Not dangerous for somebody who as soon as thought lacking IIT had ended every thing.
A curious little one who preferred figuring issues out
Niki grew up in a lower-middle-class household in Pune. “There wasn’t anybody to information me into engineering or AI,” she says. “So, I needed to determine it out on my own.”She wasn’t the sort of little one who was comfortable simply utilizing a pc. She needed to know what was occurring behind the display. She taught herself coding, constructed web sites and spent hours experimenting, just because she loved fixing issues. “I used to be all the time attempting to know how issues labored,” she recalled in an interview with NDTV.
After IIT did not occur, she selected to not cease
Niki Parmar
Not stepping into IIT harm her. However after giving herself time to course of the frustration, she enrolled at Pune Institute of Pc Know-how as a substitute. It wasn’t the faculty she had imagined. It was merely the place the place she determined to begin once more. Trying again, that call modified every thing.In 2010, Niki signed up for a web based course referred to as ‘Introduction to Synthetic Intelligence.’ On the time, AI wasn’t dominating headlines. There have been no viral AI chatbots. Few individuals exterior analysis circles have been speaking about machine studying.For Niki, it felt like discovering a topic she did not know she had been in search of. She could not cease studying about it. As a substitute of ready for somebody to show her, she taught herself.“I did not have anybody strolling me by way of it,” she instructed NDTV. “I simply discovered by doing. I took on-line programs and labored on aspect initiatives.”
Her mom’s unfinished dream turned her largest lesson
Niki Parmar. (Picture Courtesy: X/@@nikiparmar09)
There was one more reason Niki stored pushing herself. Her mom had as soon as needed to develop into an architect however could not pursue that dream as a result of life took a distinct flip. Somewhat than letting that disappointment develop into a burden, she made positive it turned a chance for her daughter.“My mother all the time pushed me to chase what I needed,” stated Niki. “She could not comply with her personal dream, however she ensured I had the liberty to pursue mine.”Generally encouragement does not come by way of grand speeches. Generally it comes from a mum or dad quietly ensuring their little one will get the probabilities they by no means had.
The toughest half wasn’t stepping into America
After commencement, Niki secured admission for a Grasp’s diploma in america. She had organized an schooling mortgage and believed the tough half was over. Then, shortly after she landed, her father referred to as. The financial institution wasn’t releasing the mortgage. In a matter of hours, pleasure was uncertainty.“I arrived, and my dad referred to as to inform me the financial institution wasn’t releasing the funds,” she instructed NDTV. “I had no cash, no place to remain, and no thought how I might pay for my tuition.”Again house, her father and uncle started calling kinfolk and buddies, borrowing cash wherever they might so she might proceed learning. “It was an enormous sacrifice,” stated Niki. “My dad would not have executed that for himself, however he ensured I might preserve going.” Finally, issues fell into place. Her professor funded her second yr, and an internship allowed her to repay the household’s loans earlier than she even graduated.At Google, she was the youngest within the roomAt simply 24, Niki joined Google. She was the youngest member of her AI analysis crew. She was additionally the one one who did not have a PhD.“It was just a little intimidating at first,” she recalled. “Nevertheless it was additionally an unimaginable studying expertise. I used to be always surrounded by individuals pushing the boundaries of what AI might do.”As a substitute of worrying about whether or not she belonged, she stored doing what she had all the time executed: asking questions and exploring concepts that her.
The venture that modified every thing
Niki Parmar along with her former teammates.
A type of concepts was one thing referred to as the Transformer mannequin. It wasn’t formally her task. No supervisor had requested her to spend time on it. She merely discovered it fascinating.“Nobody instructed me to work on it,” she instructed NDTV. “I simply needed to see how far it might go.”That curiosity led her to develop into one of many 8 co-authors of “Consideration Is All You Want,” the analysis paper printed in 2017 that basically modified synthetic intelligence. At the moment, virtually each main language mannequin together with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini owes one thing to that breakthrough.
Nonetheless chasing the following query
Regardless of serving to write one of the vital influential papers in AI, Niki does not communicate as somebody who believes she’s reached the end line. “There’s all the time extra to study,” she instructed NDTV.“I do not wish to be remembered only for the Transformer mannequin. I am all the time in search of the following problem.”At the moment, she is the co-founder of Important AI, a startup backed by Google, Nvidia and AMD, the place she is engaged on AI instruments for companies. However for those who ask her what drives her, the reply sounds remarkably just like the little lady who preferred taking issues aside simply to know them.“We’re nonetheless within the early phases,” she stated. “There’s a lot extra to discover, and I wish to be a part of that future.”
Greater than an IIT story
It’s simple to explain Niki Parmar’s journey as proof that failing one examination does not resolve your future. However that feels too easy. What stands out is not that she missed IIT. It is what she did afterwards.She stored studying when no person was instructing her. She stored asking questions when no person anticipated her to. She stored following her curiosity, even when there was no assure it might lead anyplace.