In February 2024, Tejasvi Manoj was a high school junior driving home from a Scouting America camp when her family received a series of alarming phone calls. Her 85-year-old grandfather had been targeted by an email scam asking for $2,000 to settle a supposed debt. Thankfully, the family realized in time that the request was fraudulent, but the near miss left Tejasvi determined to do something about the growing threat of online fraud against seniors.
Later that year, she attended the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp in fall 2024, where she joined other students in learning how artificial intelligence can be applied to real-world challenges. The combination of personal motivation and technical confidence from the bootcamp set the stage for her next chapter. Today, Tejasvi stands as Time Magazine’s 2025 Kid of the Year, the first honoree to also be recognized as a Time for Kids Service Star.
What began as a frightening experience for her grandfather quickly became a research project for Tejasvi. She learned that in 2024 alone, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 860,000 scam reports, with losses surpassing $16 billion. Seniors were hit particularly hard, losing nearly $5 billion, a sharp increase from the year before.
“Tejasvi was surprised that there was such a lack of awareness among her grandparents,” her mother, Aishwarya Manoj, told Time. “She found out it wasn’t an isolated case, but a much larger problem.”
With her grandfather’s experience still fresh in her mind, she began building Shield Seniors, a website designed to help older adults recognize scams, analyze suspicious emails and texts, and report fraud to the proper authorities.
When Tejasvi joined the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp in fall 2024, she gained new skills with AI tools, explored the ethics of emerging technology, and, most importantly, built the confidence to apply what she learned to real issues. The bootcamp reinforced her belief that technology could and should serve her community.
Attending the Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp last year was a truly transformational experience that helped shape my journey.
Tejasvi Manoj
Shield Seniors goes far beyond a typical high school project. The site includes four main sections: “Learn” to build awareness of online safety, “Ask” for simple question-and-answer support, “Analyze” to flag potential scams with accuracy and explanations, and “Report” to connect users with trusted organizations such as the FBI and the Better Business Bureau.
The design reflects Tejasvi’s empathy for her audience, with large fonts and a calming blue theme to reassure seniors who may already feel shaken after encountering fraud.
Shield Seniors has earned Tejasvi recognition across the country. She received an honorable mention in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge, delivered a TEDx talk in Plano, Texas, on building “digital bridges,” and regularly visits assisted-living facilities to teach seniors how to stay safe online.
During these seminars, she has watched participants fill their notebooks with tips, later approaching her with specific questions about protecting themselves. “There were so many people who were really interested—taking notes on their notepads, which was really nice,” she told Time.
Her work soon drew the attention of AARP, which provided feedback on her project, amplified it on LinkedIn, and connected her with a broader network of professionals in elder advocacy and cybersecurity.
Now a national figure, Tejasvi has no plans to slow down. She hopes to study computer science in college with a focus on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, while continuing to expand Shield Seniors so it can reach more communities and provide stronger protections for older adults.
Her journey from a near scam in her family to the national stage as Time’s Kid of the Year underscores the transformative potential of the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp. By offering free, hands-on education to students who might not otherwise have access, the bootcamp empowers young people like Tejasvi to see technology not just as a skill but as a tool to solve real problems.
Now a national figure, Tejasvi has no plans to slow down. She hopes to study computer science in college with a focus on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, while continuing to expand Shield Seniors so it can reach more communities and provide stronger protections for older adults.
Her journey from a near scam in her family to the national stage as Time’s Kid of the Year underscores the transformative potential of the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp. By offering free, hands-on education to students who might not otherwise have access, the bootcamp empowers young people like Tejasvi to see technology not just as a skill but as a tool to solve real problems.
