From NEET Dropper to Finding Her Path in AI | The AI Sisterhood Podcast Ep. 9 ft. Tejashwini Malge
With Tejashwini Malge | | 58 min
Episode summary
Tejashwini Malge shares how a NEET drop year led her to change direction and begin engineering, where she earned a 9.5 CGPA in her first year. The conversation follows her as she balances learning, mentoring, and developing while thinking about AI beyond code. It also touches on the uncertainty of starting over, and how confidence can grow through an unexpected turn. Her love of conversation, poetry, and writing adds another layer to the episode, linking identity, creativity, and the search for a path that still feels open.
Meet the guest
Tejashwini Malge
Tejashwini Malge is an engineering student, mentor, developer, and writer. She is exploring where AI is taking us while balancing learning, sharing what she knows, and building.
What this episode explores
- A change in direction can become the start of a new academic path.
- Learning, mentoring, and building can happen at the same time.
- The episode looks at AI as more than just code.
- Starting over can feel uncertain, but it can also build confidence.
- Writing and conversation shape how she thinks about identity and career.
Read the original episode description
In this episode of The AI Sisterhood Podcast, host Arthi Rajendran, founder of The Arthi AI Collective, sits down with Tejashwini Malge, an engineering student, mentor, developer, and writer exploring where AI is taking us. After a NEET drop year, Tejashwini changed direction and earned a 9.5 CGPA in her first year of engineering. Now she is balancing learning, mentoring, and developing while asking a bigger question: how do we understand AI beyond the code? In this episode, we will discuss: Changing Direction: Her journey from NEET preparation to engineering and the lessons that came with starting again. Student, Mentor, Developer: How she moves between learning, sharing what she knows, and building. AI Beyond Code: Her curiosity about the rise of AI and its wider impact on our lives and careers. The Messy Middle: Finding confidence when life takes an unexpected turn. Creativity and Voice: Her love of conversation, poetry, and writing about eldest-daughter experiences, life, and career. Finding Your Own Path: A conversation about curiosity, identity, and growing into a future you are still discovering. Connect with Tejashwini Malge: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejashwinimalge Subscribe for more conversations with women building their paths in AI. ____________________________________________________________ The AI Sisterhood Podcast is the show where women building the future of AI share how they actually do it. Hear how they built it. Then go build yours. Host Arthi Rajendran sits down with women in AI for honest conversations about their work, their career journeys, and the lessons behind what they build. We go deep on: → How they actually built what they built → The decisions behind real AI systems → Career journeys into AI, including the unpolished, honest version → What it takes to build as a woman in a male-dominated space → Where AI is going, from the people actively shaping it This podcast exists to make these women visible and to give every listener the fuel to go build something of their own. Watch the series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqVLTAB8vXkwtldc98t42GqCnoAx8m7sQ
Show notes are based on the published YouTube episode description. Watch the full conversation for context.