About

Arnav Kakani

Introduction

Hello! I’m Arnav Kakani, a 12th grade student at Emerald High School.

Professional Background

I have a passion for coding and technology, and I enjoy bringing creative ideas to life through programming. Lately most of my time goes to AI research, hackathons, and building things with friends. My first paper, which I led as first author, was accepted to the MATH-AI workshop at NeurIPS 2026, and you can read about it on the Research page.

I am also deeply interested in security. System administration, penetration testing, and ethical hacking are where I started, and I believe that understanding how a system breaks is the first step to building one that does not. I use macOS and several Linux distributions every day, including Mint, Ubuntu, and Kali.

Right now I am looking into world models, optimizers, and how to evaluate AI harnesses and how effective they really are.

Skills and Qualities

• Critical Thinker
• Fast Learner
• Sense of Humor
• Hard-Worker
• Problem Solver

Coding Experience

In all my experiences coding, I’ve:

• Published a workshop paper on monitoring language models
• Built hackathon projects in web, iOS, and embedded hardware
• Developed a bathroom pass app
• Worked on multiple websites
• Used various programming languages, including:
  • Python
  • TypeScript and JavaScript
  • Swift
  • C++ and C
  • Java
• Created a variety of games

Extracurriculars

Beyond coding, I’m actively involved in:

• Programming Club: Co-President. I run weekly workshops for 30+ members and teach students about tech news and new tools
• Indian Student Association: Treasurer, overseeing $2,000+ in revenue for cultural events
• Bala Vihar (Chinmaya Mission), a Hindu cultural organization: student and teaching assistant
• Varsity Golf, and coaching youth golfers at Tri-Valley First Tee
• Piano: RCM exams, grades 3 to 7
• Painting and sketching in weekly studio classes. See the Gallery
• Hackathons
• AI Research

Resume

See my resume page for education, awards, activities, and skills.

Contact

Email me at [email protected] or find me on LinkedIn and GitHub.