Agastya Roy is a student at The International School Bangalore, where he studies Physics, Economics, and Mathematics: Analysis & Approaches at Higher Level as part of the IB Diploma Programme. His interest in economics, data, and development is something that grew through the years and is evident in many of his within-school and extracurricular activities. He has participated in economics competitions, essay contests, and academic enrichment opportunities that have encouraged him to think critically about crucial issues, especially relevant to India like how access and opportunities are different for different communities. Most recently, he will be further exploring the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence, and decision-making through an internship with MathCo alongside a summer programme at the University of California, Berkeley focused on computer science, computational thinking, and emerging AI technologies.

For Agastya, economics is not just about markets and numbers. It is also about understanding how people access opportunities and the systems that shape everyday outcomes. As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in financial participation and economic mobility, he became interested in the ways digital access and financial literacy can influence someone’s wellbeing and success. Through his project thus, he hopes to encourage greater awareness, and support more equal access to the tools that many increasingly rely upon in their daily lives. After all, achieving meaningful capital has to begin somewhere and sometimes, the first step toward this is simply helping people become a little more... connected.