Nikita Raman started carving their cybersecurity story much earlier than most — in middle school. 

In the aftermath of Equifax’s 2017 data breach, Nikita’s mother Arti began developing Titaniam, an advanced data protection and privacy platform as a solution to combat personal data exposures. Alongside Arti, Nikita began learning cryptography that would drive the development of the encryption software’s base model. 

“I watched my parents sort of … deal with the impact of the breach. At that point in my life, I was at an intersection of watching the real world play out in front of me and having the skill set that I had been developing, even though I was very young,” Nikita said in an interview with SDxCentral. “That intersection is somewhere where I found myself very interested in working on Titaniam with her.”

The now 16-year-old wrote algorithms and test cases for the data protection engine. Their test cases would be approved by Titaniam’s first set of engineers.

“I enjoyed the earliest part of the work, developing the core algorithms, because that’s the part where I felt I was the most engaged in the unique process of innovation itself,” Nikita said.  

Now in high school, Nikita involves themself in Titaniam by advancing their interest in the STEM field more generally, and learning new math concepts and encryption to keep their spark of interest alive.

“I've tried to take my interest in both the company, but more specifically math and STEM writ large,” Nikita said. “I've tried to take that further with me into high school by taking a lot of advanced math or related classes.”

A tip of the hat toward younger people interested in STEM, they admitted the field is rigorous and technical. “Anyone who is interested in those things, but is perhaps intimidated by the highly rigorous nature of the science they’re exposed to, should be aware that it is a creative process as much as it is a technical one, and that it can be very engaging and that they should try," Nikita said.

However, they also believe the cybersecurity arena is approaching a turning point — one where the wisdom of the younger generation will trump more experienced people in the field. 

“The wisdom of the younger generation, their experience with the world in a digital age and their innovative ideas, their creative solutions, are actually what the world needs right now, even when faced with people who will often tell them that they have less value,” they said. “[Younger people] need to remember that isn't the case, that they are going to be the future of this field and their engagement is what will make that future possible.”

Looking forward, Nikita is figuring out what their college major may be and how they can combine their middle and high school interests with the work they’ve done with Titaniam. They currently are on their high school’s debate team and have taken an interest in public policy and law (since, what can’t they do?).

Nonetheless, Nikita will carry their many skill sets in the years to come, no matter what they end up doing.

“Cybersecurity is a field that I don't think is going away and I think my experience with it is something that's going to keep giving me value even if I never choose to do anything with it again,” they said. “I want the work I do to have a meaningful public impact. … I want to find that intersection with the field of security and engage my knowledge of the legal system and of politics. That can help me make an impact on both of those areas and continue to do work with things that I find very engaging and enjoyable.”