Japnit Ahuja is the Chief Technology Officer of Making Auto Easy. Photo by Jennifer Friesen,
“I grew up in India. My first idea was in Grade 6.”
Japnit Ahuja recalls this early memory with a laugh, a humble start to what would become a journey across three countries by the age of 23.
Speaking with during Calgary Innovation Week, Ahuja reflected on her extraordinary path from selftaught coder to nonprofit founder and tech startup CTO — a journey marked by triumphs, challenges, and an unwavering commitment to make technology more inclusive.
Her love for tech began when her father showed her the source code of Facebook, sparking a fascination with coding.
“I was always into coding,” she shared, remembering how she joined her school’s computer club with the excitement of building websites.
But she quickly faced a reality that many young women in tech experience.
“I started feeling like I don’t belong in technology,” Ahuja admitted, explaining how she was often the only girl in a maledominated club. “Every other day I wanted to leave, but thankfully, I had a few really good friends who made me stay.”
Rather than let these challenges deter her, Ahuja channelled her energy into creating a supportive space for other young women.
By Grade 10, she had founded Go Girl, a nonprofit organization aimed at encouraging girls to join and thrive in tech.
“I was like, ‘I’m not leaving my club without any girls in it,’” she recalled, describing the lengths she went to recruit and mentor more young women.
She organized a workshop, designed to make coding more approachable and fun, where 60 girls signed up.
“We were not making race car games. We were making little Elsa catching snowballs,” Ahuja laughed. “It was very feminine… and that’s why they got so interested in it.”
In Grade 11, Ahuja’s journey took her to Singapore on a scholarship, where she encountered an entirely different tech culture.
“It opened up the world of technology to me, like never before,” she said, her eyes lighting up.
Here, she found a community where her gender didn’t define her potential. Instead, the focus was on innovation and productivity.
“My professor told him all the things I had been doing in India, and he said: ‘You should get in machine learning research with me.’ I’m like, ‘What? Machine learning?’” she recalled, still amazed by the opportunity.
The partnership led to a published paper before she even entered university.
Despite the excitement, being so far from home came with its share of difficulties.
“That was the phase that was very tough time for me,” Ahuja confided, sharing how she faced emotional and health challenges, including a diagnosis of PCOS. “Obviously, if a small kid is moving away from their family, emotions are going to be high.”
But even in these moments, Ahuja’s commitment to her vision remained steady.
She continued managing Go Girl remotely, sometimes working with her volunteer team at 3 a.m. to accommodate time differences.
After completing her studies in Singapore, Ahuja moved to Ontario, Canada on a full scholarship from Ontario Tech University, where she deepened her technical knowledge and secured internships with major companies like Telus and Coursera.
“I was still researching under professors at the university… and that’s when I found my startup through a grant program,” she explained, describing her entry into Canada’s tech startup scene.
Her startup, Making Auto Easy, is a platform designed to simplify the carbuying process, particularly for women. It offers personalized car recommendations through its “matchmaker” feature that allows users to input their preferences and receive tailored vehicle suggestions. It also enables users to compare various car options based on features that matter most to them.
The site has since grown with Ahuja as CTO, even debuting their product at the Vancouver Auto Show.
Now settled in Vancouver and spending time in Calgary, the 23yearold is building a tech team, leading development, and even tackling coldcalling dealerships in person.
Her excitement about Calgary’s tech ecosystem is clear.
“Calgary has been amazing,” she said, acknowledging the city’s welcoming spirit and tightknit startup community. “I did not expect Calgary to have such a big ecosystem, and I’ve also found a few mentors through who are guiding me in my journey. I’m very young still, and I realize that.”
As Ahuja looks ahead, she’s fuelled by both a desire to expand her startup and continue scaling Go Girl, which now has more than 100 volunteers and a growing presence on social media.
“We have programs all over India,” she said proudly. For Ahuja, building community has always gone hand in hand with building technology.
This young innovator’s journey has taken her across the globe, but Ahuja Ahuja remains grounded in a single mission: to make the tech world more inclusive, more accessible, and more innovative for future generations.
And if her past is any indication, she’s just getting started.
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