What if someone who struggles to read a legal, financial or official document could understand what it says before putting their signature on it?

That question led young innovator Abhinav Jaiswal to begin developing a technology-led solution aimed at making important documents easier to understand for people with limited literacy.

For Abhinav, who grew up in the small town of Ballia and is now based in Varanasi, what began as an idea inspired by an everyday problem is gradually becoming something bigger.

His idea has taken him to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, Samsung’s flagship innovation programme for young people, where mentorship and exposure to experts are helping him think about how an early-stage idea can be developed into a real-world solution — and potentially, over time, a scalable venture.

Solving an Everyday Indian Problem

Abhinav has been fascinated by Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and STEM from an early age. But as his understanding of technology grew, so did his interest in using it to solve problems he could see around him.

One such problem was document literacy.

Legal agreements, financial documents and official paperwork can be difficult to understand, particularly for people who are illiterate or semi-literate. Complex language can leave people dependent on others to explain information before they sign or consent to something.

Abhinav began asking whether technology could help bridge this gap by making important information easier to understand.

That question became the starting point for Team ItzFOD.

Taking an Idea Beyond Technology

Being selected among the Top 20 teams at Samsung Solve for Tomorrow gave Abhinav an opportunity to take the idea beyond its initial technological concept.

At the SFT Bootcamp, conversations with mentors and experts pushed him to ask a different set of questions: Who exactly was he solving the problem for? How would people use the solution? What would make it relevant in the real world? And how could a prototype clearly demonstrate the connection between the problem and its potential impact?

“My idea needed guidance and mentorship on the prototype,” Abhinav said.

One of his biggest learnings was that a prototype should not simply demonstrate what technology can do. It should also tell the story of the problem it is trying to solve.

“I learnt that you should try to relate a story to the prototype,” he said.

For someone whose early interest was driven by a fascination with AI and Machine Learning, it marked an important shift — from thinking primarily about technology to thinking about the people who might eventually use it.

From Prototype to Potential Venture

The mentoring also encouraged Abhinav to reconsider the scale of the opportunity.

“My idea is too big. I realised I would be solving many issues,” he said.

He began to see that document literacy is not simply about translating or simplifying difficult words. It is also about access to information and helping people better understand what they are being asked to agree to.

His prototype continues to evolve, but Abhinav says the way he thinks about and communicates the idea has already changed significantly.

“The prototype may not have changed much, but my pitching has improved. I learnt a lot from the suggestions given by the mentors,” he said.

That evolution is also helping him understand something fundamental to entrepreneurship: an idea rarely begins as a finished product.

It has to be questioned, tested, explained, refined and sometimes reimagined before it can become a solution capable of operating at scale.

Small Towns, Big Ideas

Abhinav’s journey also reflects a larger story emerging from Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026.

More than half of the Top 20 teams this year come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 India, with finalists representing 18 cities across 12 states. Many of their ideas are rooted in problems they have encountered in their own communities.

Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, these young innovators are gaining access to mentorship, technology expertise and a national platform to develop those ideas further.

The Top 20 finalists are being mentored by experts from Samsung and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi as they refine their prototypes and prepare for the next stage of the programme.

For young innovators from smaller cities and towns, that exposure can help bridge an important distance — between identifying a problem and understanding how an idea might eventually become a viable solution or venture.

For Abhinav, the experience has already changed the way he looks at innovation.

“I realised something — trying is the most important thing. No idea is smaller,” he said.

From growing up in Ballia to developing his idea in Varanasi and taking it to a national innovation platform, Abhinav’s journey is still at an early stage.

But that is also the point.

Potential startups do not always begin in established innovation hubs or with fully formed business plans. Sometimes they begin with a young person in a smaller town noticing a problem that others have learned to live with — and deciding to try to solve it.

For Abhinav and Team ItzFOD, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is helping turn that first attempt into something more: a sharper problem statement, an evolving prototype and an idea with the potential to grow much further.

From Varanasi and Prayagraj to Raebareli, young innovators from Uttar Pradesh are showing that some of India’s most promising ideas can emerge from anywhere.

Four young innovators from the state have made it to the national Top 40 of the fifth edition of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow with ideas addressing challenges ranging from document literacy and housing design to emerging cybersecurity threats and digital public safety.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is Samsung’s flagship CSR innovation programme for young people aged 14 to 22. Implemented in partnership with FITT-IIT Delhi, the programme enables young innovators from across India to identify real-world challenges and develop potential solutions through human-centred design, mentorship, technology and hands-on prototyping.

From Local Problems to Potential Solutions

In Varanasi, 18-year-old Abhinav Jaiswal is working on a solution to make important documents easier to understand for people who may struggle with complex written information.

In Prayagraj, 19-year-old Mohd Sarfraz is developing an AI-assisted housing design solution focused on practical challenges faced in densely populated Indian neighbourhoods, including structural planning and ventilation.

And in Raebareli, Akul Attre, 21, and Saksham Shreyans, 20, are exploring emerging cybersecurity threats associated with encrypted data and ways to strengthen digital public safety.

Different cities. Different challenges. But the ideas share a common starting point: problems observed close to home.

Their achievement reflects a larger shift visible in this year’s programme. More than half of the national Top 40 teams are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, demonstrating how young people from across India are increasingly using technology to solve problems they encounter in their communities.

For Uttar Pradesh, the presence of young innovators from Varanasi, Prayagraj and Raebareli among the national Top 40 is also a source of regional pride — and a sign of how India’s innovation map is expanding beyond its traditional technology hubs.

For Abhinav Jaiswal from Varanasi, the challenge is document literacy. Important documents can often be difficult for illiterate and semi-literate Indians to understand, particularly before signing them. His solution explores how technology can make such information easier to understand and help people make more informed decisions.

For Mohd Sarfraz, the focus is on using AI to address practical challenges in housing design.

Meanwhile, Akul Attre and Saksham Shreyans are working on their solution around cybersecurity and digital public safety.

Through Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, these young innovators are getting the platform, mentorship and technology support to understand the challenges more deeply, test their ideas and turn them into potential solutions.

The Top 40 teams will now participate in a 10-day Innovation Bootcamp, where they will receive intensive mentoring from startup founders and industry experts at FITT-IIT Delhi. As part of the Bootcamp, the teams will also get an opportunity to visit Samsung R&D Institute India – Delhi, Samsung R&D Institute India – Noida, Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore, Samsung Design Delhi, and Samsung’s Regional Headquarters in Gurugram.

The teams will then compete for a place in the Top 20, which will receive further support to strengthen and advance their solutions ahead of the Grand Finale.

At the culmination of the programme, the four winning teams will collectively receive incubation grants worth INR 2 crore, along with incubation support from FITT-IIT Delhi, helping them take their solutions towards further development and market-ready.

As Samsung marks 30 years in India, Solve for Tomorrow reflects its commitment to nurturing a new generation of innovators across the country. By bringing mentorship, design thinking, technology and prototyping support to young people wherever they are, the programme is helping promising ideas move from communities towards solutions with wider potential.

For Uttar Pradesh’s young innovators, the journey to the national Top 40 carries a powerful message: an idea capable of solving a national challenge can begin in Varanasi, Prayagraj or Raebareli.