Holiday Ayo - At 18, Zach Yadegari has already achieved extraordinary success.

He is the CEO and co-founder of Cal AI, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based calorie tracking app that currently generates approximately US$1.4 million per month, or approximately IDR 21 billion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 16,462 per US dollar). 

The app, which launched in May 2024, allows users to upload photos of food, and the AI system then estimates the calorie count. 

According to Yadegari, the app has a 90 percent accuracy rate. 

“I think entrepreneurship is cool because, ultimately, age doesn't really matter. You just have to be good or bad at what you do, and the market will determine the outcome," Yadegari said, as reported by CNBC, Sunday (September 7). 

Yadegari's love of technology began with his hobby of playing Minecraft. When he was seven, his mother sent him to a coding camp. 

From there, he began self-studying through YouTube videos and interacting with other programmers online.

As a high school student, he created a gaming website called Totally Science, which became popular because it could be used to bypass school internet blocking. 

The website was sold in February 2024 for US$100,000 (approximately IDR 1.65 billion) to gaming company Freeze Nova. 

After that, Yadegari tried to create viral apps, but failed several times. The idea for Cal AI came from his exercise habit.

He found it a hassle to manually enter food data into a calorie-tracking app. Along with three colleagues, he then built an AI model that could recognize food simply from photos. 

Cal AI officially launched in May 2024. The app is free to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with a subscription fee of US$2.49 per month or US$29.99 per year. 

In its first month, Cal AI generated revenue of over US$28,000, which increased to US$115,000 in the second month. 

Since then, the company has grown rapidly, now employing 30 people. 

According to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, the app posted a net operating profit of around US$274,000 per month, before taxes and interest. 

By July 2025, Cal AI had been downloaded more than 8.3 million times. 

Although he only started college at the University of Miami in August 2025, Yadegari admitted he didn't intend to stay on campus for long. 

On social media, he often flaunts the lavish lifestyle of a startup CEO. 

In an Instagram video from August 23, he is seen partying at a mansion with friends, then heading to college in a Lamborghini with the license plate "CAL AI." 

The video also features an advertisement for an online app-building course he runs with a partner, featuring scenes of a man lying in a pool, another exercising, and a third smoking a cigar while saying, "Society lied to you, money can buy happiness."