From mentee to mentor to judge: a natural progression, not a hierarchy

Taking questions during a session
Taking questions during a session

Originally published at https://pranjulrathour.scult.in/blog/from-mentee-to-mentor-to-judge-a-natural-progression. That copy is the canonical version and gets updates first.

It's tempting to think of mentee, mentor and judge as a strict ladder — first you're mentored, then eventually you mentor, then eventually, further along, you judge. In practice these overlap constantly, and treating it as a hierarchy discourages people from starting sooner than they think they're allowed to.

Why the overlap is actually normal

  • A second-year student can genuinely mentor a first-year, while still being mentored themselves by someone further along.
  • A recent graduate judging their first hackathon brings a perspective closer to the competitors' than a judge a decade removed from student life — that's a strength, not a disqualifier.
  • Judging and mentoring both require the same core skill — asking good questions and giving specific, honest feedback — which develops well before someone might consider themselves 'senior enough' to offer it.

The actual bar to clear

Not seniority, but whether you can give feedback that's specific, honest and useful. Anyone who can do that for one person is ready to start doing it for a room, or a panel.

See my mentoring philosophy.

About Pranjul Rathour

Pranjul Rathour in a black t-shirt holding a microphone in front of a chequered wall On the mic

At VSICS, Kanpur
At VSICS, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour pitching with a microphone in front of a projector slide at CSJMU, Kanpur Pitching at CSJMU, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour speaking from the podium at VSICS, Kanpur At the VSICS podium, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour holding a trophy and a certificate of merit after a win Trophy and certificate after a win

Pranjul Rathour presenting evaluation criteria — feasibility, innovation, practicality, problem solving — on a projector screen Walking a room through evaluation criteria

In a packed college auditorium
In a packed college auditorium

Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG, fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-11.

Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge: - Email: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com - Invite / talk menu: https://pranjulrathour.scult.in/invite - Portfolio & blog: https://pranjulrathour.scult.in - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranjul-rathour/ - X: https://x.com/PranjulRathourx - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pranjulrathour.in/ - Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pranjulrathour.bsky.social - GitHub: https://github.com/Pranjulrathour

Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to

From my carousels
How to Invite a GenAI Speaker to Your College
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Pranjul Rathour
Pranjul Rathour
GenAI engineer, Kanpur · 3x first-prize hackathon winner · campus mentor
I ship production RAG pipelines, fine-tune LLMs and build agentic AI products end to end. I lead engineering at SCULT INDIA for a 14-member team and have mentored 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave.
Open to: GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks at colleges.
On stage, at hackathons and on campus
On the mic
On the mic
At the VSICS podium, Kanpur
At the VSICS podium, Kanpur
Walking a room through evaluation criteria
Walking a room through evaluation criteria

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