The Tutoring Startup Turning MBA Mentors Into Lifelong Role Models

When Avanthika Ramesh was juggling a full-time MBA at Wharton, a senior AI leadership role at Salesforce, global keynote appearances, and the responsibilities of a growing tutoring company, she wasn’t trying to make a statement about the relevance of business school in the age of artificial intelligence.

She was living the answer.

The company was HiFive Tutoring, a peer-to-peer mentorship platform Avanthika co-founded more than a decade earlier with her sister, Abhisri Ramesh, while the two were still students at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia. What began as informal tutoring for classmates has since evolved into a national and international network connecting K-12 students, college learners, and early-career professionals with accomplished mentors – including MBA students and alumni from top business schools.

Today, HiFive sits at the intersection of education, social mobility, and management training. Its founders embody that intersection themselves: Avanthika, a Wharton MBA who rose to become one of the youngest senior AI product leaders at a Fortune 100 company while still in school; and Abhisri, a physician-in-training who completed a rigorous BS/MD program and an MBA, graduating as valedictorian while launching healthcare ventures of her own.

Together – with operational leadership from HiFive Director Nancy Wilson – they have built a mentorship model rooted not just in test prep or academic outcomes, but in confidence, exposure, and the power of near-peer guidance. In a moment when the value of the MBA is increasingly questioned, HiFive offers a different lens: one where business education, mentorship, and real-world leadership reinforce each other in tangible, measurable ways.

‘OVERSTIMULATING’ – AND TRANSFORMATIVE

“I often say that the two years of my MBA were both overstimulating and, at times, overwhelming,” Avanthika says.

She entered Wharton through the Moelis Advance Access (2+2) program after graduating from UC Berkeley’s elite Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology program in just three years. By the time she started her MBA at 23, she was already building AI products at Salesforce – and she chose not to step away from that role while in school.

Avanthika pursued a dual major in Management and Entrepreneurship & Innovation, while simultaneously serving as a senior director at Salesforce, teaching MBA students as a Graduate Student Instructor, delivering keynotes at Salesforce’s global AI conferences, and continuing to run HiFive.

“Balancing a senior director role at Salesforce while being a full-time student forced me to become ruthless about prioritization and intentionality,” she says. She was just 25 when she received the promotion. “I quickly realized that saying yes to everything wasn’t sustainable. I focused on opportunities – academic, professional, and social – that offered the most meaningful returns.”

That meant resisting fear of missing out on large social events and instead leaning into smaller gatherings where conversations ran deeper. It also meant constant travel between Philadelphia and San Francisco, long days that stretched well into the night, and an unrelenting pace.

“Looking back, I’m grateful for the challenge,” she says. “It gave me lifelong lessons in time management, balance, and intentional living. Just as importantly, it allowed me to expand my perspectives, build lifelong friendships, and form relationships with world-class professors who continue to serve as mentors well beyond graduation.”

WHEN THE CLASSROOM MET THE C-SUITE

For Avanthika, Wharton was never a pause button. It was an accelerant.

When she began the MBA, she had just stepped into a director-level role at Salesforce. Her first Wharton course – Foundations of Teamwork & Leadership with Adam Grant – helped her understand both her classmates and herself. Halfway through the program, she transitioned into formal people leadership at Salesforce, and the coursework became immediately applicable.

“In Peter Cappelli’s How to Be the Boss, I learned how to support my team more effectively, motivate individuals, and navigate interpersonal dynamics,” she says. “Courses with Michael Parke taught me how to tap into intrinsic motivators – so instead of delegating tasks, I could align responsibilities with what people genuinely cared about.”

Other courses deepened her understanding of corporate governance, venture finance, and entrepreneurship, while Wharton’s communications curriculum sharpened her executive presence. Mentors like Nathinee Chen coached her through impromptu speaking, crisis communication, and media engagement.

At the same time, Avanthika launched a global keynote journey, speaking at AI conferences across Tokyo, Sydney, Bangalore, Morocco, Spain, and beyond.

“Leadership is as much about how you communicate as it is about the decisions you make,” she says.

Being promoted to Senior Director while still enrolled at Wharton was a pivotal moment. “Not because of the title,” she says, “but because it affirmed that I wasn’t putting my career on pause. I was integrating learning and leadership in real time.”

HIFIVE AS A CONSTANT

Amid the pace of Wharton and Salesforce, HiFive remained Avanthika’s grounding force.

“I co-founded HiFive in high school over a decade ago, and it remains close to my heart,” she says. “Our mission has always been to empower students to share knowledge with peers, creating a ripple effect where learning is driven by passion.”

What makes HiFive different, she believes, is that its mentors don’t see tutoring as transactional. “Our student tutors – many from top universities and business schools – don’t approach this as just a job. They’re genuinely motivated by impact.”

Over time, HiFive has scaled to thousands of students and hundreds of tutors. “Mentoring reminded me that being a guide is less about having all the answers,” Avanthika says, “and more about motivating others, helping them see their potential, and staying relevant to their evolving needs.”

BUILDING STRUCTURE WITHOUT LOSING SOUL

As HiFive grew, it needed operational leadership. That’s where Nancy Wilson, the company’s director, stepped in.

“What Avanthika and Abhisri built was already powerful,” Wilson says. “My role was to help bring structure, scalability, and sustainability – without losing the human connection that made HiFive work.”

HiFive now supports K–12 students, college learners, and early-career professionals, with mentors ranging from college students to MBAs, doctors, and tech leaders. About a dozen of its mentors hold MBA degrees, many from elite programs.

“We look beyond credentials,” Wilson says. “We prioritize communication skills, empathy, and the ability to relate. Many of our students come with ADHD, ADD, or dyslexia. What they need most is someone who listens, who’s patient, and who believes in them.”

Impact, she adds, is measured in more than grades or test scores. “We hear from parents about confidence, self-belief, and students finding direction. Those qualitative outcomes matter just as much.”

A PARALLEL PATH THROUGH MEDICINE AND MANAGEMENT

While Avanthika was navigating Wharton and Salesforce, Abhisri was carving her own accelerated path. Enrolled in an eight-year BS/MD program at St. Bonaventure and George Washington University, she completed her undergraduate degree in three years – and added an MBA along the way.

“I’d always been interested in healthcare management,” Abhisri says. “If you want to be a department chair or lead change in medicine, you need to understand how organizations actually work.”

She was the youngest student in her MBA cohort and graduated as valedictorian. The lessons carried directly into patient care. “Negotiation and communication courses changed how I empathize with patients,” she says. “They helped establish trust and put us on the same team.”

Abhisri, who is seeking to pursue interventional and diagnostic radiology, also co-founded MediMint while she was in medical school, a radiology startup aimed at modernizing how medical images are shared through a secure decentralized record, putting patients in control of their health journeys. MediMint was awarded a patent from the USPTO and earned federal support through the National Science Foundation’s SBIR grant.

Still, HiFive remains central to her identity. “The biggest lesson from mentoring is understanding where people come from,” she says. “Once you do that, you can help them move forward.”

FROM ALPHARETTA TO A GLOBAL NETWORK

Both sisters trace HiFive’s origins to Milton High School in Alpharetta, where they both graduated as salutatorians of their respective classes in 2017 and 2018. At Milton, the girls often volunteered to tutor during lunch and after school, and eventually their own classmates began asking them for formal tutoring help.

“The demand picked up so quickly that we couldn’t do it ourselves anymore,” Abhisri recalls. “So we made it official – built a website, recruited peers, and started matching tutors based on shared classes and teachers.”

That near-peer model proved powerful. Today, HiFive serves students across the U.S., the U.K., India, and Canada, with growing interest from international students seeking mentorship into U.S. education and careers.

THE CASE FOR MENTORSHIP – AND FOR THE MBA

Looking ahead, both sisters see HiFive not as a side project, but as a lifelong commitment.

“Pursuing two full-time roles isn’t for everyone,” Avanthika says. “But if you do, you need clarity around your ‘why.’ For me, the MBA wasn’t a separate chapter – it was an extension of my work. Work was the constant. Wharton was the accelerant.”

Wilson believes that’s the story students need to hear. “The MBA isn’t about stepping away from the world,” she says. “It’s about engaging with it more thoughtfully.”

Learn more about HiFive Tutoring here.

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