Young, Driven, and Disruptive: Fergus White’s Rise in Tech

Fergus White isn’t like other entrepreneurs, and he embraces that reality. Though he attended the University of Edinburgh at 16, he shies away from the concept of being a prodigy. Hard work and determination have led him to this point in his life, where he is a founding team member at Telepathic.

As a young innovator accepted and supported by the renowned investor and company builder, Entrepreneur First (EF), White is part of the new wave of talent reshaping the digital world.

Attending the University of Edinburgh at such a young age was not without challenges. White felt at a disadvantage not just because of his youth but also because of the class difference between him and other students. Many of his classmates were the children of CEOs and heirs to vast fortunes. He felt the need to continually push himself harder and perform better than the other students.

“When I entered the university, I immediately started working. Doing research in every field I could get my hands on, such as compilers, theorem proving, and concurrency theory,” White explains.

This drive to learn resulted in a major accomplishment. At the age of 17, he was credited in a game that was showcased at Nintendo Direct. White’s dedication to proving himself led to another rare honor.

“I met Princess Anne as a result of my work of furthering student relations within computer science,” White says.

At 18, White was accepted into Entrepreneur First, an organization that selects individuals based on their potential and exceptional skills even before they have a company. Entrepreneur First supports their mentees with stipends and resources while helping them through the development phase. For White, it was a crash course in turning ambition into execution.

“Entrepreneur First allowed me to meet high-level execs daily, learning and applying advanced technologies before most people start university,” White says.

Even with the support of such a prestigious talent investor, White still had many challenges. He admits to pursuing opportunities out of his realm of experience and expertise due to being young and ambitious. This sometimes makes him appear inexperienced or not knowledgeable, leading others to dismiss him, but it hasn’t held him back.

White understands that one “yes” is all it takes to get him to the next big step in his career. He recognizes he has a long way to go on his professional journey and acknowledges that the ability to push forward is why he’s been able to advance as far as he has.

“I’ve already had so many steps up that I didn’t think were possible,” White admits.

Within Entrepreneur First, White spotted a market opportunity: building an AI-native company designed entirely around artificial intelligence (AI). This led to the creation of Telepathic, a startup focused on applying generative AI to redefining SEO.

“The next generation of companies will be built by AI from day one,” White says. “That’s what we’re doing with Telepathic.”

White founded Telepathic with the ambition that it would be a part of the AI revolution taking place in the digital space. He points to how industries are being overtaken by AI implementation, allowing a team of as few as 10 people to run a company.

“Telepathic aims to do this within SEO … to be an instrumental part of that is incredibly exciting,” White says.

While Telepathic is his current focus, White hopes to be pivotal in supporting Scotland’s start-up scene. He firmly believes some of the most talented programmers in the world are at the University of Edinburgh and St Andrews.

“I believe there’s a reason our national animal is a unicorn,” White says, alluding to the mythical beast’s fierce independence, a trait he shares and has led to his accomplishments. His journey proves that with grit, vision, and an unwavering commitment to innovation, even the youngest entrepreneurs can take challenges and reshape them into opportunities that will guide the future of tech.