Software People Stories

My guest today is Harish Chandramowli, Co-founder & CTO of Flair software. In this conversation, Harish talks about his journey from his early university days in India at Amrita University to leading roles in major companies like Bloomberg and MongoDB. He articulates his shift to a niche field combining software engineering with security, his experience at Johns Hopkins University, and his eventual move into cloud security engineering. Harish shares insightful narratives about his founding a small startup and the creation and development of Flair, a fashion tech platform, highlighting the challenges and triumphs he encountered. Topics include his approach to managing remote teams, dealing with the pressures of startup life, the challenges of prioritization, and maintaining a work-life balance. Harish also discusses the importance of understanding customer needs and integrating AI and security in product development. Some of the topics covered are: Introduction and Early CareerGraduate Studies and Early Professional ExperienceCareer at Bloomberg and MongoDBStartup Journey and MongoDB ExperienceTransition to Flair and Early ChallengesInsights on Security and AIBuilding Flair and Remote Team ManagementEmpowering Engineers Through Customer InteractionChallenges of Managing Remote TeamsRetention and Team DynamicsBalancing Startup Pressures and Personal GrowthNavigating the Fashion Industry's Legal LandscapeBuilding Global Products from IndiaStaying Grounded Amidst Startup ChallengesHarish Chandramowli is a second-time founder who started his career in deeply technical roles—building cloud infrastructure and security at MongoDB. Over time, he evolved from shipping code to selling ideas—learning the language of customers, diving into sales-led discovery, and translating that into product strategy. Today, Harish blends technical depth with commercial instinct to build tools that solve real operational pain with clarity and impact

In this episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri Kalyanaraman speaks with Dr. G Uma, Professor in the Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering and Dean of Institutional Development & Alumni Relations at NIT Trichy. An alumna herself, Dr. Uma reflects on her 27-year journey in academia, her pioneering work in MEMS technology, and her deep commitment to guiding future engineers. From humble beginnings as the first faculty in a rural college to shaping NIT Trichy’s international profile, Dr. Uma’s career blends research excellence, institution building, and mentorship. She shares candid stories of early struggles, the leap into doctoral research, building one of South India’s first MEMS Design Centers, and balancing administrative leadership with a hands-on teaching approach. Listeners will also hear her grounded advice on health, career focus, networking, and completing what you start—whether that’s a degree or a passion project. She speaks openly about the challenges of motivating today’s students in a world of distractions and the importance of developing both technical skills and professional ethics. Key Takeaways: Passion for Teaching – How a rural college role ignited her lifelong love for education.MEMS Pioneer – Building a MEMS Design Center in 2004, ahead of its time in India.Doctorate with Purpose – Why PhDs are about philosophy, not just a title.Mentoring Future Engineers – Using societal problem-solving and teamwork to develop leadership in students.Advice for Students – Stay clear on your goals, master your core field, network widely, and prioritize health.Institutional Vision – Balancing global branding for NIT Trichy with deep alumni engagement. Notable Quotes: “Only when we are able to do what we are doing at present best, can we achieve our passion.” “PhD is not just another degree — it’s a philosophy in research.” “Health is the most important thing in the world; without it, everything else is zero.” Perfect for: Students seeking clarity on career paths in engineering.Academics balancing research, teaching, and administration.Alumni curious about NIT Trichy’s vision and outreach.Anyone inspired by stories of perseverance, innovation, and mentorship. Dr. Uma started her academic career in 1992 and joined the Department of ICE, NIT, Tiruchirappalli, in 1999. She is currently serving as a Professor and Dean of the Institutional Development & Alumni Relations. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held several significant leadership roles, including Coordinator of the ISRO- STIC (Space Technology Incubation Centre), ICC Presiding Officer, Additional Chief Warden, Head of Instrumentation and Control Engineering Department, Faculty Advisor of the International Society for Automation (ISA) at NITT, Ladies Hostel Warden and Associate Dean. Dr. Uma has made substantial contributions to her field, having authored over 90 research papers in reputed international journals and presented more than 60 papers at conferences. She has also contributed to two book chapters and served as one of the editors of a monograph on Nuclear Instrumentation and Control. Furthermore, she holds three granted Indian patents, demonstrating her innovative work in the field. She has been the principal investigator for several sponsored research projects and has guided over ten research scholars and more than 50 postgraduate students, nurturing the next generation of engineers and researchers. Dr. Uma also played a pivotal role in two national programs on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), namely NPSM and NPMASS, further advancing the research and development of MEMS technologies in India. Dr. Uma has been recognized with the Young Scientist Fellowship from the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST) and was recently honoured with the Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) from MIT, Anna University. Her research interests encompass the design of sensors and actuators, Micro-...

My guests today are Cultural engineer-anthropologist Allen Batteau, Ph.D. and design anthropologist Christine Z. Miller, Ph.D., co-authors of the book: Tools, Totems, and Totalities: The Modern Construction of Hegemonic Technology Christine Miller is a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and Allen, a retired professor from Wayne State University. They share details of their interdisciplinary backgrounds, their collaborative book project, and the implications of technology on society. They discuss the concept of sociotechnical systems, the brittleness of technology, and the ethical responsibilities of designers and software developers. They also touch upon the potential impact of AI, user-centered vs. social-centered design, and the role of speculative design in fostering innovation and hope for the future of humanity. Some specific topics that they touched upon: Introduction and Guest BackgroundsChristine's Academic JourneyAllen's Career PathThe Concept of Sociotechnical SystemsHegemonic Technology in Software DevelopmentAI: Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Ignorance?User-Centered vs. Social-Centered DesignThe Importance of Broader Perspectives in EducationThe Role of Universities in Broader EducationThe Impact of Habit-Forming ProductsProductivity and TechnologyThe Evolution and Impact of the InternetEthical Responsibilities in TechnologyThe Urgency and Maintenance in DesignBrittleness of Technological SystemsSpeculative Design and Future PerspectivesConcluding Thoughts on Technology and Hope Allen W. Batteau, a cultural anthropologist and professor at Wayne State University, is a leading authority on the intersection of technology and society. His work, funded by agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation, includes numerous publications on aviation, flight safety, and technology in democratic societies. https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/ad4408 Christine Miller is a design educator and researcher at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). With expertise in socio-technical systems, her research focuses on how social and cultural dynamics influence technology design and adoption. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges anthropology, design, and business https://www.scad.edu/academics/faculty/christine-miller

My guest today is S Parthasarathy, better known as Spart who is the founder at CuedIn Technologies. In this episode, Spart shares his extensive journey in the software engineering field. Spart's story begins with his initial projects in COBOL programming at Tata Burroughs and the World Bank, working on critical systems in retail, logistics, and financial sectors. He recounts his impactful stint at SWIFT, contributing to the foundation of what has become modern-day financial messaging systems. Spart reflects on his decision to pivot from electrical engineering to computer science, driven by his interest in the engineering of large systems. He details his tenure at Ramco Systems, implementing document-based transactions, model-based code generation, and achieving several tech milestones, including internet integration and 32-bit upgrades. After Ramco, Spart's continued passion for software engineering led him to co-found a SaaS-based ERP solution company, targeting SMEs. Despite early challenges and market readiness issues, he gained crucial insights into cloud-native architectures. Spart's career path took another turn towards consulting and exploring AI, specifically focusing on probabilistic graph learning and the challenges of natural language processing in software engineering. He emphasizes the importance of non-functional requirements, application architecture, and the potential of tools like Generative AI (GenAI) to enhance software development processes. Spart concludes by reflecting on the ongoing evolution of software engineering and his current projects aimed at making software engineering more accessible and efficient with modern tools. Spart has 40+ years of experience in various aspects of software services area covering consultancy, business systems management, product development and Engineering management. Worked with large North American Organizations handling complex projects to implement transaction processing business solutions and data communication networks. Key interests: • Gen AI based solutioning for key business activities • Gen AI enabled SW engineering • Contextual social network driven approach for building business systems • Predictive analytics over operational databases using Bayesian causal networks • Implementing innovative platform based techno-commercial models for software solutions/services delivery. • Cloud computing and SOA based multi-tenant solution Architecture https://www.linkedin.com/in/spartp/

My guest today is Galvin Widjaja, founder and CEO of Lauretta.io …. In this episode he talks about: Origin story: Galvin Widjaja shares his origin story, including his background and how he got associated with the AI industry .Entrepreneurial Journey: Galvin discusses his transition from a quant finance background to becoming an entrepreneur in the AI space .AI and Computer Vision: Insights into Galvin's work in AI and computer vision, particularly in security applications .Business Challenges: Galvin talks about the challenges faced in running a restaurant chain and the importance of automation and domain expertise .Consulting Experience: Reflections on Galvin's consulting experience and the lessons learned in communication and stakeholder management .Regulation Tech Project: Details about a regulation tech project Galvin proposed and executed at DBS Bank .Family Influence: The impact of Galvin's family background on his entrepreneurial journey, including his father's and grandfather's businesses .Pivot to AI: The shift from business processing to AI and the founding of an AI security company .Technological Innovations: Discussion on technological innovations in Indonesia and the contributions of Indonesian software engineers  CEO & Co-Founder, Lauretta.io Galvin Widjaja is the founder and CEO of Lauretta AI, a privacy-first computer vision company that helps organizations understand human behavior in physical spaces without relying on identity or biometrics. Under his leadership, Lauretta has become a trusted partner to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, TSA, U.S. Air Force, and major airport and defense agencies across Asia and North America. The company’s AI platform is designed to predict intent, enable preemptive alerts, and provide real-time situational awareness — all while preserving individual privacy. Galvin’s unconventional journey into AI began not in a lab, but behind the counter of a quick-service restaurant he once ran for his father in Singapore. After early career stints in consulting, banking, and tech, a pivotal decision to reconnect with his estranged father led him to manage three migrant-serving restaurants. There, he learned that systems are only as good as the people they serve. That insight shaped his approach to AI — one built not just on precision and scale, but on empathy, equity, and lived experience. Born in Singapore and raised partly in Indonesia, Galvin grew up in entrepreneurial households that saw both massive growth and total collapse. Those early lessons in volatility, resilience, and human complexity now inform his mission to build AI that doesn’t just react — it understands. His work focuses on helping organizations move from static surveillance to dynamic understanding, and from reactive alerts to proactive decision-making — all while respecting the humanity of the people being observed. Galvin may be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/galvinw/

I am in conversation with Tom Elliott, founder of Ocuroot and former Engineering Productivity lead at Yext, Introduction: Tom Elliott shares his career journey, starting from his early interest in computers to his current role in Dev tooling . Career Insights: Tom discusses the challenges of entering the industry during the financial crash and his transition from contract work to a full-time role at VMware .He highlights his experience at VMware, working on early-stage projects like building login pages and authentication systems .Shift to New York: Tom talks about his move to New York and his work at a small VPN startup, focusing on user-facing applications . Experience at Yext: Tom shares his journey at Yext, starting as a mobile developer and gradually moving to backend development and Dev tooling .He emphasizes the importance of being close to the users and getting immediate feedback on the tools he built .Challenges and Solutions: Tom discusses the challenges of working in large organizations, such as resolving merge conflicts and managing long-lived branches .He explains the benefits of trunk-based development and feature flags for managing multiple features and environments .Observability and Deployment: Tom highlights the importance of observability and the use of tools like open telemetry for distributed tracing .He shares insights on managing different deployment environments and ensuring consistency across regions .Quality and CI/CD Pipelines: Tom talks about the emphasis on quality and the importance of CI/CD pipelines in ensuring reliable software releases .He shares his experience of setting up CI/CD pipelines to avoid issues like broken installers .Conclusion: Tom reflects on the importance of flexibility and prototyping in software development .He shares his thoughts on the future of AI in coding and the role of human operators in leveraging AI tools .Bio: During nearly 20 years in the tech industry, Tom has worked for companies large and small on both sides of the pond and all layers of the tech stack from user-facing mobile and desktop applications to the backest of backends: DevOps. He is currently building Ocuroot, his own take on a CI/CD solution, based on his experiences scaling large numbers of environments for B2B SaaS products. Links: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/telliott1984/ * BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/telliott.me * Blog: https://thefridaydeploy.substack.com/ * Ocuroot: https://www.ocuroot.com

My guest today is Thanos Diacakis, Software Delivery Coach & a Fractional CTO. We covered a wide range of topics that included: Insightful Experiences: Thanos shared many insightful and thought-provoking experiences and perspectives, particularly on software delivery life cycle improvements without explicitly using terms like Kanban Balancing Work and Personal Life: Thanos emphasized the importance of balancing work and personal life, recognizing that while work is important, personal relationships and leisure activities are equally significant.Fractional CTO Business: Thanos discussed the benefits of running a fractional CTO business, allowing for flexibility in managing time and delivering value to multiple clientsScaling Challenges: Thanos shared experiences with scaling projects, particularly with Uber's bikes and scooters, highlighting the importance of having systems in place to manage growthLearning from Others: Thanos emphasized the value of learning from others and cross-pollinating ideas across different clients to improve software delivery Thanos Diacakis helps startups and growing companies overcome software bottlenecks, scale engineering teams, and deliver high-quality products faster. With over 25 years in software development, his background spans both early-stage ventures and tech giants like Uber and Included Health, where he led the technical integration of the JUMP Bikes acquisition, scaling the platform to 45k vehicles and over 2 million monthly trips. He’s seen elite teams stall when outdated processes leave them too heads-down to course-correct. With lean, evidence-backed practices, he unlocks faster delivery and greater developer satisfaction, so velocity rises while burnout falls. SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Website: https://www.cosmicteacups.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thanosd/

In this episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri Kalyanaraman speaks with Anu Dwaraknath, Staff Technical Program Manager at Lam Research, about her dynamic journey across geographies, domains, and roles. From her early days in telecom to becoming a driving force in the semiconductor space, Anu shares stories of adaptability, continuous learning, and purpose-driven leadership. Episode Summary In this inspiring episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Anu Dwaraknath, Staff Technical Program Manager at Lam Research — a global leader in semiconductor capital equipment. Anu walks us through her transformative journey from a telecom software engineer to a program leader in the high-stakes world of semiconductors. With warmth and clarity, she shares how each stage of her career was shaped by curiosity, grit, and a willingness to embrace new challenges. Having started in C/C++ development at Alcatel-Lucent, Anu transitioned into technical program management after earning a general management MBA in the U.S. — a shift she undertook during the 2008 recession. With no prior semiconductor experience, she joined Lam Research as an intern and steadily built her domain knowledge, moving from internal IT to core product engineering over the next decade. Now based in India, Anu leads software initiatives on tools that power the chips behind every smart device — and actively advocates for greater awareness and participation in the semiconductor industry, especially for women in tech. Key Themes & Highlights Breaking Into Semiconductors with Persistence and Curiosity Joined Lam Research during her MBA through an internship focused on business analysis.Despite being new to the domain, she took on enterprise software migrations, bridging the business and engineering teams.Faced challenges around visa sponsorship and recession-era job market, but leveraged every opportunity to gain cross-functional exposure. Learning the Domain, One Layer at a Time Started in IT and internal systems, then gradually moved into product-facing roles within Lam.Through subconscious learning from team meetings, leadership messages, and everyday exposure, she began to understand the complex world of semiconductor fabrication and capital equipment.Upon relocating to India, she took on a more core product role — bringing her closer to engineers and customers, leading to rapid upskilling in domain knowledge.“I knew I was coming in from a non-product background, and I said yes — I’m ready for the steep learning curve.” ️ Building the Beginner’s Mindset Emphasizes the importance of staying mentally agile and open to new domains.Used every role — from unpaid internships to technical program ownership — as a learning opportunity.Believes you don’t need to know everything on Day 1, but must carry the intent to learn continuously. Growing Semiconductor Awareness in India Engages actively with communities like Grace Hopper (GHCI), Lean In, and PMI, often being the only semiconductor representative in the room.Speaks at schools and conferences to demystify what semiconductors are, how fabs work, and why this field matters — especially post-COVID and in India’s Make in India drive.Helps others through referrals, career guidance, and mentorship — especially women interested in STEM and product roles Quote-worthy Moments “Your domain doesn’t have to define you — if you carry the mindset to learn, the journey takes care of itself.” “I wanted to break out of my comfort zone — not just from engineering to management, but from one industry to another.” “Being in semiconductors now feels like representing a movement — and I take that responsibility seriously.” Anu can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anu-dwarakanath-89728a15/ Anu is Process innovator, critical thinker, and a corporate entrepreneur in the making! Solid program manager who adds strategic value and brings out competitive differentiation by focusing on...

Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Dr. Fred Jordan, CEO and Co-Founder at AlpVision and FinalSpark - Expert anticounterfeit technologies - Expert biocomputing talks about his journey to make a difference in AI and what propelled him to do that. 1. Early Career — Curiosity, Coincidence, and Counterfeits Fred describes himself modestly as a French physicist who stumbled into entrepreneurship by "provoking luck."He and his co-founder Martin Kutter began with research in digital watermarking, creating invisible marks on media.Their startup AlfVision emerged from this — aimed at detecting counterfeit goods using image analysis.Lessons from early failures (9 out of 10 products failed) were key to refining their success. 2. Making the Mark — Patents, Passion, and Intellectual Property Fred emphasizes building a business around passion, but insists on profitability too.He stresses the importance of understanding finance, even for technical founders.As a multi-founder and active programmer, he still codes when needed — including writing software that led to a patent and successful tech deployment in China. 3. Creating a Legacy — Bio-Neurons and a Sustainable Future Final Spark emerged from Fred and Martin’s desire to return to fundamental research, after years of commercial success.Their mission: dramatically reduce the energy and resources required to run AI by leveraging real neurons instead of digital simulations — achieving up to 1 million times greater energy efficiency.In their lab in Switzerland, they’ve created a testbed where biological neural tissues are grown, connected via electrodes, and streamed in real-time — with microfluidics feeding them 24/7.Fred draws a direct parallel between learning in artificial neural networks (via adjusting weights) and the biological challenge of inducing learning by reconfiguring synaptic connections. This forms the crux of building a true biological computing server. “When you have artificial neurons, learning is done by setting the right connections between them. We need to do the same in biology. That’s how humans learn — and that’s what we have to replicate in vitro.”The long-term vision is bold:Create biological servers at scale (10cm x 100m tissues) that could power AI with drastically less energy.Biological intelligence becoming mainstream — just as LED lights replaced incandescent bulbs.A future with hybrid bio-artificial objects — think of a glass that detects your mood and adjusts your drink accordingly.Breakaway quote-worthy moments “Trial and error is really precious... Being a co-founder, failures teach you very, very valuable lessons.” “I’m not building something for today — I want it to make sense even from 100 million kilometers away.”His thoughts on entrepreneurship: “You need to be not bad at many things. Everything is holistic.” “If you don't work for your dreams, you work for someone else's.” Fred Jordan is an Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of successful and profitable businesses. Skilled in Innovation, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Programming, Marketing, Management and Entrepreneurship. Scientific education with M.Sc. in physics and Ph.D. in signal processing. Co-founder of: - AlpVision: Supplier of technologies and smartphone solutions for automatic detection of genuine and fake products. - FinalSpark: Startup using biological neural networks for the design of Artificial General Intelligence. Dr. Fred Jordan started their journey in technology entrepreneurship after completing his PhDs at EPFL in applied mathematics. This work gave them the inspiration for their first successful start-up, AlpVision, where they excelled at overcoming engineering challenges and created an innovative solution for product authentication. The company became very profitable and is still successfully run by them. This brought the co-founders Fred and Martin to a new, even bigger challenge, to address the problem of Artificial...

I am very happy to bring you the inspiring story of Santosh Kaveti, CEO and Founder of ProArch Technologies. In this conversation he talks about: His Origin Story: From applied mathematics to entrepreneurship, navigating challenges, risks, and business growth. AI in Cybersecurity & Infrastructure: The rapid convergence of AI, security, compliance, and enterprise tech strategies. Investing & Startup Leadership: What Santosh looks for in founders, financial planning, and scaling a business globally. Navigating AI Risks & Model Security: Addressing AI poisoning, prompt injection threats, and governance frameworks for enterprises. AI for Business & Social Good: Why AI should be seen not just as a cost-efficiency tool but as an enabler of new opportunities. Human in the Loop & AI Ethics: The need for human oversight and anomaly detection to keep AI decisions aligned with real-world values. Social Initiatives & Community Learning: How the MASTI initiative bridges music, art, science, and tech and innovation for underprivileged children. Balancing Business & Social Impact: Santosh’s philosophy on staying grounded, mentorship, and personal growth through meaningful work. With over 18 years of experience as a technologist, entrepreneur, investor, and advisor, Santosh Kaveti is the CEO and Founder of ProArch, a purpose-driven enterprise that accelerates value and increases resilience for its clients with consulting and technology services, enabled by cloud, guided by data, fueled by apps, and secured by design. Santosh’s vision and leadership have propelled ProArch to become a dominant force in key industry verticals, such as Energy, Healthcare & Lifesciences, and Manufacturing, where he leverages his expertise in manufacturing process improvement, mentoring, and consulting. https://www.linkedin.com/in/santoshkaveti/

Her early inspiration while growing up in Goa with limited exposure to career options. Her Father’s intellectual influence despite personal hardships and shift in focus to technology.Personal tragedy sparked a resolve to become financially independent and learn deeply.Inspirational quote that shaped her mindset: “Even if your dreams haven’t come true, be grateful that so haven’t your nightmares.”Her first role at a startup with Hands-on work with networking protocols (LDAP, VPN, DNS). Learning using only RFCs and O'Reilly books—no StackOverflow! Importance of building deep expertise for long-term success.Experiences with Troubleshooting and System Thinking; Transitioned from reactive fixes to logical, structured problem-solving. Her depth of understanding helped in debugging and system optimization.Career move to Yahoo where she led Service Engineering for mobile and ads across global data centers got early exposure to big data and machine learning through ad recommendation systems and built "performance and scale muscle" through working at massive scale.Challenges of Scale and Performance Then vs. Now: Problems remain the same, but data volumes and complexity have exploded. How modern tools (like AI/ML) can help identify relevance and anomalies in large data sets.Design with Scale in Mind - Importance of flipping the design approach: think scale-first, not POC-first. Encourage starting with a big-picture view, even when building a small prototype. Highlights multiple scaling dimensions—data, compute, network, security.Getting Into ML and Data Science with early spark from MOOCs, TensorFlow experiments, and statistics; Transition into data science role at Infoblox, a cybersecurity firm with focus areas on DNS security, anomaly detection, threat intelligence.Building real-world ML model applications like supervised models for threat detection and storage forecasting; developing graph models to analyze DNS traffic patterns for anomalies and key challenges of managing and processing massive volumes of security data.Data stack and what it takes to build data lakes that support ML with emphasis on understanding the end-to-end AI pipelineShifts from “under the hood” ML to front-and-center GenAI & Barriers: Data readiness, ROI, explainability, regulatory compliance.Explainability in AI and importance of interpreting model decisions, especially in regulated industries.How Explainability Works -Trade-offs between interpretable models (e.g., decision trees) and complex ones (e.g., deep learning); Techniques for local and global model understanding.Aruna’s Book on Interpretability and Explainability in AI Using Python (by Aruna C).The world of GenAI & Transformers - Explainability in LLMs and GenAI: From attention weights to neuron activation.Challenges of scale: billions of parameters make models harder to interpret. Exciting research areas: Concept tracing, gradient analysis, neuron behavior.GenAI Agents in Action - Transition from task-specific GenAI to multi-step agents. Agents as orchestrators of business workflows using tools + reasoning.Real-world impact of agents and AI for everyday lifeAruna Chakkirala is a seasoned leader with expertise in AI, Data and Cloud. She is an AI Solutions Architect at Microsoft where she was instrumental in the early adoption of Generative AI. In prior roles as a Data Scientist she has built models in cybersecurity and holds a patent in community detection for DNS querying. Through her two-decade career, she has developed expertise in scale, security, and strategy at various organizations such as Infoblox, Yahoo, Nokia, EFI, and Verisign. Aruna has led highly successful teams and thrives on working with cutting-edge technologies. She is a frequent technical and keynote speaker, panelist, author and an active blogger. She contributes to community open groups and serves as a guest faculty member at premier academic institutes. Her book titled "Interpretability and Explainability in AI using Python"...

I am in conversation with Deepak Mittal, CEO of FFTalos Technologies. In this insightful episode, Deepak Mittal shares his career journey from coding to consultative selling, reflecting on his evolution from a tech enthusiast to a sales leader driving large-scale digital transformation. He explores solution-based selling, the importance of understanding customer needs, and why sales is more about facilitation than persuasion. More specifically, he covers: His Origin Story: From engineering and coding in the early IT days to discovering his passion for customer interactions. Tech vs. Sales: The shift from writing software to understanding business problems and shaping solutions. Consultative vs. Product-Based Selling: The difference between pitching features vs. uncovering customer pain points. Customer Empathy & Industry Knowledge: Why asking the right questions & listening is more powerful than a polished pitch. Building Relationships in Sales: The role of trust, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement in long-term success. The Modern Buyer: How the digital era has transformed customer research & purchasing behavior. Enterprise Selling Strategies: The contrast between RFP-driven sales and proactive relationship-building. Navigating Internal Trust in Sales & Delivery Teams: Why sales & delivery alignment is critical for customer success. The Human Side of Selling: Managing rejections, pressures, and the art of influencing without being pushy. Deepak has over his career, worked in IT sector focusing on Technology, Media & Telecommunication(TMT) businesses, in sales, business development & practice leadership roles. His experience across IT Services Companies, Managed Services Providers and Product Vendors, has given him a unique 360 degrees insight into IT solutions and how they fit into larger business landscape. He has worked across global markets and delivered significant results, in a period of great technological flux and business volatility within TMT sector. His experience has given him a good exposure & proficiency in the following areas– 1. Understanding and managing digital transformation and its impact on business strategies as well as on the workplace. 2. Understanding business drivers and their correlation with IT and Technology strategies. 3. Execution of IT & Technology strategy on-ground. 4. Understanding & enabling eco-systems to drive business outcomes. 5. Building & motivating high performing global teams He has always tried to anchor his work in business fundamentals like customer experience, profitability & market share and leveraging technology into driving business outcomes. https://www.linkedin.com/in/demittal/

My guest today is Jake McKee, a pioneer in the modern customer community movement. In this conversation, he shares: Hiss Origin Story: His unique career bridging product design, engineering, and community strategy. Community-Driven Product Development: How companies can embed passionate customers in the development cycle. Empathy & Relationship Building: The importance of emotional connection between brands, engineers, and users. Community Across Industries: From B2B to B2C, physical products to software, communities play a crucial role in success. Brand Strength vs. Community Engagement: Why brand prestige isn’t necessary—what matters is purpose and connection. Breaking Silos Within Organizations: How community initiatives foster collaboration across different departments. Harnessing Collective Knowledge: Using communities to gather insights, troubleshoot issues, and enhance product adoption. Leading Indicators vs. Reactive Responses: Using community feedback to detect trends before they become business problems. AI in Community Management: How AI can augment but not replace human relationships in communities.‍ What Makes a Great Community Manager? Perseverance, empathy, and communication are key traits for success. Jake McKee is one of the founders of the modern customer community movement. He led Apple’s famed Global Support Communities. He pioneered efforts at LEGO to engage its adult users in a community - which spawned breakthrough innovations such as the Mindstorms Community Driven Product Development (which landed on the cover of Wired Magazine). For more than 10 years, Jake has been a leading industry community consultant working with clients like Cancer Treatment Centers of America, EA Games, Southwest Airlines, and Outdoorsy. His consulting practice, Jake McKee Consulting focuses on helping organizations of all sizes design, execute, and grow Community Driven Product Development programs that bring the Community Voice into the product development lifecycle. Jake also manages the CX Sessions project, an invitation-only monthly dinner series that brings senior online community, CX, and product management leaders together for conversation, connection, and camaraderie. And just for laughs, he created a web comic for community managers called Confessions of a Community Manager. https://jakemckee.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakemckee/

My guest today is Stamatis Astra is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations. In this freewheeling conversation, he talks about: Introduction & Origin StoryStamatis shares his varied career journey, starting in theater before transitioning into technology and entrepreneurship.Reflects on early internet days, the rise of e-commerce, and parallels with today’s AI revolution.Entrepreneurial Mindset & Product BuildingThe core skills of entrepreneurship remain the same, whether in film or software—raising funds, pitching ideas, and building belief.Confidence, resilience, and timing play crucial roles in success.Theater vs. Business—Script vs. ImprovIn acting, a defined script brings clarity, whereas business requires improvisation based on data and insights.Sales and investor pitches require a structured approach, but product development thrives on innovation and open-ended discussions.Remote Work & Leadership ChallengesDiscusses difficulties of leading distributed teams without face-to-face interaction.Emphasizes the need for engaged communication, structured meetings, and keeping discussions interactive.The Intersection of Media, AI & EntrepreneurshipShares insights from his role as a venture partner and a radio host—both involve asking deep, thought-provoking questions.Talks about Intelligent Relations, a PR SaaS company leveraging AI to democratize media access.AI's Role in Public RelationsAI helps connect brands with journalists through automation and data-driven personalization.PR success hinges on storytelling—brands must embed themselves in the news cycle, not just promote their offerings.Career Opportunities in Public RelationsTraditional PR relied on communication specialists; today, data engineers play a vital role.Engineers help structure outreach for journalists, influencers, and media platforms.Personal Philosophy & Staying GroundedThe importance of family, health, and knowing the deeper motivation behind success.Business challenges come and go, but fundamental values remain the same. Stamatis Astra, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations Stamatis Astra is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations, where he drives the company’s mission to transform public relations through AI-powered technology and expert insights. With over 20+ years of experience in media and business strategy, Stamatis is fully committed to making earned media accessible to all businesses, helping them build meaningful connections with the media and tell impactful stories.

Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Deeksha Senguttuvan, Founder and CEO of BabyMD and executive trustee for a pediatric cancer foundation . Deeksha brings her authentic self to share powerful stories of personal transformation, entrepreneurial grit, and unwavering compassion for children’s health. Some highlights from the conversation Deeksha started her Career Journey in software industry Pivot to Healthcare due to circumstances that have presented chemical engineering degree from NIT TrichyMBA from IIM KozhikodeTata Administrative Servicescloud product managementpersonal life event trust supporting pediatric cancer treatmentdigital transformation at Kaveri Hospitalbusiness success with patient well-beingsecond MBA at Whartonfounded BabyMDWharton alumni networkvolunteering as a personal and professional growth tool Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Rangestructured, analytical processsmall experiments to validate ideasRange Deeksha can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/deekshasenguttuvan/ Deeksha is Building BabyMD to be a partner in parenting and give parents easy round-the-clock access to qualified medical professionals across channels. The company’s goal is to create a future where parents don’t have to navigate through multiple avenues for their child's healthcare needs and instead find everything they require under one roof. Executive leader with 7+ years of experience building and transforming businesses. I am passionate about utilising technology in the healthcare ecosystem to improve accessibility, affordability and quality of care. As a part of the leadership development program of The Tata Group of companies in India I have worked across various industries and functions; utilised my diverse exposure to orchestrate the digital transformation of hospitals across patient engagement, clinical quality of care, and operational activities to make them future-ready. Outside of work I am an avid Indian classical dancer and a public speaker passionate about motivating and mentoring!

Shiv is in conversation with Allen Cooper, President and CEO of Ancilla Ventures. Their focus is in providing tools to healthcare support staff to improve patient outcomes. In this conversation, Allen talks about: Allen’s Origin Story: Transitioning from accounting to computer science, and entering the consulting world at Anderson Consulting (now Accenture).Consulting to Startups: The transition from corporate consulting to entrepreneurship.Building Ancilla: How Allen became a partner and eventually the sole proprietor.Choosing Healthcare Tech: The path to focusing on healthcare IT solutions.Finding Industry Problems: How products like WriteList and VR-90 were born.User Adoption Challenges: Strategies for getting hospital staff to engage with software solutions.Managing Development Team Motivation: Keeping engineers engaged despite stable enterprise tech.Scrum & Agile Benefits: How these methodologies helped balance planned work and incoming client requests.AI & Coding: How AI might change development roles, but won't replace programmers entirely.Advice for IT Careers: Guidance for both new entrants and mid-career professionals wondering about their next steps.Personal Productivity & Balance: Allen’s tips for staying organized, healthy, and grounded while running a company.Allen Cooper is the Co-Founder and CEO of ReadyList, Inc., a mobile-friendly software that transforms how hospital ancillary and support service teams operate. Allen co-founded ReadyList with a deep passion for helping the behind-the-scenes workers who keep hospitals running smoothly. ReadyList’s software modules guide them through best-practice cleaning and room prep protocols, resulting in cleaner, safer facilities for both patients and staff. Allen believes the right kind of software can save hospital systems money, time, and even lives. https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-cooper-4a07598

Shiv is in conversation with Mathias Buus Madsen, CEO of Holepunch, Copenhagen. In this episode, Mathias shares his journey into software development, beginning as a math student and evolving into a passionate advocate for peer-to-peer technology. He explains the foundational concepts behind peer-to-peer systems, their advantages over centralized models, and their applications in both personal and enterprise use. Mathias discusses how these decentralized systems enhance security, minimize infrastructure costs, and improve accessibility—especially for remote or underserved communities. He also compares peer-to-peer networking with blockchain, clarifying the distinct roles each technology plays. He touched on real-world applications of peer-to-peer tech, including its potential for rural connectivity and resilience in low-bandwidth environments. Mathias also reflects on his transition from hacker to entrepreneur, sharing insights into leadership, scaling a business, and the evolving landscape of decentralized internet solutions.As CEO of Holepunch, Mathias brings his passion and extensive expertise in open-source development to the fore, having published more than 1000 modules to npm, the Node.js package manager, totalling billions of downloads every month. Mathias Buus is a self taught JavaScript hacker from Copenhagen. He works full time on open source projects and has been working with Node.js since the 0.2 days. Mathias likes to work with P2P and distributed systems and is the author of more than 550 modules on npm, including some of the most popular ones for working with streams. In addition he has spoken about “mad science” projects at various conferences around the world. You can also see his Github here:https://github.com/mafintosh and more info on Pear Runtime here: https://docs.pears.com/. Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Pears_p2p Social - Mathias X: @mafintosh Pears X: @Pears_p2p Keet X: @keet_io

I am in conversation with Sundar Rajan, a serial entrepreneur, currently the founder of OneMyle, a platform that seeks to address the needs of hyperlocal digital marketing in neighborhoods. He was earlier the co-founder of JustBooks, a lending library chain, supported by an innovative technology platform. Sundar reflects on his journey from a software developer to an entrepreneur, sharing his experiences and challenges along the way: Early Career in IT: He worked in IT, building software for banking and financial services.His exposure to implementation and user experience shaped his professional growth.Transition to Entrepreneurship: His entrepreneurial journey began unexpectedly with a family-run library project, Just Books, which turned out to be a success.He faced challenges balancing a job with entrepreneurship and gradually pivoted to focus on growing the library business.Expansion and Challenges of Just Books: The business grew organically to over 60 libraries across cities, driven by franchising.He adapted to changes like the rise of digital books and evolving customer behaviors.Shift to OneMyle: After exiting Just Books, he started OneMyle, a digital marketing platform aimed at connecting local businesses, communities, and creators.He shared insights into shaping the platform, testing features, and learning to target specific personas, including local creators.Personal Practices and Reflections: Sundar emphasized the importance of reading code, context switching, and his method of note-taking (emails to himself) as tools for managing stress and priorities.He candidly discussed the unpredictable nature of entrepreneurship and the learning process involved. Sundar Rajan is an Entrepreneur, Co-Founder Onemyle, JustBooks Technology & Entrepreneurship remain big areas of interest. Worked in IT industry for 15 years, before turning Entrepreneur. While in IT, was involved in software product development for financial services industry. As an Entrepreneur, have keen interest in 'Neighborhoods', especially the interaction between local businesses and residents nearby. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsundarrajan/ r.sundar@onemyle.com

Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Sunil (SKG) Gupta, Senior Director in Cognizant and author of the book “Unlock Yourself” about creating a purpose led and fun filled life — a seasoned corporate leader with over three decades of experience spanning supply chain, IT-BPM, SaaS platforms, and now, marketing and influencer relations at Cognizant. Some highlights from the conversation has two major parts A Career Built on Transitions and Reinvention and making of the author early 1990s in procurementlate 90sreverse auctions and e-procurementIT-BPM world in 1999B2B digital platforms across multiple sectorsfully hosted commodity futures exchangea decade building enterprise architecture and consulting practicesBPO services and transformationmarketing and analyst relationsThe Making of an Author – Unlock Yourself: RADHA frameworkneurodiversity and learning with compassionthe Theory of Constraints, coaching experiencesNFT community dynamicsKey Takeaway Moments: “Procurement taught me how systems work — and how people work within those systems.” “I realized I’ve always been in procurement… even when I didn’t know it — we’re all negotiating in life and work.” “My transition from technology to marketing feels as exciting as my first job — it's like starting fresh, but with wisdom in your backpack.” “Ask for help. Not because you're weak, but because you were never meant to do this alone.” A fresh take on fulfillment, success, and redefining “being number one” Sunil Gupta, also known as SKG, is a vibrant lifestyle step- up coach and a seasoned expert with over three decades in business strategy, program management, and corporate real estate. An IIT Kanpur alum, Sunil has enhanced his credentials with leadership programs from Symbiosis, Harvard Business Publishing, TinyMagiq, and SnehWorld. He volunteers with unicorn incubator IIT Startups and the Art of Living, Philippines. Sunil's personal advocacy is guiding first generation graduate girl students - whom he fondly calls as #BiryaniGirls. Known for his playful nature in childhood, Sunil worked diligently through high school and eventually graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the esteemed IIT Kanpur in 1992. He later, in 2003, completed a PG in International Trade from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and in 2021, completed an Executive Leadership Development program by Harvard Business Publishing and subsequently a 7-day residential TrainTheTrainer (T3P) program by Sneh Desai & team. Sunil boasts over three decades of experience in multiple industries with a focus on business strategy, portfolio & program management, corporate real estate & workplace management and sourcing. Besides his work, Sunil lends his expertise to unicorn incubator IIT Startups as a mentor and also provides career guidance to first-generation female students, the ‘BiryaniGirls’. In his personal life, Sunil is an avid follower of The Art of Living teachings and has actively volunteered with their Philippines chapter. His journey to find life’s meaning led him to establish the #PurposeProject, a venture to help people discover and live their true calling. Over the years Sunil has contributed to multiple whitepapers and leading books on Theory of Constraints & Business Transformation. At present he is working on multiple books on personal development, goal setting, habit forming and purposeful living in what he calls as #TheNewAge - the era of uncertainties with immense promises and threats. Sunil is also preparing to launch his NFT Art & short story collection. Sunil is a staunch believer in the power of community and is dedicated to making a positive global impact through his work. He’s deeply grateful to his mentors, family, friends, and colleagues for their influence on his life and success. He considers himself to be a lover, actor, trader, teacher, peaceful warrior, saint, and prince, albeit with a fear of snakes, heights, and loneliness. He enjoys yoga, dogs, cycling,...

My guest today is David Young,Founder at Federated Computer. He has been a pioneer in cloud computing even before the term was invented. In fact, he and his team helped invent the term. In this conversation we could recall many of the developments of a couple of decades ago as well as what keeps him engaged now, at Federated computer. During this conversation, David touches upon: Introduction and Early Career JourneyTransition to Silicon Valley and StartupsContrast Between Corporate and Startup LifeFinding Problems to SolveCustomer Empathy and Team DynamicsChallenges with Open Source AdoptionAI, Open Source, and Future PotentialCareer Tips for IT and Open Source EnthusiastsDavid shares his practices and tips to Stay GroundedAbout David: CEO and founder of Joyent — the folks who invented node.js, helped stand up Twitter and the Facebook developer platform, and brought containers to market leading to the Kubernetes revolution. Seven patents. Very experienced raising and deploying venture capital. Sold Joyent to Samsung in 2016. Started an ultra-premium ice cream company (Honeymoon Brands). Invented unique manufacturing products and processes to put ice cream in glass jars, got in to 700 grocery stores in the West, and learned grocery was a blast. Sold the company in 2018. I've recently started an agency (Endurancy: https://www.endurancy.com) to take the marketing success I developed at Honeymoon and offer small and medium-sized brands AI-based marketing capabilities. I’d love to work with a promising company as it develops and grows. I can bring a wealth of experience, mistakes, learnings in fundraising, product and marketing strategy, business and corporate development, engineering development to the company to help it go faster and smarter. You can reach him @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpaulyoung/