Software People Stories

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/

Today, as part of the women’s special series in March, 2025, Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Karthik Karunakaran(KK), CEO, co-founder of Mobius software and chief strategist Xtract.io, male ally for women continuing their career and a serial entrepreneur talks about his career journey. KK started his career in Tata Steel after completing production engineering in NIT Trichy and management in XLRI Jamshedpur. KK shares his belief in 'Make in India' and how he stayed true to his roots, influenced by Jamshedji Tata early onKarthik shares his evolution from a tech enthusiast to a serial entrepreneur and co-founded Mobius Software, Overcoming the challenges of building a startup, especially after his education-focused venture didn’t scale as expected.Talks about the lessons learned from previous education based ventures and how they shaped his approach to business.Discusses how he bootstrapped his business in the early days, even covering costs by tutoring students for the CAT exam.Experimented with team structures to create a more agile and inclusive work environment.Focused on product innovation, testing different technology stacks and market strategies.Implemented flexible work policies to support women professionals, ensuring career continuity.Shares how over 80% of Mobius Software's workforce consists of women, with a strong focus on hiring from Tier 2 cities where untapped talent is availableKK talks about why he champions women in the Workforce and actively supports women's career continuity and workplace inclusion.Believes in equal opportunities and creating a supportive work environment.Discusses the importance of mentorship and policies that help retain women in tech.KK shares some of the challenges in the Startup Ecosystem on funding, scaling, and leadership in the tech industry.Shares about the biases women face in entrepreneurship and how male allies can help.KK concludes with the Advice for Women Professionals as he Encourages women to build strong networks and seek mentorship and advocates for confidence and risk-taking in career growth.Emphasizes the need for organizations to rethink policies to support women returning to work. Karthik Karunakaran is the CEO of Mobius Knowledge Services. He is the driving force behind Mobius being a leader unstructured data processing and public information aggregation. He is also the founder of Xtract.io, a GenAI driven hyperautomation platform that is focussed on agenticAI processes . The firms' success is attributed to innovative solutions and proprietary technology in the data services area serving various industry giants across geographies. With a strong presence in fields like Information & Media, Retail/Ecommerce and Financial Services, Mobius mission is to empower clients through cutting-edge data solutions. Karthik, KK as he’s fondly referred by friends, has co-founded education firm,fourth R India before embarking into the knowledge services domain. KK has graduated from National Institute of Technology, Trichy in production engineering and management from XLRI Jamshedpur in Marketing and Finance. Karthik can be contacted at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthik-karunakaran/

Today, as part of the women’s special series in March, 2025, my guest is Veena Rao, SVP & Global Head, Corporate Lending at Finastra with over 25 years’ of experience in financial services and banking technology. In this conversation Veena shares Her early influences and being adaptableHer education and career pathHer philosophy re career growthInsights from her leadership journeyHow to handle work-life integration aspectsOn Global experience and being sensitive to cultural nuancesHow she stays resilient and some personal practices that have been effective for herAnd some tips for aspiring women professionalsVeena is the SVP & Global Head, Corporate Lending at Finastra with over 25 years’ of experience in financial services and banking technology. Veena started her career with India’s leading private sector bank, ICICI Bank, working in diverse areas like project finance, corporate banking, forex treasury and relationship banking. She managed Presales for FLEXCUBE at i-flex solutions (Oracle) followed by a stint in HCL Technologies to launch the product incubation unit for banking. In her current role at Finastra, Veena holds end to end accountability for the Corporate Lending business across product, engineering, services and support. She is passionate about nurturing innovation at the grassroots focusing on ideas that create positive impact for Finastra’s customers . She is also a mentor in Finastra’s D&I program, and an active speaker at various conferences on digital transformation and open banking. linkedin.com/in/veena-rao-profile

Today, as part of the women’s special series in March, 2025, Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Ponni Krishnamoorthy, Director and Global head of Telco cloud in Nokia talks about breaking societal expectations to achieving career goals - Ponni shares about her humble background and Her roots in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, and how her upbringing shaped her career choices and Ponni’s career journey from NIT Trichy to becoming Director at Nokia. - Ponni shares her Being the first woman engineer in her extended family. - Initial societal expectations (suggestions to become a teacher or doctor). - Love for math, problem-solving, and coding led her to engineering. - Ponni shares her Career Growth & Transition from software engineer and her inspiration to be a coding guru - She started her career with Siemens Communication Software as a developer and slowly shifted into techno-management after earning an MBA from IIM Bangalore while working full-time. - Ponni shares stories of her transition from developer to global technology leadership. - Ponni talks about taking different roles in the same firm such as global product development and end-to-end project ownership - Pooni shares her Experience with mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and predicting industry trends. - She talks about operational challenges and Leading teams across multiple countries (Finland, India, China, US) and working through sanctions during the Iraq-Iran war. - Ponni talks about Early involvement in digital twin technology (before it became mainstream). -Importance of creating a culture of problem-solving & dreaming big. - Ponni talks about her role in University Engagement & Mentorship while encouraging students and young professionals to take risks. - Pooni shares her career advice and Leadership Lessons on the importance of patience and long-term growth, avoiding the trap of jumping jobs for short-term gains. - She also shares her learning from each role before moving up the ladder and defining personal success metrics rather than following trends. Ponni is Head of Telco Cloud and Telecom Test networks with Mobile Networks business group, Nokia - Leading R&D Telco cloud data centers and services across six countries - Leading the unit of end-to-end telecom test networks for testing of Nokia products and solutions - Leading University Collaboration platform for Nokia Bangalore - connecting universities, Professional organizations , Research & management institutes - Leading global and cross cultural teams, across Europe, India, China and USA - Nokia certified coach having coached and developed high performing employees globally She has been Instrumental in ramping up and setting up new product development groups, global lab service organization , R&D Cloud data centers, end-to-end test network infrastructure & services unit and transformation of organizations. Experienced in Partner management, leadership development, nurturing innovation and driving efficiency improvement programs and strategic decision making etc. She is a recipient of IEEE Women Technologist of the year-2019 A strong leader and team player with good communication and interpersonal skills. Ponni did her computer science engineering from NIT Trichy and management from IIM Bangalore Ponni can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ponnikrishnamoorthy/

Bindhu Unny is a leadership coach, podcast host and Social Entrepreneur, who straddles various mediums giving all her work a unique stamp of inherent creativity. She has 20 years of global experience working for corporates in various high-performance roles that span across Software development, Enterprise Marketing, Product Design, Customer Experience and Sales. During the course of her corporate career, she realized that she loved connecting with people, and enjoyed the process of motivating them to step out of their comfort zone to realize their full potential. She has been successfully impacting the lives of many successful individuals through her corporate workshops, individual and group coaching and public workshops for over a decade. As a host of two podcasts - Unmasked and REConnecT, Bindhu dives beneath the surface to engage in authentic & enlightening conversations with passionate individuals and changemakers, inspiring listeners to discover their true purpose and follow their passion in life. Beyond her corporate endeavors, Bindhu is driven to make a lasting impact on the next generation. She is a Social Entrepreneur and is a co-founder of Leela-Loka which is a community initiative that actively explores open learning methods and empowers individuals to navigate growth by embracing continuous learning, unlearning, and relearning. Bindhu has also co-authored the book ‘The Virulent Virus’ published on Kindle and the editor of the book “The Quest of Ruby” a metaphorical story of a life journey to self-actualization. When she is not working, Bindhu can often be seen performing at local art & theatre festivals, gardening, doing yoga and meditation. She is a qualified Instrumentation & Control Engineer along with a Masters in Business Administration. She is also a certified coach holding a CPCC (Certified Professional Co-Active Coach) from The Coaches training Institute (CTI) and is a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) Bindhu can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bindhuunny/ .

Our regular and long time listeners know that we dedicate the month of March every year for our special women guests. Welcome to the first special episode for March, 2025. In this episode, I am in conversation with Vidya Kabra, a Global Tech and QA leader with over 30 years of experience in the global IT industry. She talks about: - Overcoming challenges from a traditional Marwadi family to pursue education and career. - Early struggles with a startup due to lack of job opportunities in Maharashtra. - Transition to corporate roles in Bangalore. - Rapid growth from project management to leading quality for Toshiba worldwide. - Challenges of managing family expectations and career aspirations. - Importance of discipline, meditation, and effective time management. - Utilizing domestic help and prioritizing quality time with children. - Tips for women to communicate their career goals to family. - Encouragement for women to pursue leadership and strategic roles in IT. - Managing work from home vs. office dynamics. - Creating a supportive home office environment. - Leveraging work-from-home benefits for women in IT. - How horizontal roles help in being more visible and enable Career Growth - Encouragement for exploring various IT roles beyond development. - Collaboration between developers and testers for improved quality. - Career Tips Vidya is a Global Tech and QA leader for around 30 years in IT industry driving Strategic Transformation at scale and Quality Automation for large Global Tech driven businesses at Wipro, Toshiba, Fiserv, HSBC, Intellect, Diebold Nixdorf. She thrived in new initiatives and reinvented herself multiple times - At Toshiba: Processes developed across functions. Looking at the simple and practical approach to process and management dashboards, she was given responsibility to lead Process management globally for Japan and Germany centers. At Wipro: She led Global functions - 1) Process Simplification and audit Function with Lean and Agile techniques impacting 40 percent efforts saving 2) Engineering and Quality automation with 10X ROI globally for Wipro's 3000+ projects (2 patents filed on Quality engineering effectiveness). 3) Risk management function for 3 BUs. At Fiserv, Intellect Design Arena HSBC Core Banking , Diebold Nixdorf - Led Global Product and Process Quality Management, Audit & Delivery Excellence functions. All the functions and initiatives she led across above organizations resulted in sustainable quality in reduced efforts with happy and productive teams. Speed mentoring of teams for growth, Solution based practical approach to any problem and result oriented approach helped create high performing teams and functions. https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidyakabra/

Sivaguru is in conversation with the serial author and colleague at PM Power, Paramu Kurumathur. They talk about The trigger for the upcoming book is related to leadership.How this book builds on previous books but focuses on general leadership principles.The three aspects of leadership involving execution, business, and personal growth.Importance of reconciling leadership styles in different contexts.Holistic leadership that applies to both professional and personal contexts.Challenges and Solutions in Leadership: Handling conflicts and mediating between different opinions.Subordinating personal goals to team and organizational goals.Addressing behavioral expectations and public image as a leader.Thought Leadership: Book's Structure: About Paramu https://www.pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/parameswaran/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/paramu-kurumathur-01489a6/ Some related links on the book, for more details: Background and introduction to the book – 1 Background and introduction to the book – 2 Background and introduction to the book – 3 Synopsis of the book – Introduction Synopsis of the book – Leading Business Synopsis of the book – Leading Execution Synopsis of the book – Leading Self Synopsis of the book – AI Additional posts that could be of interest: Thoughts on Leadership – The Ashta Siddhis (eight super powers) of a leader Leadership principles in the generative AI age

I am continuing this conversation with Rachana Shenoy, Engineering Leader HPE talks about balancing career growth, avid speaker and continuous learner In this part of the conversation, Rachana shares her stress and delivery pressures balancing it with employee engagement scores She shares some of the key techniques for budding managersCreating an environment of fun and accountability Embracing team members as a complete person rather than a skill or a resourceGen Z mindset doesn’t like to be a follower and being a digital native - they need ability to channelize the reusability, validation and clean code principlesThankful for the amount of support that was available from enterprise firmsExtremely passionate about art, decor and that helps me to balance the profession and advocates strongly to have a passion projectRachana Shenoy is a Seasoned Engineering leader with over 18 years of Industry experience, currently working in the Hybrid Cloud Division at Hewlett Packard enterprise. In her current role she leads development teams for both On Prem and SaaS based Cloud Native Enterprise Scale Storage Management Solutions. Rachana is passionate about building self driven and motivated teams , enabling them to build innovative solutions addressing critical customer needs. Rachana has extensive experience in Domains like Storage, Server, Cloud, Distributed, Enterprise software development. Rachana is also a DEI evangelist and DEI Champion and has been contributing to various Diversity and Inclusion initiatives within and outside the organization. She is also an active member of Lean In Women In Tech community , and believes in paying it forward through community events and activities. In her free time Rachana loves to dabble in creative pursuits and is a passionate artist, crafter and art educator. She is also an avid traveler and loves to explore different places, diverse culture and cuisine. Rachana can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachana-shenoy-4014116a/

Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Rachana Shenoy,Manager Software engineering HPE talks about balancing career growth, avid speaker and continuous learner In this part of the conversation, Started engineering as a natural choice due to the love of MathematicsStart at HP in the compiler and felt extremely overwhelmed and quickly found the mentor network She contrasts that with industry ready team members nowJoined EMC in their storage management solutions understanding interoperability of OS and hardware and had an organic growth to management Ownership and accountability and stakeholder management were key skills that she mentors every person.Change is the only constant thing around the roadmap, org structure and ensuring that fluidity needs to be embraced in a large enterprise organizationRachana shares tips and techniques on how leadership skills are imbibed through the career like clear communication, empathize with peopleRachana shares her tips on utilization of her time commuting within the Bengaluru for about 25 kmsShares how she’s managing her balance using support system including her father in-law and team members that can be trustedRachana shares her decision while working in EMC during a particular acquisition and reflections that made her strongerRachana Shenoy is a Seasoned Engineering leader with over 18 years of Industry experience, currently working in the Hybrid Cloud Division at Hewlett Packard enterprise. In her current role she leads development teams for both On Prem and SaaS based Cloud Native Enterprise Scale Storage Management Solutions. Rachana is passionate about building self driven and motivated teams , enabling them to build innovative solutions addressing critical customer needs. Rachana has extensive experience in Domains like Storage, Server, Cloud, Distributed, Enterprise software development. Rachana is also a DEI evangelist and DEI Champion and has been contributing to various Diversity and Inclusion initiatives within and outside the organization. She is also an active member of Lean In Women In Tech community , and believes in paying it forward through community events and activities. In her free time Rachana loves to dabble in creative pursuits and is a passionate artist, crafter and art educator. She is also an avid traveller and loves to explore different places, diverse culture and cuisine. Rachana can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachana-shenoy-4014116a/

I continue my conversation with Hikari Senju, Founder and CEO of Omneky, an AI platform that generates, analyzes, and optimizes personalized ad creatives at scale. In this part of the conversation, Hikari talks about: The need to focus on his customers - the advertisers’ needsAdapting to new technologies and standards such as cookieless futureThe inspiration to start his current company OmnekyBuilding and nurturing a high-performing teamHis advice for aspiring software professionals Hikari Senju is a computer science graduate from Harvard University with a passion for technology and design. He founded his first startup, QuickHelp, an on-demand tutoring app, which he later sold to Yup.com and became their Head of Growth. During his time at Yup.com, Senju observed inefficiencies in content spending and the potential of AI in advertising, which inspired him to establish Omneky in 2018. Senju’s background in computer science, entrepreneurship, and his experience with AI technologies led him to create Omneky, an AI platform that generates, analyzes, and optimizes personalized ad creatives at scale. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hikari-senju-63780199/

I am in conversation with Hikari Senju, Founder and CEO of Omneky, an AI platform that generates, analyzes, and optimizes personalized ad creatives at scale. In this part of the conversation, Hikari talks about His background and how the influence of one of his uncles got him interested in computersHis serial entrepreneurship arc, with two successful startups and in his third ventureHis learnings from this experience on the importance of leadership, value brought by incubators, working on two sided markets, aspects related to personalization and privacyHikari Senju is a computer science graduate from Harvard University with a passion for technology and design. He founded his first startup, QuickHelp, an on-demand tutoring app, which he later sold to Yup.com and became their Head of Growth. During his time at Yup.com, Senju observed inefficiencies in content spending and the potential of AI in advertising, which inspired him to establish Omneky in 2018. Senju’s background in computer science, entrepreneurship, and his experience with AI technologies led him to create Omneky, an AI platform that generates, analyzes, and optimizes personalized ad creatives at scale. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hikari-senju-63780199/

I continue my conversation with David G. Ewing, CEO of Motiv. I asked David about how he thinks AI based approaches are likely to impact the customer experience. He shares how this can be used as a powerful tool to improve customer experience.He also talks about his new venture ContentLion that helps companies centralize and manage their contentHe touches upon aspects of data security and privacyHe shares his personal practices and some tips that help him stay focused and centered while also helping manage time.David G. Ewing, CEO of Motiv, is a trailblazer in customer experience innovation. With over 25 years in the industry, he's transformed insights into substantial revenue for 500+ clients. A Harvard cum laude Engineering graduate, David's leadership has earned Motiv a spot on the Inc 5000 list. As president of The Entrepreneur's Association in Austin, he's dedicated to empowering fellow entrepreneurs. Beyond business, he's a devoted husband of 19 years and a passionate coach for his son's robotics team. More information about David can be found at Web site, https://www.davidqewinq.com , Motiv's website, https://motivcx.com Linked In at Linkedin.com/in/davidgewing Listen on!

I am in conversation with David G Ewing, CEO of Motiv. In this first part of the conversation, David talks about: His initial days in Detroit, where he grew upMeeting the CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison and how that influenced some of his later decisions in choosing the area of workWhen building solutions, how and why technology under the hood has to be invisible, while focusing primarily on the user experienceUsing the customer journey mapping technique to better understand customer experiencesThe importance of the team being empathetic to customers Listen on! I asked him about how he thinks some of the AI based approaches are likely to impact the customer experience. The answer to that and a lot more interesting topics in the next part of our conversation - in the next episode. Do not miss it. David G. Ewing, CEO of Motiv, is a trailblazer in customer experience innovation. With over 25 years in the industry, he's transformed insights into substantial revenue for 500+ clients. A Harvard cum laude Engineering graduate, David's leadership has earned Motiv a spot on the Inc 5000 list. As president of The Entrepreneur's Association in Austin, he's dedicated to empowering fellow entrepreneurs. Beyond business, he's a devoted husband of 19 years and a passionate coach for his son's robotics team. More information about David can be found at his web site, https://www.davidqewinq.com , Motiv's website, https://motivcx.com or on Linked In at Linkedin.com/in/davidgewing

I continue my conversation with Gorkem Ercan, founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu. Gorkem has experience working and leading teams with various technologies ranging from building IDEs, to building mobile phones, and CI/CD systems. He is an avid contributor and supporter of open source. In this part of the conversation, Gorkem talks about: Time Management and Prioritization: for both personal and team work.Using visual tools like lists and boards to track and prioritize contributions.Acknowledging that priorities are constantly evolving and require continuous adjustment.The importance of Giving Back and Open Source Sustainability: Finding immense satisfaction in seeing his projects used by millions.Emphasizing the importance of economic sustainability for open source projects.Why Companies should consider how they can support the projects they rely on.Highlighting the misconception that open source is always "free" and the risks associated with this.Frustrations with Open Source: Unrealistic expectations from companies who demand immediate fixes from contributors.Security concerns and the lack of focus on secure supply chain practices in some projects.Resource constraints for open source projects in implementing and maintaining security measures.Work-Life Balance: Initially viewed open source contributions as a hobby, similar to other leisure activities.Acknowledges that open source contributions can be time-consuming and require careful consideration of work-life balance.Encouragement for Newcomers: Invites listeners to contribute to the kitops.ml project, which is supported by JozuEncourages contributions in various forms, including code, documentation, and moreGorkem Ercan is a founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu. Gorkem has experience working and leading teams with various technologies ranging from building IDEs, to building mobile phones, and CI/CD systems. He is an avid contributor and supporter of open source. Gorkem is the creator of the wildly popular Eclipse JDT language server and vscode-java extension, as well as the YAML Language server and vscode-yaml extension. He is a committer on various projects, including Eclipse Che, Eclipse Theia and Apache Cordova. Gorkem is a member of the Eclipse Architecture Council, and he is one of the longest-serving Eclipse commiters. LinkedInl:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gorkemercan/ Website:https://jozu.com/ link to the kitops.ml open source project https://kitops.ml/

I am in conversation with Gorkem Ercan, founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu. Gorkem has experience working and leading teams with various technologies ranging from building IDEs, to building mobile phones, and CI/CD systems. He is an avid contributor and supporter of open source. In this conversation, Gorkem talks about: Gorkem's Background: Early interest in computersDiscovering open source while at university and starting to read other people’s code.Beginning to contribute to open source projects and eventually published his ownSubsequent roles at Nokia and Red Hat involved significant open source work.He also shares Tips for Newcomers to Open Source: Being welcoming and patient, starting small, being prepared for asynchronous feedback.Keep an open mind, not gettng discouraged by rejection.Essential skills: Proficiency with Git and GitHub, understanding of community interaction platforms.His tips for Reviewing code: Functionality: Ensure the code works as intended and is bug-free.Style and consistency: Check if the code aligns with the project's coding style.Impact: Consider the potential impact on operations, users, and documentation.Clear communication: Include clear and concise commit messages.Gorkem Ercan is a founding Distinguished Engineer and CTO of Jozu. Gorkem has experience working and leading teams with various technologies ranging from building IDEs, to building mobile phones, and CI/CD systems. He is an avid contributor and supporter of open source. Gorkem is the creator of the wildly popular Eclipse JDT language server and vscode-java extension, as well as the YAML Language server and vscode-yaml extension. He is a committer on various projects, including Eclipse Che, Eclipse Theia and Apache Cordova. Gorkem is a member of the Eclipse Architecture Council, and he is one of the longest-serving Eclipse commiters. LinkedInl:https://www.linkedin.com/in/gorkemercan/ Website:https://jozu.com/ link to the kitops.ml open source project https://kitops.ml/

I continue my conversation with Sophia Willows, the Head of Engineering at Rye, an a16z-backed developer tools startup making APIs for online commerce. At Rye, Sophia shapes the technical direction of the company and is responsible for building a high-performance engineering culture. In this part Sophia discusses the challenges of creating consistent and user-friendly APIs. She emphasizes the importance of involving developers early in the design process, using clear and consistent documentation, and leveraging tools like GraphQL to enforce structure and consistency. The conversation shifts to the impact of AI on the future of software development. While AI can automate certain tasks, it's unlikely to replace the need for human creativity and problem-solving skills. Sophia encourages developers to focus on higher-level thinking and domain expertise, which are areas where AI is less likely to make significant inroads. Finally, Sophia addresses the issue of burnout and the importance of finding a sustainable work-life balance. She suggests that developers should identify what energizes them and focus on those activities, whether they're technical or non-technical. By understanding their own motivations and setting realistic expectations, developers can thrive in the ever-evolving field of software engineering. Sophia Willows is the Head of Engineering at Rye, an a16z-backed developer tools startup making APIs for online commerce. At Rye, Sophia shapes the technical direction of the company and is responsible building a high-performance engineering culture. She previously worked in EdTech as Engineering Manager for Crimson Education’s AI team. Designing and implementing their generative AI strategy, Sophia lead the development of solutions that enhanced the company’s educational offerings and personalized student learning experiences. Just before she moved to Rye, Crimson secured a $1B market valuation. Sophia is a recognized figure in the tech community, frequently judging global hackathons and contributing to industry discussions through speaking engagements and blogging. Handles: * https://sophiabits.com/blog * https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophia-willows