Software People Stories

Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Rachana Shenoy, Engineering Leader 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 Mathematics
• Start at HP in the compiler and felt extremely overwhelmed and quickly found the mentor network 
• She contrasts that with industry ready team members now
• Joined 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 organization
• Rachana shares tips and techniques on how leadership skills are imbibed through the career like clear communication, empathize with people
• Rachana shares her tips on utilization of her time commuting within the Bengaluru for about 25 kms
• Shares how she’s managing her balance using support system including her father in-law and team members that can be trusted
• Rachana shares her decision while working in EMC during a particular acquisition and reflections that made her stronger

Rachana 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’ needs
• Adapting to new technologies and standards such as cookieless future
• The inspiration to start his current company Omneky
• Building and nurturing a high-performing team
• His 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 computers
• His serial entrepreneurship arc, with two successful startups and in his third venture
• His learnings from this experience on the importance of leadership, value brought by incubators, working on two sided markets, aspects related to personalization and privacy

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 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 content
• He touches upon aspects of data security and privacy
• He 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 up
• Meeting the CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison and how that influenced some of his later decisions in choosing the area of work
• When building solutions, how and why technology under the hood has to be invisible, while focusing primarily on the user experience
• Using the customer journey mapping technique to better understand customer experiences
• The 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 Jozu
• Encourages contributions in various forms, including code, documentation, and more

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 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 computers
• Discovering open source while at university and starting to read other people’s code.
• Beginning to contribute to open source projects and eventually published his own
• Subsequent 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

Today, I am in 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. She is a software engineer from New Zealand, shares her journey into the tech industry.

Initially aspiring to be an astronaut, she pivoted towards computer science due to physical limitations. 

She gained early experience as a founding employee of a local startup, learning about the fast-paced nature of startups and the challenges of balancing academic commitments with work responsibilities.

Sophia discusses the transition from academia to industry, highlighting the importance of strong communication and problem-solving skills. She emphasizes the need to understand the various stakeholders involved in a project, including business objectives, developer constraints, and end-user expectations.

The conversation delves into the differences between building for developers and building for end-users. Sophia expresses her preference for building for developers, as it allows for a greater focus on code quality and technical excellence. 

However, she acknowledges the importance of considering the end-user experience, even indirectly.

The final part of the conversation explores the challenges of creating APIs that are easy to use and understand for developers. Sophia discusses the importance of clear documentation, intuitive design, and active community engagement in ensuring a positive developer experience.

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

In today’s episode we have Chitra in conversation with Lekha Bajpai where she shares –

• Tech veteran of 30 plus years
• Started her career in Calcutta with Deep Tech across many sectors like manufacturing, commercial apps, engineering aps and supply chain
• Inspired by her father to study engineering
• First project on inter machine communication protocols, the excitement of innovation 
• Working on an experiment to build a control system to ship coal
• Showcasing use cases to the business
• Supply chain software solutions – building was easy, convincing users and allaying their fears was the big challenge to roll out the solution across 350 locations in India
• Developed strong experience with ERP implementations leading to building of data warehouses, BI reporting and monitoring apps for execs
• Experience at Kantar with challenges in data preparation and processing, working with just CPU’s, expensive cloud resources
• Helping apps scale, developing market research products to support the entire data life cycle from collection to dashboards
• Encouraging POC’s and learning with data techniques 
• Approaching AI today – Bring Your Own AI to work, encourage usage, take risks and also take care of Data privacy, protection, governance & compliance
• Data bias challenges for India
• Advice to young folks aspiring for a career in AI – discover different AI personas, understand business catalysts, use AI tech, drive adoption of AI, besides only aspiring to build/develop AI



M.Tech BIT Messra, Greenbelt Six Sigma, Strategic IT Management (IIM Ahmedabad), Enterprise Architecture, Certified Process Professional, Certified Data Scientist

With over 30 years of technology leadership experience, Lekha has been a thought leader and mentor in driving digital transformation and process automation across end-to-end processes and analytics.

As a CIO/CTO and a Strategic Leader, she has led technology strategy functions for multiple units in APAC and MENA, as a member of the Executive Committee of Kantar IMRB. Delivered technology products and solutions to global & local clients, transforming IT into a strategic business partner.

Worked on cutting-edge Technology adoption and Innovation, including cloud, big data environments, data warehouses & data lakes, to drive business improvements. Expertise spans across IT Strategy development & execution, Product & Application management for large scale applications & products on mobility, e-commerce, business analytics, social text analytics, chatbots, and image analysis using AI/ML and deep learning algorithms. 

Has Architected enterprise platforms for analytics delivery across diverse domains – Supply chain management, Logistics, Warehousing and freight forwarding, Chemical consultancy, Civil contracting, Manufacturing, Market research, Media and digital research, Social media analytics, Digital marketing and EdTech & Job Tech.

Achieved Process Excellence within multiple organization and setup measure to monitor business process and growth. Achieved IT security processes like ISO27001 across various organizations. Streamlined IT services delivery across APAC using ITIL processes, Agile methodology & CMMI framework emphasizing on service availability and performance measurement.

Accreditations and Contributions:

Awarded the “Innovation Leader” Award by World Innovation Congress, featured in CIO Magazine “Top 30 – Ones to watch”, CIO & Leader Magazine as “11 Most Powerful Women in Tech in India” and a few others. Case study published in CIO Decisions & Network Computing, Logistics Magazine, Dataquest, & CIO Magazine. Presented technology papers at the Market Research Society of India (MRSI) on new age Technologies and won awards on “Best Analytics product” & “Best E2E Process Automation”. Actively involved as a technology expert speaker on multiple tech forums and colleges, project guide, evaluator, mentor for data science & technology students.