Software People Stories

In this episode, Gayatri is in conversation with Prakash Bulusu, Vice President Customer Behavior Analytics at Amazon Inc. 

• Prakash works with Peta bytes of data on a regular basis to identify and predict what consumers would like to use
• His early memory of computers started with using AC while playing Nintendo games and amazed at the computer networks in his alumni NIT Trichy
• Shares an interesting story on why he took up his MS after 3.5 years of undergrad. His fascination in e-commerce and US education system that grounded towards curiosity
• Understanding that the future is in e-commerce and large data processing was a big step from his internship in ISRO
• Decision to shift from sunny Florida to a green Seattle knowing Amazon and the possibilities of e-commerce 
• Drivers for moving into search and data based modeling for Microsoft and looking at early DevOps model
• Talks about moving away from compile satisfaction[code named as compile sook] to Release satisfaction
• Being a first time manager encouraging the team and mentoring in a subtle way
• Interdisciplinary thinking together processes aided by the three page narrative - stepping away from command-control ppt to a democratic narrative 
• Strengthening one’s communication skills using the clarity of thought was the biggest leap that Prakash took the longest
• Understanding the changes in the data sciences is like knowing the sinusoidal wave - sometimes its asynchronous and sometimes its in sync. 
• Prakash talks about decision making in the customer behavior analytics - machines taking more decisions objectively and humans weighing in where ambiguity plays a part
• Prakash shares how future would be in the convergence of Quantum computing, Data sciences and 5G with ethics being the foundation
• One wisdom Prakash wants to share is that Technology is rapidly changing and each of us have to adapt quickly with that

Prakash Bulusu, Senior leader with a proven track record across Software, Analytics and Consumer Business in E-Commerce, Search, Marketing and Online applications.

Specialties: Large scale distributed and data intensive Software Engineering, Data Analytics, Machine Learning Applications, Data Platform, Computational Marketing, Understanding Customer behavior, Data Science, Email Marketing automation, Product Search relevance and Data quality, e-commerce, Experimentation (A/B testing) and Experimentation Platform, Software test design and automation.

Prakash Bulusu can be contacted at https://www.linkedin.com/in/prakashb/

In this episode, Gayatri is in conversation with Pallav Prakash Indian Navy veteran and program manager at Zum

• Talks about starting in technology in early 1980s by way of merit and got passionate about computers
• He talks about implementing high critical projects in submarines and speaks about them as ‘point of no return’ 
• Talks about the pride of careering a Indian passport stemming from the Indian software people across the globe with special mention towards women
• Talks about the pride moment of digitisation of files and decision making system across multiple years in Navy
• Shares about the stories of maintenance of the hardware and the missile guidance was architected and built self reliantly
• He shares with pride that Inventory management is one of the largest across the globe with first being Air force and second as Indian navy 
• Talks about the software that has been indigenously developed and given confidence at the heart of every frontline person that warfare is top notch
• His journey to move to US to understand different culture and taking an internship program with school
• He has been an india head for AnitaB and his views on equitable data and the level of impact software could make
• Now Pallav is working for zum to solve the school bus transportation in a carbon neutral model and how one has to be inside the problem to solve it and not on top of it
• How can software communities come together to improve society as a whole is a question Pallav leaves with all listeners
• Shares the story of the girl who pursued computers to get the comfort of AC to changing the landscape and provide an environment for others

Pallav brings over 20 years of leadership experience in diverse business and technology. He has successfully managed large cross-functional, multi-national teams deploying strategies to take operations, programs and products on a high growth path. Pallav is a career program manager implementing high stake programs for the Indian Navy. He has done full time MBA from The Johns Hopkins University and a Management program alumnus (with specialization in Marketing) from Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. He has worked in Indian navy in executing several high tech projects as well as being chief of staff in Indian Navy in executing some of their HR programs.

Pallav is a proven leader in managing offshore multisite programs and projects with client interface with passion towards furthering the mission of Women in Technology 

Pallav can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pallav-prakash/

In this episode, Shiv is in conversation with Nani Narayanan Srinivasan, who is the leader, Data Sciences at HomeUnion and has been in the IT industry for over four decades.

In this conversation, Nani talks about:

• Studying metallurgy and getting exposed to programming to design a blast furnace.
• Wanting to be in the systems software, Telecom and R&D side of computing.
• Opportunity to work on a project which was more of R&D, to implement a hot standby and takeover algorithm for mainframes.
• Realizing the need to understand a client’s business side, learning banking as a domain.
• How the thinking process is similar across solving business problems or systems software solutions.
• The need to understand why something needs to be done to be able to think strategically and understand the business.
• Handling time constraints for a consultant, who is expected to solve problems in a short time.
• Prioritize what is to be done, before jumping into how it is to be done.
• A ‘horror story’ when a design worked in principle and in the test environment, but resulted in a ‘race’ condition that led to the system being unusable in a production environment, and how this problem was resolved.
• Considerations of teams to be scalable: how this may be different based on the size of the company.
• How to bring efficiency with remote teams, or even when the team members are not of a homogeneous background.
• The need to understand various members, backgrounds and the business context to build high performance teams.
• The Prostyle model explained in the book Producing results with others.
• Career tips: for new entrants to the field : a combination of data science, bio-studies, to get into analytics or data science careers; or security for those looking at software application solutions.
• Data science as a technique will get embedded in everything we do, like internet has now become a basic component in most solutions.
• Learning Python, Kotlin, R etc for those interested in programming.
• For the mid-career professionals, understand the business side and go with the flow of business; in whatever you do, contribute to the revenue side of business, for an assured career.
• Many technologies are coming back - like old wine in new bottles.

Entrepreneur and seasoned technology professional with senior leadership roles in Financial Services (Real Estate Investment, Banking/ Mortgage), High Tech R&D, Telecommunications and SI Consulting. Led successful delivery of large and complex engagements in product development, data sciences and modeling, CRM, online banking, web applications, and mortgage servicing – many with original contributions to Intellectual Property. Guided teams implementing over 200+ industrial strength websites. A strategic thinker, designer and architect of key products with hands on practical delivery approach.

You can reach him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nanin/

Wishing you all a very happy new year 2022!!

In this episode, Gayatri is in conversation with Sriram Rangarajan, Accomplished Data Analytics Leader at IBM shared his data journey 

• His role as an enterprise data architect and what lenses he has to wear
• Ways to get started collecting, analysing and gaining insights from data
• How can young engineers joining the data ecosystem look at data
• Data to be viewed through the business process and lifecycle 
• Ways of managing complexities across organization and system boundaries 
• Onboarding application teams right at the start instead of making it an after thought
• How can you manage data errors and keep the sanctity of data clean
• Challenges that are encountered while handling master data, data definition and gaps in data setup
• Working with regulatory bodies and keeping the right level of data without infringing into compliance
• Perspective of work has changed across three decades from task centric, business centric and what-if possibilities
• Ensuring that foundations are clearly understood on data prior to diving deeper into technology

Sriram started his career with TCS after his graduation from JNU. Sriram has worked in IBM, NetApp Inc, and Informatica, demonstrating in-depth knowledge of Data Governance, Data Integration, Master Data Management, Data protection, privacy, and data lifecycle management. Sriram is a data analytics and strategist at heart with robust experience acquired over the years in delivering optimal results in high-growth environments. He excels at cultivating collaborative professional relationships and delivering data-driven and business-centric solutions; Result-driven with extensive expertise across scalable enterprise architecture, value-driven data science, and full-stack engineering. 

Sriram can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrsriram/ 

Continuing our special series for the year end, Shiv asks colleague PM Powerian Sivakumar (Shiv)  how he has developed a curiosity mindset and how he weaves them into stories and more.

This series of conversations will help you reflect on the year that was and identify some actions you may want to take in the new year.

You can reach him @

https://pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/sivakumar/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivakumar-subramanyan-1a78101/

Continuing our special series for the year end, Shiv asks colleague PM Powerian Vasu how he is so observant and able to take copious notes during meetings and more

This series of conversations will help you reflect on the year that was and identify some actions you may want to take in the new year

You can reach him at

Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/svasudev/

https://pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/vasu/

Continuing our special series for the year end, Shiv asks colleague PM Powerian Gopalan how he stays calm even under pressure and more

This series of conversations will help you reflect on the year that was and identify some actions you may want to take in the new year.

More about Gopal at

https://pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/gopalan/

Can reach Gopal @

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopalgopalan/

In this episode, Paramu Kurumathur, Consultant at PM Power consulting talks about various situations in his career. When he had the opportunity to latch on to an idea, develop it to concrete action.

He talks about how there are many ways to do that and that age is no bar, based on his own experience.

Specifically, he talks about the following approaches that have helped him-

• Explore, expand an idea
• Collaborate
• Research, learn, internalize, let it simmer : one day, it will come out
• Look for metaphors, analogies
• Define some boundaries.. scope.. 108 facts..
• Look for gaps in models / 
• Getting a coach / teacher; being self aware

Know more about him here

https://pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/parameswaran/

You can reach him at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paramu-kurumathur-01489a6/

In this episode, Raghu Viswanathan, knows as Raghu, shares his story with details of

• Being an alumnus of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, which got the first computer in India
• His initial ‘hate’ for computer science, mainly due to the use of punched cards!
• Joining TCS [Tata Consultancy Services] as a management consultant
• Having to play the role of an IBM expert on his first overseas project, as an individual contributor with no other colleagues with him
• Being asked to teach IBM to the client and seeking support from his manager 
• Gaining confidence after that successful assignment
• Writing code the traditional way - in Australia - from creating pseudo code and getting it reviewed before writing a single line of code
• If you want to work on a good project, think through, write pseudocode, consult with people
• How the rigour at ISI prepared him for increased confidence in the future
• The importance of understanding the domain for a developer
• How, understanding the business [and implications] help in one situation to not only avoid a penalty, but also help the bank make money
• The evolution of the concept of offshoring or distributed working in his organization
• Finding major lifestyle changes in young Indian professionals when he came back to India
• Feeling happy about India’s progress over the years
• Trekking and volunteering and pacing his activities
• The joys of retirement
• How he discovered the interest in trekking
• His career tips
• His perspective in Decentralized Finance [DeFi]

Viswanathan Raghu, Started his career as consultant in TCS. Later working with Various firms like UBS(Formerly Swiss Bank) ,Bank of New York, Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank and Russel Investments.

Was head of change for Finance in Deutsche bank's service center in Mumbai before relocating back to US. Responsible for implementing Process efficiencies in the offshored processes. Implemented Finance’s strategic transformational program for Financials and Regulatory reporting. Program enabled offshoring of globally consistent re-engineered processes to the service center.

Also Managed -Vendor delivery management, Departmental management, IT Program / Project management, Globally managed large and diverse teams for the full project life cycle.

His Specialties: International delivery experience in US, European and Asian work cultures. Vendor business application product implementation. Wide Investment banking domain knowledge & management experience across functions. Cross functional IT program management. Full life cycle experience in managed services implementation. Global manager of large and diverse teams for the full project life cycle. Prepared budgets and managed financials for an entire department.

You can reach him @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/vraghu/

In this episode Raksha Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Parjanya Creative Solutions using interactive media technologies in the space of health, fitness and arts, is in conversation with Chitra Gurjar

• A trained classical vocalist, starting at age 4 and working with music via interactive media
• Melding technology and health & fitness
• Learning and pushing herself with challenges and problem solving, always interested in the "Why", beginning of entrepreneurship
• A desire to see the larger picture and the timing being right 
• Trigger to move back to India, technology, family, support
• Starting a company in just before the pandemic broke
• Inspiration from remote music concerts, influence on building interactive apps, spatial audio
• Body movement tracking app and teaching yoga remotely, help people visualize where they need help
• Her experiences around building the company from hiring, building a culture of adaptability and change
• Work, passion and hobby being one
• Lessons a woman entrepreneur - Learning from others, value yourself, be your own champion
• Life lessons - Building the right thing & build it the right way; have a learning mindset; be open to change

"Raksha is the CEO and Co-founder of Parjanya Creative Solutions. Born in Bangalore, India, Raksha worked as a software engineer for a few years and then moved to the US in 2012. She pursued her MBA in Information Science at California State University and worked as a backend engineer at several different firms small and big including Zillow, one of America’s largest real estate tech firms. Being a professional musician with over 20 years of practice and performing experience, along with setting up and getting the bootstrapped company off the ground, Raksha also pursued and completed her Masters in Music while being the mother of an active 3 year old. At Parjanya, Raksha is passionately focused on building user centric, cutting edge products that push boundaries of technology. As the CEO and a woman entrepreneur, Raksha is determined to grow Parjanya as a company that can offer the most incredible and innovative solutions while helping and mentoring other young and determined female developers and designers “

Social media handles:

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/raksharao

Twitter: https://twitter.com/raksha_rao

Company website: www.parjanya.org