Previous Occupation: Senior Developer, Kuliza Technologies
Present Occupation: Programme Manager II, Microsoft
Sector: IT Products
Work Experience: 5 years, 3 months
Interests – Professional/ Personal: Product management, strategy, general management

 

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
My mother is a Math teacher, which probably explains my love for the subject. She has always been my best friend and a super supportive parent. My father recently retired as head of the Indian arm of a German multinational corporation (MNC) and is now teaching Strategy at business schools in the National Capital Region. He has always been my Oracle and Wikipedia. His wise nuggets invariably help me solve the toughest of problems. My younger sister is a very passionate architect. She’s currently pursuing her Master’s at TU Delft, Netherlands.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
I was the winner of the “Star Award” for standout performance for the last quarter.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
I joined a start-up called Kuliza Technologies in Bangalore upon graduating from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad in 2007. At Kuliza, I worked as a developer, mostly on open source technology stacks such as Drupal, Joomla and Djano. I’ve always enjoyed coding in Python and really miss it at Microsoft! My product experience at Kuliza was in the web 2.0 area – more specifically in web portals, content management systems and social networking. I grew from Developer to Senior Developer and then managed a team of five people for six months before joining ISB in March 2010.
I was recruited on campus by Microsoft where I have been since July 2011. I joined the developer analytics team for the Windows 8 Store and then moved on to the Windows store app certification pipeline for Windows 8.1.

I am currently working for the Inbox apps team on the next version of Windows.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
April 2, 2011: We graduated and India lifted the World Cup. The campus was electric! We were all in a trance.

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?It’s added a lot of perspective − both personally and professionally. My work persona is more evolved now. ISB packed the learnings from a couple of years of work into a one-year capsule.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
One of my biggest take-aways from ISB has been breaking away from my engineering mindset. I am more perceptive and appreciative of different forms of brilliance now. However, it’s too soon to quantify ISB’s contribution to my career growth. I feel it’s provided me the right launch pad and arsenal for (hopefully) a successful career ahead.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Enriching.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The year was jam-packed with wonderful memories. When I look back, I can’t believe it all happened in just one year! My core term section and study group were amazing. We had so much fun learning together. Surprisingly, there was never any cut-throat competition. 
I also miss the wonderful conversations. Night or day, ISB was always alive. You could always find someone to talk about anything under the sun.

Word of advice for the current class?
Know your take-away from the year at ISB and work towards it.

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
Professor Sumit Kunnumkal's “Decision Models and Optimisation” (DMOP) tops my list. I was in love with the class! It think it appealed to my inner geek.
“Power and Politics” by Professor Tanya Menon and Professor Henry Moon's “Managing Teams” are among my other favourites. I find what I learnt in these classes very relevant and useful in my work life.

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
I can't think of any one name. But I think I learnt something from everyone around me.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I'd be happy to help wherever I can. Since I graduated, I’ve been helping students from subsequent batches understand and prepare for product management roles.
I’d also love to consult for projects at the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I enjoy the ideation and product definition phases the most, because they involve a lot of analysis and whiteboarding. Execution, for me personally, is more mundane since it’s more of bookkeeping; however it is probably the most critical contributor to the product's success. 

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
In the short term, health and fitness devices and services should see a huge boost. Internet of things (a huge step for ubiquitous computing) and wearables will become huge in the next five years. Ubiquitous computing is closer than we think. 

 

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