Headline

Technology Leader | Product Owner | Program Manager | IT & QA Excellence | Driving Agile Transformation & Scalable Delivery | Ex-Dell | PMP | CSPO | CSM

About

Accomplished Technology and Software Engineering Leader with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation, product delivery, and quality engineering across global enterprises. I specialize in leading high-performing, geographically distributed teams and managing end-to-end product lifecycles that align technology initiatives with strategic business goals. My career spans diverse roles in Software Testing, Product Ownership, Project, and Program Management, giving me holistic insight into the software development lifecycle. I am passionate about building scalable, enterprise-grade solutions, modernizing legacy systems, and implementing Agile and DevOps practices that enhance delivery velocity, quality, and operational efficiency. Recognized for a results-oriented and collaborative leadership style, I focus on empowering teams, fostering innovation, and delivering measurable business impact. I hold a Master’s in Software Engineering from BITS Pilani and a PMP Certification from PMI, reflecting my commitment to continuous learning, technical excellence, and organizational success.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude

gemini

notebooklm

openai

perplexity

ChatGPT

Work experience

Leader, Software Engineering at Cisco, May 2023 - Oct 2024 · 1 yr 6 mos, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, - Lead a dynamic, cross-functional team, driving the product vision from ideation to delivery - Direct the end-to-end product development lifecycle aligning with business goals, scope and on-time delivery - Manage vendor relationships and team performance evaluations - Launched the BotLite 3.0 framework with GenAI capabilities, simplifying bot creation processes for users with limited technical knowledge.

Technical Services Manager at Cisco, Feb 2022 - Apr 2023 · 1 yr 3 mos, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, As Product Owner, - I managed the redesign and migration from a monolithic architecture to a scalable microservice-based system (BotLite 3.0). - Led the product vision and strategy, aligning business goals with customer needs to deliver innovative, user-centric solutions. - Worked closely with stakeholders to gather, assess, and prioritise user requirements, translating them into actionable features and detailed user stories. - Managed 3 Global Scrum teams tasked with implementing GenAI capabilities using cutting-edge technologies like AWS, LLMs, Vector DB (ChromaDB/MongoDB Atlas), Mistral 7B, AWS Textract, Amazon Translate, AWS Lambda, and other cloud-native tools. - Coordinated Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, demos, retrospectives, roadmap, and PI planning, ensuring smooth collaboration and effective decision-making during technical discussions. - Prioritised and managed the product backlog, focusing on delivering features with the highest business value and customer impact, while maintaining alignment with broader business objectives. - Conducted webinars, demos, and Tech-Talks to gather feedback from stakeholders, analyse industry trends, and ensure the product features were in line with market demands. - Developed and communicated the product vision and roadmap, ensuring all teams were aligned with the strategy, delivering value to both customers and the business.

Services Manager at Cisco, May 2020 - Jan 2022 · 1 yr 9 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, As a Stakeholder Manager, - Acted as the primary liaison between internal teams and stakeholders at Cisco, facilitating smooth communication and ensuring the successful adoption of bot solutions across the organisation. - My role involved understanding stakeholder needs, managing expectations, and delivering solutions that aligned with business objectives. - Conducted meetings and technical workshops to understand diverse bot use cases and requirements across Cisco, translating these into actionable plans for the development team. - Provided comprehensive training and support to stakeholders, ensuring a smooth transition to bot technologies and fostering confident usage. - Facilitated clear and transparent communication between stakeholders and the development team to align objectives, provide updates, and ensure successful implementation of bot solutions. - Built and maintained strong relationships with stakeholders, proactively managing expectations, resolving conflicts, and validating the business value of the bot implementations. - Conducted regular status updates and post-implementation reviews to keep stakeholders informed on progress, gather feedback, and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Service Manager IT at Cisco India, Oct 2013 - Apr 2020 · 6 y 6 mo, Bangalore

Test Architect at Dell, Jul 2011 - Oct 2013 · 2 yrs 4 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Served as a Test Architect within the OPE Engineering Excellence team at eDell, driving enhancements in product delivery quality, value, and velocity through the improvement of engineering practices and capabilities. - Championed global engineering standards and best practices, effectively balancing agility with discipline to foster a culture of continuous improvement. - Led initiatives to measure and enhance software quality and process maturity, resulting in increased predictability in delivery timelines and overall velocity. - Developed comprehensive test strategies and provided technical guidance for product feature testing, collaborating closely with test managers on detailed planning and scoping activities. - Mentored team members to identify potential risks and implement proactive process improvements, enhancing team performance. - Orchestrated test team support during production launches, facilitating defect triage meetings to conduct root cause analysis and implement corrective actions for production incidents. - Actively participated in the hiring process for the Test Organisation, contributing to the development of a high-performing team.

Software Test Manager at Dell, Aug 2008 - Jun 2011 · 2 yrs 11 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Led quality assurance initiatives for various internal software products in the eCommerce domain at Dell Global Development Centre, establishing and promoting standards and processes for Test Leads to enhance testing effectiveness. - Managed resource planning and allocation to ensure optimal staffing, effectively resolving issues that impeded testing efforts and maintaining project timelines. - Drove product quality by influencing technology decisions and promoting best practices, resulting in improved team productivity and enhanced quality at all levels. - Effectively communicated organisational goals and objectives to the test team, fostering a positive environment and overseeing individual development through performance appraisals and compensation planning. - Collaborated with the HR/Talent Acquisition team to manage recruitment and staffing for the Test Organisation, ensuring the team was equipped to meet project demands. - Provided continuous technical support and mentorship to team members, reviewing test plans and cases to ensure compliance with established processes. - Spearheaded application testing for monthly Microsoft patch deployments across 300+ non-production servers, ensuring stability and functionality prior to production rollout.

Software Test Lead at Dell, Nov 2004 - Jul 2008 · 3 yrs 9 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Led testing efforts for internal software products in the offline sales and eCommerce domains at Dell Global Development Centre. Oversaw the planning, monitoring, and control of all testing activities, ensuring alignment with business objectives. - Partnered with cross-functional teams to define test objectives, establish organisational test policies, and develop comprehensive test strategies and plans. - Estimated testing efforts and successfully negotiated resource allocation with management to ensure project requirements were met within deadlines. - Identified automation opportunities, planned the adoption of tools, and developed training initiatives to enhance testing efficiency and effectiveness across projects. - Ensured the timely setup and availability of test environments, streamlining the testing process and reducing delays in execution. - Reviewed and refined reports prepared by Test Engineers, consolidating key insights and providing management with clear, concise status updates on testing progress. - Played a key role in interviewing and recruiting top industry talent, coaching and mentoring new hires to become productive contributors to the newly established testing team at the Hyderabad centre.

Software Test Engineer at Dell, Oct 2001 - Oct 2004 · 3 y, Bangalore

Software Developer at Divyashree Soft Tech Pvt Ltd, Oct 2000 - Sep 2001 · 1 yr, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, - Developed and tested web applications using Java technologies. - Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and implement solutions, ensuring high performance and scalability. - Engaged in quality assurance activities, including code reviews, to enhance application functionality and performance.

Software Developer at SSI Limited, Jul 2000 - Sep 2000 · 3 mos, Udupi, Karnataka, India, - Guided and taught a team of project trainees enhancing their skills in software development in Java, HTML, JSP. - Oversaw various Java projects of the trainees.

Education

MS, Software Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

BE, Computer Science and Engineering, Mangalore university