Headline

Product Leader | AI, Data & Drug Discovery | Turning Scientific Data into Products for Scientists & AI/ML | PhD in Medicinal Chemistry

About

I build AI and data products that turn complex scientific information into decision-ready intelligence for scientists, research teams and AI/ML systems. With a background in medicinal chemistry, I’ve moved from bench science into product leadership, building and scaling products that structure chemical and biological data for real-world scientific workflows. My work sits at the intersection of scientific data, product strategy and AI, translating complex workflows into usable products and capabilities. I’ve worked across areas including drug discovery, SAR analysis, data standardization, cheminformatics and machine learning, with a focus on making scientific data more accessible, usable and valuable for decision-making. My scientific background gives me a strong understanding of complex domain problems, while my product experience allows me to connect those problems to user needs, technology, data and business outcomes. I focus on building products where AI, high-quality data and deep domain expertise come together to solve meaningful problems.

Location

Hyderabad

AI stack

aistudio

claude code

claude

grok

openai

claudecode

Work experience

Principal Product Manager at Excelra, Jul 2026 - Present · 5 mos, Hybrid, 1. Own product strategy and portfolio direction for AI and data products supporting scientific research, with a focus on scaling proven capabilities across products and markets. 2. Define product vision and priorities across AI/ML, scientific data and intelligent research workflows. 3. Drive alignment across product, science, data, engineering and commercial teams on strategic product opportunities. 4. Shape the long-term evolution of scientific data products for researchers and AI/ML systems, balancing differentiated capabilities with customer value and business growth.

Lead Product Manager at Excelra, Jul 2024 - Jun 2026 · 2 yrs, Hybrid, 1. Led product strategy and roadmap across scientific data and AI products, balancing customer needs, market opportunities and business priorities. 2. Took new capabilities from 0 to 1, expanding the product portfolio through new scientific data products from market opportunity and definition through development and launch. 3. Shaped AI/ML capabilities and data products to support scientific decision-making, predictive modelling and emerging AI-driven workflows. 4. Led the evolution of the Scientific Products portfolio, bringing together scientific data, AI/ML capabilities and new product offerings to address emerging customer and market needs. 5. Led cross-functional initiatives across science, data, engineering, commercial and customer teams, translating complex scientific problems into differentiated product opportunities.

Senior Product Manager at Excelra, Apr 2022 - Jun 2024 · 2 yrs 3 mos, Remote, 1. Owned product development for scientific data products end to end, translating complex chemical and biological requirements into product direction, requirements and scalable capabilities. 2. Built new product initiatives from 0 to 1 across scientific data and AI/ML, from market assessment and definition through development and customer validation. 3. Expanded the product portfolio into new scientific areas, including Targeted Protein Degradation and large-molecule data, while strengthening the core GOSTAR platform. 4. Used customer feedback and market insights to shape product priorities, improve the user experience and drive adoption of new capabilities. 5. Worked across product, engineering, data, science, sales and marketing to take products from concept through delivery and market adoption.

Chief Scientific Officer at Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), University of Cape Town, Dec 2018 - Apr 2021 · 2 yrs 5 mos, Cape Town Area, South Africa, 1. Led medicinal chemistry efforts in antimalarial drug discovery programs 2. Managed project direction and contributed to progression of compounds toward preclinical development 3. Collaborated with cross-functional teams across biology, pharmacology, and DMPK

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Cape Town, Jan 2016 - Jul 2018 · 2 yrs 7 mos, Cape Town Area, South Africa, 1. Conducted medicinal chemistry research in antimalarial drug discovery 2. Designed and synthesized small molecules targeting novel biological pathways 3. Collaborated with global partners on translational research programs

PhD research scholar at école nationale supérieure de chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, Oct 2012 - Nov 2015 · 3 yrs 2 mos, Greater Clermont-Ferrand Area, PhD in Medicinal Chemistry focused on synthesis and design of bioactive small molecules

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-II) - Clermont-Ferrand

Master's degree, Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Vellore Institute of Technology

Public links

github: https://github.com/nishanth-kandepedu