Headline

Technology Leader | Engineering Excellence | AI Transformation & Governance | Technology Strategy | Enterprise Transformation | Portfolio & PMO Leadership | Cloud & Product Delivery | PMP

About

Technology leader with 25+ years of experience leading engineering excellence, AI transformation, portfolio delivery, governance, and organizational change across global organizations including Harman, Google, Nokia, Star India, TIBCO, Cisco, IBM, Sun Microsystems, and others. Throughout my career, I have helped organizations improve engineering productivity, quality, delivery predictability, and business outcomes by combining technology leadership, operational excellence, and people-centered transformation. My experience spans engineering leadership, enterprise transformation, AI governance, portfolio and PMO leadership, product delivery, and technology strategy. I have led initiatives impacting 2,000+ engineers across four global regions, delivering measurable results including 40% improvements in delivery velocity, 25% productivity gains through GenAI adoption, zero P1 defects, low COPQ, and portfolio outcomes exceeding $300M in business value. I am passionate about helping organizations navigate large-scale change while maintaining a strong focus on engineering excellence, customer value, quality, innovation, and business results. My areas of interest include AI transformation and governance, cloud and platform modernization, engineering productivity, enterprise architecture, DevOps, data-driven decision making, and building high-performing teams capable of delivering sustained business impact. I enjoy working with diverse global teams and collaborating with business, product, engineering, and executive leaders to align technology investments with strategic objectives. I am currently open to leadership opportunities in Engineering Leadership, Engineering Excellence, AI Transformation & Governance, Technology Strategy, Portfolio Leadership, Product Delivery, and Enterprise Transformation.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude

huggingface

ChatGPT

Work experience

Professional development at Career Break, Nov 2025 - Jun 2026 · 8 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Family Priorities & Professional Development Took a planned career break to address significant family priorities and personal commitments (due to loss). During this period, continued professional development related to AI, technology, leadership, and mentoring juniors on agile and other leadership topics, PMI activities, etc. Currently open to leadership opportunities in Engineering, AI Transformation & Governance, Technology Strategy, Portfolio Leadership, Product Delivery, and Enterprise Transformation.

Associate Director Engineering at HARMAN International, Nov 2021 - Oct 2025 · 4 yrs, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, Led engineering delivery, engineering excellence, quality excellence, organizational transformation and AI adoption initiatives across a global Automotive Services organization spanning 2,000+ engineers, 55+ teams, and four geographic regions (NAFTA, LATAM, EMEA, APAC) Key Achievements • Led engineering delivery and transformation initiatives across Harman Automotive Services, driving improvements in engineering productivity, quality, predictability & operational excellence. • Directed enterprise-wide Engineering Excellence and Agile transformation programs across 2,000+ engineers and 55+ teams, resulting in a 40% improvement in delivery velocity. • Improved software quality through adoption of modern engineering practices including TDD/BDD, DevOps, CI/CD, automation, and Quality & Stability (QS4) frameworks, achieving zero P1 defects for over two years and reducing defect escape rates below 1%. • Championed GenAI adoption across engineering teams using ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, improving productivity and reducing manual effort by approximately 25%. • Partnered with business, product, architecture, and engineering leaders across 4 global regions (NAFTA, LATAM, EMEA & APAC) to align technology execution with organizational goals and customer commitments. • Established governance, metrics, and portfolio visibility mechanisms enabling proactive risk management, capacity planning, delivery predictability, and continuous improvement. • Built organizational capability through large-scale coaching, mentoring, and upskilling initiatives, training over 90% of engineering organization & creating networks of Agile and engineering excellence champions. • Led recruitment, talent development, succession planning, & cross-skilling initiatives to strengthen engineering capability and foster high-performing teams. • Recognized with Harman's "Be Brilliant Spotlight Award for Excellence"(2024) for driving engineering transformation and quality excellence initiatives across orgs.

Caregiving at Career Break, Dec 2019 - Oct 2021 · 1 yr 11 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Took a planned career break for 6 months to be close to my senior citizen parents and take care of them in Bangalore. The break extended due to onset of covid till 2021.

Vice President - PMO, Star Data Science & Technology at Disney Star, Mar 2018 - Nov 2019 · 1 yr 9 mos, Mumbai Area, India, Established and led enterprise PMO and Data & Technology Center of Excellence supporting digital transformation, governance, compliance, and delivery excellence across a 5,000+ member media and technology organization. Key Achievements • Established Star's enterprise PMO and Data & Technology Center of Excellence, providing governance, portfolio visibility, delivery oversight, and transformation leadership across multiple business units. • Authored and implemented enterprise-wide Data Security & Governance policies and formed the Data Security & Governance Council, enabling proactive compliance with GDPR and emerging Indian data protection regulations while strengthening organizational awareness of privacy, security, and governance. • Led organization-wide transformation initiatives including Agile adoption, process governance, and delivery excellence programs, contributing to a 40% improvement in delivery velocity and greater execution predictability. • Re-engineered vendor evaluation and governance processes, improving delivery accountability and generating approximately $100K annually in software licensing cost savings. • Built data-driven portfolio and project governance frameworks, introducing transparent performance metrics, executive reporting, and objective delivery assessments across programs. • Organized enterprise-wide innovation initiatives including the Global Data Summit and Create & Build Hackathon, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and data-driven decision making.

Principal Program Manager at Nokia, Feb 2017 - Mar 2018 · 1 yr 2 mos, Bengaluru Area, India, Led delivery and release management for mission-critical network infrastructure products, coordinating globally distributed software, hardware, and firmware engineering teams to deliver complex telecommunications solutions. Key Achievements • Directed end-to-end program and release management for network element platforms, ensuring predictable delivery across geographically distributed engineering teams. • Established governance, reporting, and operational visibility frameworks through customized JIRA dashboards and metrics, improving stakeholder transparency and execution predictability. • Led proactive risk identification, dependency management, and cross-functional coordination, enabling on-time delivery of strategic releases. • Improved engineering efficiency through process optimization, workflow enhancements, branching strategies, and tailored development and support practices. • Leveraged strong technical and architectural expertise to bridge business, product, and engineering teams and facilitate informed technical decision-making.

Education

M.C.A., Master of Computer Applications, Berhampur University

B.Sc, Physics(Honours), Chemistry, Biology, Electronics, Khallikote College