Headline

VP Engineering | Driving AI-Native Transformations | Microservices • Cloud Architecture • Team Scaling | 18+ Years | ex-Razorpay, Alibaba Group, Oracle

About

Engineering leader delivering transformative business outcomes: 9x revenue growth, 40% churn reduction, and 28% infrastructure optimization, while building high-performing teams across global markets. Currently VP of Product Engineering at Needl.ai, where I'm leading the AI-native transformation of our enterprise platform. In just over a year, I've architected agentic AI systems with LLM integration (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini), built RAG pipelines with patent-pending semantic search, and delivered 3 AI-powered products in 3 weeks—achieving a 60x productivity improvement. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: - Led AI-native platform transformation delivering 9x revenue growth and 40% churn reduction - Scaled cross-cultural engineering teams from 8 to 26 across India, Singapore, and Taiwan during COVID - Reduced infrastructure costs 28% while managing product and engineering budgets - Built ML-powered pricing engine at Lazada, achieving 70% basket penetration - Launched Razorpay's Magic Checkout (0-to-1 fintech product) with ML-powered fraud detection - Led teams through challenging environments, including Alibaba's 996 culture - Delivered 3 end-to-end products in 3 weeks, leveraging AI and refined processes EXPERTISE: 18+ years driving transformations across SaaS, e-commerce, and fintech platforms. Deep expertise in microservices architecture, cloud-native infrastructure (AWS/Azure/K8s), AI/ML systems (LLM integration, agentic AI, context engineering), and establishing engineering excellence through structured processes (Agile, OKRs, CI/CD, automated testing). I specialize in: - Building and scaling engineering organizations - AI-native platform transformations - Distributed systems and microservices architecture - Cross-cultural team leadership (US, Europe, India, APAC, China) - 0-to-1 product development in high-growth startups M.Tech in Information Technology from IIIT-Bangalore Open to connecting with engineering leaders, founders, and innovators in the AI/SaaS space. Let's discuss how technology can drive business transformation.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude code

codex

Work experience

VP of Product Engineering at Needl.ai, Dec 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 9 mos, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, Leading engineering and product teams building enterprise-grade agentic AI platforms with advanced context engineering and multi-agent orchestration. Key Achievements: - Delivered 9x revenue growth through AI product innovation and enterprise B2B deployments - Optimized infrastructure costs by 28% while managing product, engineering budgets - Achieved 60x productivity improvement by delivering 3 AI-powered products in 3 weeks - Built and scaled cross-functional teams (ML, Platform, DevOps, QA, Apps) - Authored enterprise white papers on AI architecture and performance benchmarks Technologies: Python, AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, Microservices, LLM Integration, RAG, Vector Embeddings, TensorFlow, PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka, Grafana, CI/CD

Associate Director / Senior Engineering Manager at Razorpay, May 2022 - Apr 2023 · 1 yr, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Led Magic Checkout 0-to-1 product launch—Razorpay's first D2C offering enabling unified checkout experience across merchant sites. Key Achievements: - Directed 4 cross-functional pods with 3 engineering managers and 40+ stakeholders - Implemented ML-powered RTO prediction and fraud detection systems - Reduced production incidents 60% through automated testing and microservices migration - Decreased regression testing time 80% through test automation frameworks - Navigated complex Shopify platform dependencies and fintech regulatory requirements - Established RCA documentation and war room protocols for incident management Technologies: Php, Python, Node.js, Microservices, ML Models, Shopify API, PostgreSQL, Redis, Kubernetes, CI/CD

Engineering Manager at Carousell, Apr 2020 - May 2022 · 2 yrs 2 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Managed Order Management/Recommerce platform serving Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan markets during COVID-19 remote transition. Key Achievements: - Rebuilt remote engineering team from 8 to 26 across India, Singapore, Taiwan post-attrition - Established structured hiring pipeline and onboarding process for distributed teams - Built engineering manager layer to support rapid team scaling - Led Order Management platform with microservices architecture and 3rd-party integrations (Stripe, Poslaju, AfterShip, payment gateways) - Maintained business continuity through COVID with fully remote leadership Technologies: Golang, Microservices, Service Mesh, API Integrations, PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka, AWS, Android, IOS and Web apps

Engineering Manager | Pricing at Lazada, May 2018 - Apr 2020 · 2 yrs, Greater Bengaluru Area, Led Pricing, Promotions, and Coupons charter for Redmart (Lazada's online supermarket in Singapore). Key Achievements: - Built ML-driven pricing engine achieving 70% basket penetration and 20% GMV coverage - Automated price benchmarking for 250+ Price Perception Driver (PPD) SKUs daily - Designed and implemented multi-seller marketplace and template engine systems - Led critical YouPik project in China following Alibaba's intensive 996 work culture - Managed Redmart IDC sunset with zero business impact - Contributed to V3 Integration, customer migration, and line change projects Technologies: Java, Microservices, Python, RabbitMQ, MySQL, Redis, AWS

Prinicipal Member of Technical Staff | Oracle Cloud | IPAAS at Oracle, Feb 2018 - May 2018 · 4 mos, Bengaluru Area, India

Education

M.Tech, Information Technology, International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore

B.Tech, Computer Science and Information Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University