Kavita Kapoor joins On the Pulse to share her non-linear journey from building one of the earliest web pages in the mid-’90s and working in Silicon Valley to leading product and technology across organizations including the BBC, Channel 4, Just Eat, micro:bit, and now Imperial College London. She discusses early experiences with bro culture and being told how to dress, the persistence that landed her a life-changing role at London 2012, and how securing a product manager title helped propel her into senior leadership. Kavita reflects on developing an authentic, compassionate leadership style, the challenges of fundraising as a female founder, and choosing values-driven work in higher education. She explains adapting product models to university governance, prioritizing cybersecurity, and her view of LLMs versus “true” AI, ending with advice on growth mindset, mentors, and continually challenging yourself.

00:00 Life Changing Call
00:50 Meet Kavita Kapoor
02:47 First Computers Spark
03:50 First Website Era
04:42 Seeing Internet Future
06:05 Silicon Valley Reality
07:22 Bro Culture Lessons
09:56 BBC Early Product Work
11:56 Breaking Into Olympics
15:07 Becoming Product Leader
16:26 Leadership Growing Pains
20:28 Finding Authentic Style
22:42 Comfort In C Suite
23:01 Microbit Global Scale
24:16 Side Hustles And Martial Arts
25:02 Funding Bias And Asia Network
25:56 Leaving Profit Driven Cultures
26:50 Choosing Imperial For Purpose
29:15 Elevation Over Transformation
32:02 Product Mindset In Universities
36:08 Governance Boards And Workstreams
39:28 Prioritising Value And Cybersecurity
41:26 AI Reality Check And Future Tech
47:20 How AI Changes Product Management
51:34 Leadership Advice And Mentors
53:27 Closing Thanks And Contact