エピソード

  • Story of a fractional CTO with Thanos Diacakis

    Story of a fractional CTO with Thanos Diacakis
    2025/07/12

    My guest today is Thanos Diacakis, Software Delivery Coach & a Fractional CTO.

    We covered a wide range of topics that included:

    • Insightful Experiences: Thanos shared many insightful and thought-provoking experiences and perspectives, particularly on software delivery life cycle improvements without explicitly using terms like Kanban
    • Balancing Work and Personal Life: Thanos emphasized the importance of balancing work and personal life, recognizing that while work is important, personal relationships and leisure activities are equally significant.
    • Fractional CTO Business: Thanos discussed the benefits of running a fractional CTO business, allowing for flexibility in managing time and delivering value to multiple clients
    • Scaling Challenges: Thanos shared experiences with scaling projects, particularly with Uber's bikes and scooters, highlighting the importance of having systems in place to manage growth
    • Learning from Others: Thanos emphasized the value of learning from others and cross-pollinating ideas across different clients to improve software delivery


    Thanos Diacakis helps startups and growing companies overcome software bottlenecks, scale engineering teams, and deliver high-quality products faster. With over 25 years in software development, his background spans both early-stage ventures and tech giants like Uber and Included Health, where he led the technical integration of the JUMP Bikes acquisition, scaling the platform to 45k vehicles and over 2 million monthly trips. He’s seen elite teams stall when outdated processes leave them too heads-down to course-correct. With lean, evidence-backed practices, he unlocks faster delivery and greater developer satisfaction, so velocity rises while burnout falls.


    SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

    Website: https://www.cosmicteacups.com/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thanosd/
    続きを読む 一部表示
    54 分
  • Rewiring Careers, Redefining Impact with Anu Dwaraknath

    Rewiring Careers, Redefining Impact with Anu Dwaraknath
    2025/07/05
    In this episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri Kalyanaraman speaks with Anu Dwaraknath, Staff Technical Program Manager at Lam Research, about her dynamic journey across geographies, domains, and roles. From her early days in telecom to becoming a driving force in the semiconductor space, Anu shares stories of adaptability, continuous learning, and purpose-driven leadership. Episode Summary In this inspiring episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Anu Dwaraknath, Staff Technical Program Manager at Lam Research — a global leader in semiconductor capital equipment.Anu walks us through her transformative journey from a telecom software engineer to a program leader in the high-stakes world of semiconductors. With warmth and clarity, she shares how each stage of her career was shaped by curiosity, grit, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.Having started in C/C++ development at Alcatel-Lucent, Anu transitioned into technical program management after earning a general management MBA in the U.S. — a shift she undertook during the 2008 recession. With no prior semiconductor experience, she joined Lam Research as an intern and steadily built her domain knowledge, moving from internal IT to core product engineering over the next decade.Now based in India, Anu leads software initiatives on tools that power the chips behind every smart device — and actively advocates for greater awareness and participation in the semiconductor industry, especially for women in tech. Key Themes & Highlights Breaking Into Semiconductors with Persistence and CuriosityJoined Lam Research during her MBA through an internship focused on business analysis.Despite being new to the domain, she took on enterprise software migrations, bridging the business and engineering teams.Faced challenges around visa sponsorship and recession-era job market, but leveraged every opportunity to gain cross-functional exposure. Learning the Domain, One Layer at a TimeStarted in IT and internal systems, then gradually moved into product-facing roles within Lam.Through subconscious learning from team meetings, leadership messages, and everyday exposure, she began to understand the complex world of semiconductor fabrication and capital equipment.Upon relocating to India, she took on a more core product role — bringing her closer to engineers and customers, leading to rapid upskilling in domain knowledge.“I knew I was coming in from a non-product background, and I said yes — I’m ready for the steep learning curve.”️ Building the Beginner’s MindsetEmphasizes the importance of staying mentally agile and open to new domains.Used every role — from unpaid internships to technical program ownership — as a learning opportunity.Believes you don’t need to know everything on Day 1, but must carry the intent to learn continuously. Growing Semiconductor Awareness in IndiaEngages actively with communities like Grace Hopper (GHCI), Lean In, and PMI, often being the only semiconductor representative in the room.Speaks at schools and conferences to demystify what semiconductors are, how fabs work, and why this field matters — especially post-COVID and in India’s Make in India drive.Helps others through referrals, career guidance, and mentorship — especially women interested in STEM and product roles Quote-worthy Moments“Your domain doesn’t have to define you — if you carry the mindset to learn, the journey takes care of itself.”“I wanted to break out of my comfort zone — not just from engineering to management, but from one industry to another.”“Being in semiconductors now feels like representing a movement — and I take that responsibility seriously.”Anu can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anu-dwarakanath-89728a15/Anu is Process innovator, critical thinker, and a corporate entrepreneur in the making! Solid program manager who adds strategic value and brings out competitive differentiation by focusing on business transformations.● 15 years of experience working in IT program management, specializing in waterfall (SDLC), agile and hybrid project management methodologies● A highly collaborative leader with a track record of building effective cross-functional teams and relationships, while delivering high scale solutions● Core competencies: structured problem solving & qualitative decision analysis, negotiation & consensus building Links & ResourcesLam ResearchGrace Hopper Conference IndiaLeanin.orgPMI.org
    続きを読む 一部表示
    39 分
  • Passion, Patents, and Powering Down AI with Fred Jordan

    Passion, Patents, and Powering Down AI with Fred Jordan
    2025/06/29
    Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Dr. Fred Jordan, CEO and Co-Founder at AlpVision and FinalSpark - Expert anticounterfeit technologies - Expert biocomputing talks about his journey to make a difference in AI and what propelled him to do that. 1. Early Career — Curiosity, Coincidence, and CounterfeitsFred describes himself modestly as a French physicist who stumbled into entrepreneurship by "provoking luck."He and his co-founder Martin Kutter began with research in digital watermarking, creating invisible marks on media.Their startup AlfVision emerged from this — aimed at detecting counterfeit goods using image analysis.Lessons from early failures (9 out of 10 products failed) were key to refining their success. 2. Making the Mark — Patents, Passion, and Intellectual PropertyFred emphasizes building a business around passion, but insists on profitability too.He stresses the importance of understanding finance, even for technical founders.As a multi-founder and active programmer, he still codes when needed — including writing software that led to a patent and successful tech deployment in China. 3. Creating a Legacy — Bio-Neurons and a Sustainable FutureFinal Spark emerged from Fred and Martin’s desire to return to fundamental research, after years of commercial success.Their mission: dramatically reduce the energy and resources required to run AI by leveraging real neurons instead of digital simulations — achieving up to 1 million times greater energy efficiency.In their lab in Switzerland, they’ve created a testbed where biological neural tissues are grown, connected via electrodes, and streamed in real-time — with microfluidics feeding them 24/7.Fred draws a direct parallel between learning in artificial neural networks (via adjusting weights) and the biological challenge of inducing learning by reconfiguring synaptic connections. This forms the crux of building a true biological computing server. “When you have artificial neurons, learning is done by setting the right connections between them. We need to do the same in biology. That’s how humans learn — and that’s what we have to replicate in vitro.”The long-term vision is bold:Create biological servers at scale (10cm x 100m tissues) that could power AI with drastically less energy.Biological intelligence becoming mainstream — just as LED lights replaced incandescent bulbs.A future with hybrid bio-artificial objects — think of a glass that detects your mood and adjusts your drink accordingly.Breakaway quote-worthy moments “Trial and error is really precious... Being a co-founder, failures teach you very, very valuable lessons.” “I’m not building something for today — I want it to make sense even from 100 million kilometers away.”His thoughts on entrepreneurship: “You need to be not bad at many things. Everything is holistic.” “If you don't work for your dreams, you work for someone else's.”Fred Jordan is an Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of successful and profitable businesses. Skilled in Innovation, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Programming, Marketing, Management and Entrepreneurship. Scientific education with M.Sc. in physics and Ph.D. in signal processing.Co-founder of:- AlpVision: Supplier of technologies and smartphone solutions for automatic detection of genuine and fake products.- FinalSpark: Startup using biological neural networks for the design of Artificial General Intelligence.Dr. Fred Jordan started their journey in technology entrepreneurship after completing his PhDs at EPFL in applied mathematics. This work gave them the inspiration for their first successful start-up, AlpVision, where they excelled at overcoming engineering challenges and created an innovative solution for product authentication. The company became very profitable and is still successfully run by them.This brought the co-founders Fred and Martin to a new, even bigger challenge, to address the problem of Artificial General Intelligence. Creating a ‘Thinking Machine’ is a dream of many engineers. A machine which can reason as a human being is considered by many as a peak performance to be achieved in engineering.Although we currently observe the flourishing of the AI models which make impression of being ableto think, as they successfully ‘fake’ human thinking with advanced statistics, this has nothing to do withhuman reasoning which is capable of creating new ideas and concepts outside its own experience. Thisis what a ‘real’ thinking machine should do as well.Fred and Martin decided to address this problem by testing the state-of-the-art methods in AI models, such as in silico spiking neural networks, genetic programming and many versions of in silico neural networks.Multidisciplinary thinking and the interest to explore unknown areas lead Fred and Martin to work on living neurons as computation units. They established FinalSpark lab which is ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    51 分
  • Entrepreneurship, AI, and Social Impact with Santosh Kaveti

    Entrepreneurship, AI, and Social Impact with Santosh Kaveti
    2025/06/20

    I am very happy to bring you the inspiring story of Santosh Kaveti, CEO and Founder of ProArch Technologies.


    In this conversation he talks about:

    • His Origin Story: From applied mathematics to entrepreneurship, navigating challenges, risks, and business growth.
    • AI in Cybersecurity & Infrastructure: The rapid convergence of AI, security, compliance, and enterprise tech strategies.
    • Investing & Startup Leadership: What Santosh looks for in founders, financial planning, and scaling a business globally.
    • Navigating AI Risks & Model Security: Addressing AI poisoning, prompt injection threats, and governance frameworks for enterprises.
    • AI for Business & Social Good: Why AI should be seen not just as a cost-efficiency tool but as an enabler of new opportunities.
    • Human in the Loop & AI Ethics: The need for human oversight and anomaly detection to keep AI decisions aligned with real-world values.
    • Social Initiatives & Community Learning: How the MASTI initiative bridges music, art, science, and tech and innovation for underprivileged children.
    • Balancing Business & Social Impact: Santosh’s philosophy on staying grounded, mentorship, and personal growth through meaningful work.


    With over 18 years of experience as a technologist, entrepreneur, investor, and advisor, Santosh Kaveti is the CEO and Founder of ProArch, a purpose-driven enterprise that accelerates value and increases resilience for its clients with consulting and technology services, enabled by cloud, guided by data, fueled by apps, and secured by design.

    Santosh’s vision and leadership have propelled ProArch to become a dominant force in key industry verticals, such as Energy, Healthcare & Lifesciences, and Manufacturing, where he leverages his expertise in manufacturing process improvement, mentoring, and consulting.


    https://www.linkedin.com/in/santoshkaveti/
    続きを読む 一部表示
    50 分
  • Interpretability and Explainability with Aruna Chakkirala

    Interpretability and Explainability with Aruna Chakkirala
    2025/06/13
    Her early inspiration while growing up in Goa with limited exposure to career options. Her Father’s intellectual influence despite personal hardships and shift in focus to technology.Personal tragedy sparked a resolve to become financially independent and learn deeply.Inspirational quote that shaped her mindset: “Even if your dreams haven’t come true, be grateful that so haven’t your nightmares.”Her first role at a startup with Hands-on work with networking protocols (LDAP, VPN, DNS). Learning using only RFCs and O'Reilly books—no StackOverflow! Importance of building deep expertise for long-term success.Experiences with Troubleshooting and System Thinking; Transitioned from reactive fixes to logical, structured problem-solving. Her depth of understanding helped in debugging and system optimization.Career move to Yahoo where she led Service Engineering for mobile and ads across global data centers got early exposure to big data and machine learning through ad recommendation systems and built "performance and scale muscle" through working at massive scale.Challenges of Scale and Performance Then vs. Now: Problems remain the same, but data volumes and complexity have exploded. How modern tools (like AI/ML) can help identify relevance and anomalies in large data sets.Design with Scale in Mind - Importance of flipping the design approach: think scale-first, not POC-first. Encourage starting with a big-picture view, even when building a small prototype. Highlights multiple scaling dimensions—data, compute, network, security.Getting Into ML and Data Science with early spark from MOOCs, TensorFlow experiments, and statistics; Transition into data science role at Infoblox, a cybersecurity firm with focus areas on DNS security, anomaly detection, threat intelligence.Building real-world ML model applications like supervised models for threat detection and storage forecasting; developing graph models to analyze DNS traffic patterns for anomalies and key challenges of managing and processing massive volumes of security data.Data stack and what it takes to build data lakes that support ML with emphasis on understanding the end-to-end AI pipelineShifts from “under the hood” ML to front-and-center GenAI & Barriers: Data readiness, ROI, explainability, regulatory compliance.Explainability in AI and importance of interpreting model decisions, especially in regulated industries.How Explainability Works -Trade-offs between interpretable models (e.g., decision trees) and complex ones (e.g., deep learning); Techniques for local and global model understanding.Aruna’s Book on Interpretability and Explainability in AI Using Python (by Aruna C).The world of GenAI & Transformers - Explainability in LLMs and GenAI: From attention weights to neuron activation.Challenges of scale: billions of parameters make models harder to interpret. Exciting research areas: Concept tracing, gradient analysis, neuron behavior.GenAI Agents in Action - Transition from task-specific GenAI to multi-step agents. Agents as orchestrators of business workflows using tools + reasoning.Real-world impact of agents and AI for everyday lifeAruna Chakkirala is a seasoned leader with expertise in AI, Data and Cloud. She is an AI Solutions Architect at Microsoft where she was instrumental in the early adoption of Generative AI. In prior roles as a Data Scientist she has built models in cybersecurity and holds a patent in community detection for DNS querying. Through her two-decade career, she has developed expertise in scale, security, and strategy at various organizations such as Infoblox, Yahoo, Nokia, EFI, and Verisign. Aruna has led highly successful teams and thrives on working with cutting-edge technologies. She is a frequent technical and keynote speaker, panelist, author and an active blogger. She contributes to community open groups and serves as a guest faculty member at premier academic institutes. Her book titled "Interpretability and Explainability in AI using Python" covers the taxonomy and techniques for model explanations in AI including the latest research in LLMs. She believes that the success of real-world AI applications increasingly depends on well- defined architectures across all encompassing domains. Her current interests include Generative AI, applications of LLMs and SLMs, Causality, Mechanistic Interpretability, and Explainability tools.Her recently published book linkInterpretability and Explainability in AI Using Python: Decrypt AI Decision-Making Using Interpretability and Explainability with Python to Build Reliable Machine Learning Systems https://amzn.in/d/00dSOwAOutside of work, she is an avid reader and enjoys creative writing. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she is actively involved in GHCI, LeanIn communities.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間 1 分
  • Selling IT based solutions with Deepak Mittal

    Selling IT based solutions with Deepak Mittal
    2025/06/08

    I am in conversation with Deepak Mittal, CEO of FFTalos Technologies.


    In this insightful episode, Deepak Mittal shares his career journey from coding to consultative selling, reflecting on his evolution from a tech enthusiast to a sales leader driving large-scale digital transformation. He explores solution-based selling, the importance of understanding customer needs, and why sales is more about facilitation than persuasion.

    More specifically, he covers:

    • His Origin Story: From engineering and coding in the early IT days to discovering his passion for customer interactions.
    • Tech vs. Sales: The shift from writing software to understanding business problems and shaping solutions.
    • Consultative vs. Product-Based Selling: The difference between pitching features vs. uncovering customer pain points.
    • Customer Empathy & Industry Knowledge: Why asking the right questions & listening is more powerful than a polished pitch.
    • Building Relationships in Sales: The role of trust, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement in long-term success.
    • The Modern Buyer: How the digital era has transformed customer research & purchasing behavior.
    • Enterprise Selling Strategies: The contrast between RFP-driven sales and proactive relationship-building.
    • Navigating Internal Trust in Sales & Delivery Teams: Why sales & delivery alignment is critical for customer success.
    • The Human Side of Selling: Managing rejections, pressures, and the art of influencing without being pushy.

    Deepak has over his career, worked in IT sector focusing on Technology, Media & Telecommunication(TMT) businesses, in sales, business development & practice leadership roles. His experience across IT Services Companies, Managed Services Providers and Product Vendors, has given him a unique 360 degrees insight into IT solutions and how they fit into larger business landscape.


    He has worked across global markets and delivered significant results, in a period of great technological flux and business volatility within TMT sector. His experience has given him a good exposure & proficiency in the following areas–


    1. Understanding and managing digital transformation and its impact on business strategies as well as on the workplace.

    2. Understanding business drivers and their correlation with IT and Technology strategies.

    3. Execution of IT & Technology strategy on-ground.

    4. Understanding & enabling eco-systems to drive business outcomes.

    5. Building & motivating high performing global teams


    He has always tried to anchor his work in business fundamentals like customer experience, profitability & market share and leveraging technology into driving business outcomes.


    https://www.linkedin.com/in/demittal/
    続きを読む 一部表示
    58 分
  • Involving Communities in Product Development with Jake McKee

    Involving Communities in Product Development with Jake McKee
    2025/05/30

    My guest today is Jake McKee, a pioneer in the modern customer community movement.

    In this conversation, he shares:

    • Hiss Origin Story: His unique career bridging product design, engineering, and community strategy.
    • Community-Driven Product Development: How companies can embed passionate customers in the development cycle.
    • Empathy & Relationship Building: The importance of emotional connection between brands, engineers, and users.
    • Community Across Industries: From B2B to B2C, physical products to software, communities play a crucial role in success.
    • Brand Strength vs. Community Engagement: Why brand prestige isn’t necessary—what matters is purpose and connection.
    • Breaking Silos Within Organizations: How community initiatives foster collaboration across different departments.
    • Harnessing Collective Knowledge: Using communities to gather insights, troubleshoot issues, and enhance product adoption.
    • Leading Indicators vs. Reactive Responses: Using community feedback to detect trends before they become business problems.
    • AI in Community Management: How AI can augment but not replace human relationships in communities.
    • ‍ What Makes a Great Community Manager? Perseverance, empathy, and communication are key traits for success.


    Jake McKee is one of the founders of the modern customer community movement. He led Apple’s famed Global Support Communities. He pioneered efforts at LEGO to engage its adult users in a community - which spawned breakthrough innovations such as the Mindstorms Community Driven Product Development (which landed on the cover of Wired Magazine).

    For more than 10 years, Jake has been a leading industry community consultant working with clients like Cancer Treatment Centers of America, EA Games, Southwest Airlines, and Outdoorsy. His consulting practice, Jake McKee Consulting focuses on helping organizations of all sizes design, execute, and grow Community Driven Product Development programs that bring the Community Voice into the product development lifecycle.

    Jake also manages the CX Sessions project, an invitation-only monthly dinner series that brings senior online community, CX, and product management leaders together for conversation, connection, and camaraderie. And just for laughs, he created a web comic for community managers called Confessions of a Community Manager.

    https://jakemckee.com/

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakemckee/
    続きを読む 一部表示
    55 分
  • From Theater to entrepreneurship with Stamatis Astra

    From Theater to entrepreneurship with Stamatis Astra
    2025/05/23

    My guest today is Stamatis Astra is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations. In this freewheeling conversation, he talks about:


    • Introduction & Origin Story
    • Stamatis shares his varied career journey, starting in theater before transitioning into technology and entrepreneurship.
    • Reflects on early internet days, the rise of e-commerce, and parallels with today’s AI revolution.
    • Entrepreneurial Mindset & Product Building
    • The core skills of entrepreneurship remain the same, whether in film or software—raising funds, pitching ideas, and building belief.
    • Confidence, resilience, and timing play crucial roles in success.
    • Theater vs. Business—Script vs. Improv
    • In acting, a defined script brings clarity, whereas business requires improvisation based on data and insights.
    • Sales and investor pitches require a structured approach, but product development thrives on innovation and open-ended discussions.
    • Remote Work & Leadership Challenges
    • Discusses difficulties of leading distributed teams without face-to-face interaction.
    • Emphasizes the need for engaged communication, structured meetings, and keeping discussions interactive.
    • The Intersection of Media, AI & Entrepreneurship
    • Shares insights from his role as a venture partner and a radio host—both involve asking deep, thought-provoking questions.
    • Talks about Intelligent Relations, a PR SaaS company leveraging AI to democratize media access.
    • AI's Role in Public Relations
    • AI helps connect brands with journalists through automation and data-driven personalization.
    • PR success hinges on storytelling—brands must embed themselves in the news cycle, not just promote their offerings.
    • Career Opportunities in Public Relations
    • Traditional PR relied on communication specialists; today, data engineers play a vital role.
    • Engineers help structure outreach for journalists, influencers, and media platforms.
    • Personal Philosophy & Staying Grounded
    • The importance of family, health, and knowing the deeper motivation behind success.
    • Business challenges come and go, but fundamental values remain the same.


    Stamatis Astra, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations

    Stamatis Astra is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Intelligent Relations, where he drives the company’s mission to transform public relations through AI-powered technology and expert insights. With over 20+ years of experience in media and business strategy, Stamatis is fully committed to making earned media accessible to all businesses, helping them build meaningful connections with the media and tell impactful stories.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    40 分