Nov 2022 – Present · 3 yrs 6 mos

Mar 2021 – Present · 5 yrs 2 mos · Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area

• In 2021, I set out to rebuild application security from the ground up. My goal was simple: secure modern, microservices-first architectures the way they actually operate: continuously and contextually.
• We started by solving the hardest problem first: visibility.
• We tapped into the power of kernel to build an eBPF sensor that instruments machine-to-machine traffic in real time, giving complete and continuous visibility without creating developer overhead, latency and friction.
• From there, we layered in dynamic testing, monitoring, detection, and protection, creating an end-to-end platform for API Security that worked as fast as the software it protected.
• Then came the next wave of innovation: AI.
• Our customers began asking us to extend that same visibility and protection into LLMs, RAG, AI agents, and MCP servers. For us, it was not a pivot; it was evolution.
• AI workloads are simply machine-to-machine interactions in hyperdrive, and we were already best positioned to secure them. We built on our proven foundation to deliver discovery, testing, and protection across the entire AI control plane.
• As CEO, I continue to lead product, engineering, and go-to-market with one mission: to help enterprises adopt new technologies: APIs, AI Agents, MCP Servers and beyond, without fear.
• In a world where innovation moves fast, security should not hold it back. It should make it unstoppable.

Mar 2019 – Mar 2021 · 2 yrs · San Francisco Bay Area

• I joined Traceable, a cybersecurity SaaS startup founded by Jyoti, as it was a move aligned with my entrepreneurial ambitions.
• At Traceable, I went beyond my role as Director of Engineering, actively participating in the product roadmap, UX discussions and overall product architecture.
• Directly overseeing 10 team members, including those in India, I navigated the challenges of leading teams across multiple locations.
• Amidst these managerial responsibilities, my technical contributions stood out:
• A. API Discoverability Platform-HyperTrace:
• 1) Led developing and owning an open-source distributed tracing-based observability platform.
• 2) As chief architect, I shaped the design and personally implemented pivotal services.
• 3) Pioneered the only open-source observability platform renowned for its exceptional UI/UX, pluggable architecture, and scalable design—offering a universal solution for building observability products.
• B. Traceable API Security Platform:
• 1) Spearheaded the inception and architecture of a groundbreaking web application and API protection platform.
• 2) Provided leadership across global teams, ensuring the platform's success.
• 3) Engaged in meaningful customer conversations to optimize product-market fit.
• This journey at Traceable made me obsessed with the Cybersecurity, Application Security space and customer pain points.
• I also worked closely with Harish Natraj, who’d later become my cofounder at Levo.
• While trying to achieve PMF here, my cofounder and I stumbled upon an insight to revolutionize cybersecurity.

Jan 2019 – Mar 2019 · 2 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• Upon my return to the company, it boasted a workforce of 700 individuals. As I departed from my role as Engineering Director, the company had expanded its ranks to a formidable 2000-strong team.

Aug 2017 – Jan 2019 · 1 yr 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• Growing at AppDynamics, my journey involved more than just climbing the professional ladder—it was about fostering teams.
• As a Manager, I crafted a diverse team of 14, spanning the U.S and India, to shape the next-gen metrics service.
• Leading this project was about scaling the product, leading to a lucrative revenue increase of 100s of millions for the company.
• Post this success, the same team transitioned to crafting a versatile InfluxDB-like metric system, still an integral part of the platform.
• This role offered profound insights into effective team building and management. Some of which being:
• 1) Hire those with a hunger to learn and be more; spotting those who view a job as an opportunity to learn is a special skill.
• 2) Engineers often lack perspective on how their work affects the overall product. Enabling them with the bigger picture leads to exceptional work.

Aug 2016 – Jul 2017 · 11 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• I re-joined AppDynamics to help horizontally scale AppDynamics’ platform and metric ingestion, an area the company struggled with for a long time.
• We have spun out the metric ingestion layer as the first set of microservices from the monolith, allowing the platform to scale for large enterprises and enabling AppDynamics to win double-digit million-dollar deals.
• My technical contributions were:
• A. Orchestration Platform Leadership - AppDynamics (Duration)
• 1) Led the implementation of an internal PaaS, catalyzing AppDynamics' shift to microservices and enhancing product development speed.
• 2) Key contributor to the core platform development, instrumental in securing AppDynamics' first 1000 customers.
• As the Principal Software Engineer, I also led a team of 4.

Oct 2018 – Mar 2025 · 6 yrs 5 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 · 2 yrs · Hyderabad, Telangana, India · Remote

• StaTwig, a friend's startup, is focused on enhancing real-time visibility in the supply chain.
• To complement my friend’s background, I helped hire and mentor their engineering team, providing mentorship across engineering and product frameworks.
• This experience allowed me to support a friend and deepened my understanding of crypto, blockchain, and supply chain management.

Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 · 1 yr · Hyderabad, Telangana, India · Remote

• Elphanta.AI, founded by a close friend, aimed to develop an ML ops platform for data engineering teams.
• ML Ops platforms were uncommon in 2018 India.
• Eager to support him, I leveraged my Saas and product expertise to mentor the two highly technical founders across critical areas such as
• 1) Customer interviews
• 2) Decision-making on product features
• 3) Skills needed to get to PMF
• Unfortunately, the company ceased operations within a year, primarily due to being ahead of its time in the market.
• But this experience was full of learning. These experiences prepared me for my role as a first-time founder at Levo.
• Some of them are:
• 1) Building for enterprises is a long, excruciating journey. Getting to PMF can be challenging
• 2) The sales cycle for them is very long
• 3) Surviving both needs strong backing from VCs
• 4) More than Being early to the market, survival requires a well-thought-out strategy to endure until the market is ready.

Mar 2015 – Aug 2016 · 1 yr 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• Seeking a steeper entrepreneurial curve, I joined Neptune.io, a seed-stage SaaS startup, as the first employee.
• Beyond engineering, I navigated the discovery and sales process, a unique challenge for engineers.
• The pre-LinkedIn sales era was dominated by sales pitches in conference lobbies.
• However, after 15 conferences and 100+ calls, I evolved from a shy engineering nerd to someone with insights into the customer journey and sales process.
• Learning to sell became a pivotal, humbling aspect of my Valley journey.
• My technical responsibilities included:
• A. SaaS Platform for Auto-Remediation:
• 1) Spearheaded the end-to-end development of a fault-tolerant, event-driven automation system using various AWS services.
• 2) As the sole backend engineer for an extended period, I significantly expanded the platform's features to accommodate diverse customer use cases.
• 3) Orchestrated the integration of 10+ partner SaaS products with Neptune, enhancing auto-remediation capabilities.
• 4) Engineered a robust data persistence layer on DynamoDB, ensuring multi-tenancy and fault tolerance for customer data.
• B. Neptune.io Runbook Automation Service and Agent:
• 1) Independently designed and implemented the Neptune Agent in GO language, a crucial component for runbook automation across 100s of customers' servers.
• 2) Cleverly utilized AWS STS and SQS to meet stringent security requirements, acknowledging its importance to overall security.
• C. Autoscale DynamoDB Service:
• 1) Implemented and deployed a solution for autoscaling DynamoDB provisioned capacity, a widely embraced feature.
• 2) This was a much-needed service, and AWS eventually rolled out its service to do the same.
• My journey at Neptune.io was more than a technical evolution; it was a humbling experience that sharpened my entrepreneurial instincts.

Dec 2013 – Feb 2015 · 1 yr 2 mos · San Francisco

• At AppDynamics, a Saas startup founded by Silicon Valley veteran Jyoti Bansal, my role as a senior engineer and engineering leader spanned various domains, with a significant focus on hiring.
• Over a year, I conducted nearly 70 interviews, culminating in the onboarding of 7 bright engineers.
• In tandem with my responsibilities in hiring, my technical contributions were marked by these projects:
• A. Event indexing pipeline for APM data:
• 1) Architected and built a cutting-edge, multi-tenant event pipeline for indexing millions of application performance events and snapshots using ElasticSearch.
• 2) Constructed a robust query layer and SDK to enable seamless event and analytics querying for downstream consumers. The collaborative effort across multiple teams was instrumental in enhancing the APM product.
• B. AppDynamics licensing module:
• 1) Spearheaded major enhancements to the AppDynamics licensing module, resolving critical issues.
• 2) Transformed the licensing module to be unit testable, streamlining the testing process for enhanced reliability.
• C. AppDynamics core service:
• 1) Drove numerous enhancements and feature additions to the AppDynamics’ core server, famously known as the “Controller”.
• 2) Introduced an innovative XML-based framework for seamless application and database configurations import/export.
• Exposed the configuration framework via REST APIs for customer consumption, facilitating ease of use.
• These efforts resulted in a platform with 5 times greater capacity than its predecessor.
• Most importantly, observing Jyoti in building, scaling, and managing a startup not only enhanced my managerial acumen but also served as a profound source of inspiration.
• The ripple effect of AppDynamics' success is evident in the fact that employees went on to found 8+ companies in the next decade—a testament to the lasting influence of exceptional leadership.

Nov 2012 – Dec 2013 · 1 yr 1 mo · Sunnyvale, CA

• Around 2012, I became intrigued about the startup world and began reading up on them. I noticed that the most innovative and inspiring startups all hailed from one place- Silicon Valley.
• As I always wanted to start something of my own, I knew working in a startup would be paramount to realising my goal. And I knew Silicon Valley would be the place to do that.
• As luck would have it, I was simultaneously offered an opportunity at IDC.
• During my time here as a Software Engineer, I worked on their Trade Execution Management System in the following capacities:
• 1) Designed and implemented an innovative pipeline-based Execution Management System (EMS) for a SaaS-based trading platform, revolutionizing brokerage applications in FX trading.
• 2) Engineered robust frameworks for persisting trading data in MongoDB, elevating data storage capabilities and ensuring seamless accessibility for all company teams.
• 3) Spearheaded the creation of aggregation query frameworks for MongoDB, empowering teams to extract and analyze critical trading data efficiently.
• 4) We optimized and fine-tuned RabbitMQ, a key messaging system, to enhance overall performance and ensure seamless and reliable communication across the entire platform.
• The culmination of these efforts resulted in a new trading platform that was five times faster and more performant than its predecessor.
• This experience advanced my technical prowess and provided invaluable insights into the essence of success in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem—where empowerment and acknowledgement of individual contributions foster innovation and loyalty.

Jul 2010 – Nov 2012 · 2 yrs 4 mos · Hyderabad Area, India

• The success of the middleware project led to a promotion within D.E. Shaw where my responsibilities were:
• A. News Analytics Feed:
• 1) Architected and executed a framework providing real-time sentiment analytics data from the Bloomberg news feed in a structured format for Quant's consumption.
• 2) Introduced Python APIs for querying analytics data, facilitating seamless integration with simulators and forecasting algorithms.
• B. Enterprise messaging with JMS and STOMP:
• 1) Led the infrastructure team overseeing large-scale enterprise messaging, managing Perl, Python, and Java applications utilizing messaging for trading data exchange.
• 2) Architected and implemented multiple custom messaging protocols for stock exchange quotes within trading applications.
• This messaging protocol handled over 5,00,000 messages per sec.
• C. Analytics Feed Based on Facebook Data:
• 1) Initiated a research project evaluating the use of Facebook's active user count data for Games and Apps in stock price forecasting.
• 2) Developed a Python framework to extract data from Facebook and generate structured reports.
• These 4 years taught me more than any higher education degree could have. Solving difficult problems led me to master the first principle of thinking and working with fewer resources.

Jun 2008 – Jun 2010 · 2 yrs · Hyderabad Area, India

• Right out of college, Instead of pursuing higher education, I chose to jumpstart my career with one of the top hedge funds - D.E. Shaw.
• I joined the company months before the Global Financial Crisis. And as a result, I witnessed the economic meltdown that followed.
• Assets under management went from $39 billion in mid-2008 (around the time I joined) to $29 billion by 2009.
• It's different from your typical entry into the working world.
• Tough times build character, right?
• Starting in such a turbulent economic time made my work ethic. And D.E. Shaw’s high bar for quality deepened my love for learning.
• Across my four years here as a Member Technical and Senior Member Technical, I worked on the following projects:
• A. Middleware for High-Frequency Trading:
• 1) Implemented transport layers on top of NIO-based TCP and multicast, incorporating custom-built durable and persistence layers.
• 2) Pioneered the creation of a JNI-based, garbage-free socket library, implementing epoll and an Event completion framework to replace the java.net package in Java. This innovation significantly enhanced the efficiency of trading systems.
• 3) Designed and implemented a comprehensive test harness to measure and benchmark middleware performance with each release.
• This project saved D.E. Shaw over $10 million annually and outperformed third-party products by >40%.
• It also brought down the round trip latency by 50% at 100 microseconds per round trip, while they previously ran at 200 microseconds round trip latency.