Empowering the next generation of computer scientists and the future of financial services

I would love to start broad, tell me a little bit about who you are, how you came to be where you are now, and specifically, where/ when did your passion for technology start? 

I grew up in a beach town in South India with my grandparents. I was blessed that they were so supportive of me and made sure that I excelled in academics. I really enjoyed math and science. One of my uncles was a professor at IIT Kanpur. Growing up, I got a chance to visit the campus and meet other professors. It was one of those places where it felt like there was so much to learn and do, it inspired me to get a degree in computer science. At that time, Microsoft was taking over everything and seeing that one company could disrupt the world and change the way we operate really made something click in my head. I thought, the future is here, this is what I need to learn.

On the professional side, I came to the United States and got a masters degree and landed my first job in the telecom industry. In that first job, I worked on a feature that is very mainstream now, the “call wait” feature on your device. At a conference for women engineers, I met a recruiter from Goldman Sachs and moved to New York to work on their trading floor. I grew to be a manager in the trading department. It was an intense job but I learned a lot and I loved it. After that, I worked at J.P. Morgan where I held several different engineering positions. The role that helped me most from a career standpoint was replacing a lot of their legacy systems on modern architecture. We built a whole platform that powered 100+ applications providing the latest portfolio balances to our advisors and external clients. During that journey, I met my current boss. He brought me to LPL Financial, where I am now. I'm leading multiple initiatives with the hope that we’ll build a best in class experience for advisors and deliver great value to LPL. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have had great managers and mentors who trusted me and really helped me build my excellence. It’s been such a great journey so far, I’ve learned so many things and I’ve grown so much.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out their career in technology?

There is no overstating the importance of computer science. It is fundamental in our daily lives. I would encourage everybody to study computer science. From the moment you get up in the morning to your day to day interactions, computer science is with you. The level of engagement we have with computer science in every dimension of our lives is massive. So why would we not want more people in this industry? It is here to stay. 

I do want to recognize that the numbers of women in this field, especially in leadership roles aren’t great. That can be a factor for people early on, they worry when they don’t see people who look like them. But I don't want people to forget that modern day computing was built in large part by women. We don't recognize that enough. When you think of computer science and how it evolved, the people who started it were from both genders. People like Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace made modern computer science possible. To anyone who's starting out, don’t worry about this discrepancy. Women have always been in computer science.

What do you wish people knew about technology careers in financial services?

I have spent most of my career in financial services so I may be biased, but it is a great place to be. What's so interesting about finance is that it is the number one thing we all do. Just as you take care of your physical health, your wellness depends on your financial health as well. Whether you recognize it or not, there is no ignoring finance. This is an industry where you can make a serious impact in people’s individual daily lives. There is so much innovation happening. The changes since I began my career have been massive. From cloud, to blockchain, to real time processing. When I began my career on the trading floor, we didn’t have real time processing, people would call the exchange to place trades. Cybersecurity and Generative AI is the hot topic right now, it will probably change how companies engage with large language learning models. Why wouldn't you start a career in such an impactful space? I may be biased to finance but it is truly such an exciting time to be here.

You recently launched a NY/NJ chapter of Women+ tech. Would you tell me a little bit about that and what inspired you to launch?

I decided to launch the NY/NJ chapter of Women+ tech in a moment of introspection. As you get older, you recognize that all of us have a greater purpose. I met other leaders in the Women+ Tech chapters, at LPL and elsewhere and I was strongly connected with their mission. I felt like we needed that in our region. I was particularly inspired by Tiffany Benitez, who runs the national chapter. While there are so many women in tech organizations, it is pretty clear that we have not completely changed. This past Women's History Month, I kept seeing a statistic floating around that women will reach economic parity with men in 2158. When I saw that I was just stunned. A lot of progress has been made, but there is still work to do and I feel that every one of us has to work on this. 

We recently held an event in March called “Overcoming the Broken Rung” in partnership with McKinsey where we discussed the barriers to women receiving that critical first promotion. One topic I was excited for us to get into is how women don't always think of representing their experience the way that men do. For example, I've seen men introduce themselves by saying things like “I’m a process guy”, “I’m a scale guy”, “I’m a cloud expert”. I've never seen women put that skill excellence in front of their name, that's just not culturally how we were conditioned to represent ourselves. It’s called experience capital, and we all have it. We all have our strengths. I’m good at leading talent, I love operationalizing certain things in a high quality way. Those are my personal skills. I’ve learned that I have to put that experience capital in front of me. I want to make sure that everyone has access to these materials, that’s really my mission. I want to demystify this stuff and put it out there. 

Another thing I’m passionate about is continuously learning. If you're a member of NY/NJ Women+ Tech, you get access to free certifications. These are things that I feel all of us could benefit from. We're in a world with constant changes so you’ve got to be constantly learning. But this has to be affordable to be accessible. I want to make this available to as many people in my region as I can.

How is Generative AI changing financial services? What risks/ opportunities are you seeing?

Gen AI has a huge business impact in financial services. While it may not replace human judgement and experience, it is very valuable and we can't deny how much transformation it can produce. I think it's here to stay. I anticipate firms using GenAI in reporting capabilities, documentation, increasing access to information, and even code creation, using copilot has made generating code so much more efficient. GenAI can eliminate mundane and routine things quite effectively. It has the power to absolutely transform this space. 

It does expose different risks. I was on a panel at an event hosted by Incedo this past winter. I learned a lot from that panel, particularly that there are some legal things to consider in GenAI applications. I don’t think GenAI will eliminate human jobs, it will just digitize certain things. As always, there will be new opportunities that arise. I saw a job the other day for an AI Ethicist. New technology creates new work that we hadn't considered. Overall, I’m optimistic but we’ll have to be prepared for this new future as the world evolves. It will change how people will pursue, perceive and operate. There is no doubt there. One has to keep upskilling and learning as these transformations occur. It's true in every field, not just tech.

Who helped you rise to this level and how do you pay it forward?

I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of good managers and people who helped me learn and grow. I've learned that you don't have to be this dominating figure in a room to be a great leader, what you need is to be self aware, resilient, and be a rock for your team. I've had so many role models for that type of leadership, both men and women. I try to do my part to pay it forward. At every organization I’ve worked at I have always been part of the women in tech chapter and offered my contributions in whatever way I can. I used to be involved with Girls who Code at Goldman, and I really enjoyed teaching that high school age. We taught currency exchange, tech, and hosted events where leaders came to speak with them. I want to open up and demystify this field and help people see that there are incredible women here. Every industry has its challenges, but things change and there is no way to change problems if we don’t face them. My goal is to give the support I received in my career to people in my community.

How do you hire? What do you look for in people?

My approach as a leader has evolved. I've learned to find people who are not afraid to make changes, who are able to connect with others, and who want to do high quality work and deliver great outcomes. I hire people who are invested in the organization and the work that we do. We spend a tremendous amount of time at work, and you want to be around people who care about what they’re doing. I look for people who don’t just do the work and get their job done, I've always focused on people who are really passionate about what they do.