In this special Women’s Day episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri sits down with Manisha Deshpande, VP – Digital Platform Engineering at NuReLM, for a deeply reflective conversation on career evolution, motherhood, leadership, and thriving in the AI era.

Manisha’s journey begins in the early 2000s — renting desktops with friends, coding in C++, and working at startups before “startups” were cool. A pivotal on-site experience early in her career changed how she viewed engineering — from writing code to understanding customer impact.

Across 25 years in technology — from digital asset management to identity & access management, from services to product engineering, from engineering leadership to heading UX Centers of Excellence — Manisha shares the inflection points that shaped her:

• Choosing to intentionally slow down during certain seasons of life
• Moving from domain specialist to product mindset thinker
• Bridging design and engineering
• Leading horizontally across business units
• Preparing teams for AI not just technically — but mentally

She speaks candidly about:

• Why “letting go” without regret is powerful
• The importance of showing up every day
• Building a support system beyond work
• The shift from executor to thinker in the AI age
• Why curiosity is the only non-negotiable skill

From rental 386 desktops to AI agents and workflow automation — this episode is about evolution, resilience, and staying human in a rapidly changing industry.

If you’re a software professional navigating change, motherhood, leadership, or the AI disruption — this conversation is both grounding and energizing.

Here are powerful pull-quotes you can use for LinkedIn, audiograms, or graphics:

1. “Technology is shrinking in shelf life — but curiosity never expires.”
2. “You cannot have it all at the same time. But you can choose your season — without regret.”
3. “If you remain an executor, you will be automated. If you become a thinker, you will thrive.”
4. “Letting go is not failure. It is prioritization.”
5. “Show up every day. Even when you’re slowing down, you’re still moving forward.”
6. “AI can accelerate execution — but intent and context still belong to humans.”
7. “Full stack today is not just technical depth — it is empathy, collaboration, and business awareness.”
8. “Build foundations — health, support systems, hobbies. They are your resilience engine.”
9. “Learning is not optional anymore. But evolution is a choice.”
10. “Be curious, not fearful.”

With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, Manisha Deshpande is a highly skilled and visionary leader in digital platform engineering. She is deeply committed to design-led, human-centric product development, ensuring that engineering teams align with cutting-edge design principles to deliver impactful, scalable products.

Manisha’s expertise spans the entire product engineering lifecycle, from UX design to cloud infrastructure. She combines a product mindset with AI-powered development to accelerate delivery and drive smarter engineering decisions, creating innovative solutions that address both current and future challenges.

An advocate for diversity and inclusion, she mentors college-bound female students, providing valuable guidance to help them succeed in their careers.

Earlier in her career, Manisha held leadership roles at Persistent Systems, where she led teams in identity and access management, API management, business process management, and security solutions. She is known for her ability to build high-performing teams, collaborate for growth, and drive product excellence.

Outside of work, Manisha’s passions for painting, traveling, and hiking fuel her creativity and provide inspiration for her leadership approach.

Manisha can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/manisha-deshpande-0881b36/

In this deeply personal and inspiring episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri speaks with Dr. Vaijayanthi Srinivasaraghavan (Viji) — a seasoned technology leader, Senior Director at UPS, and a resilient voice for women navigating complex careers and life transitions.

From learning C++ through shared manuals in the early 90s to leading global logistics technology at massive scale, Viji shares a journey shaped by grit, reinvention, and purpose. The conversation explores her early career struggles, health challenges, and defining leadership moments — including navigating motherhood, rebuilding her career, and evolving across roles at IBM before helping build UPS’s Global Capability Center in Chennai.

Viji reflects on how technology, AI, and analytics are transforming supply chain ecosystems while emphasizing that leadership today requires curiosity, empathy, and continuous learning. More than a career story, this episode becomes a powerful reflection on resilience — rewriting oneself after setbacks, embracing change without guilt, and building ecosystems that help women thrive.

Recorded as part of the Women’s Day special series, this conversation blends technology, humanity, and lived experience — reminding listeners that growth is rarely linear, but always meaningful.

• Early career beginnings as an electrical engineer learning software development in the 90s.
• Overcoming autoimmune health challenges and redefining career paths.
• Transformational leadership lessons from early mentors and global work experiences.
• Career evolution through startups, IBM’s long tenure, and transition to UPS.
• Building and scaling a Global Capability Center with a startup mindset.
• The role of AI, analytics, and logistics technology in moving millions of packages daily.
• Continuous learning culture — embracing AI as a hands-on skill across generations.
• Personal reflections on resilience, single motherhood, cancer survival, and reinvention.
• Women’s Day message centered on self-worth, removing guilt, and prioritizing wellbeing.

• “Belong — don’t blur. You are here because you deserve to be here.”
• “AI is here to stay. Don’t stand on the fence — start embracing it.”
• “Do not feel guilty for choosing yourself. Put the oxygen mask on first.”
• “Rewrite yourself. Life will throw curveballs — and that’s okay.”
• “Leadership is not just about technology; it’s about listening and empathy.”
• “Only if you are okay, the people around you will be okay.”

Dr. Vaijayanthi Srinivasaraghavan (Viji) is a seasoned technology leader and Senior Director at UPS India Technology Centre, bringing over three decades of experience across software engineering, supply chain technology, analytics, and global delivery leadership. Her career spans early R&D engineering roles, semiconductor innovation, a long tenure at IBM, and now building next-generation logistics technology at UPS.

An alumna of the University of Madras and a strong advocate of continuous learning, Dr. Viji is also a published author. She co-authored the book Shape It: A Perfect Gift for Budding Engineers to Become Industry Ready, a self-development guide that shares real student stories and practical skills to help young engineers navigate evolving workplaces. ()

Known for her philosophy of “belong, don’t blur,” she blends deep technical expertise with empathetic leadership — mentoring the next generation of technologists while championing resilience, lifelong learning, and inclusive growth in the technology ecosystem.

Viji can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaijayanthisr/

In this episode of Software People Stories, Gayatri sits down with Hiran , Co-founder of Ashwatta Sustainability Ventures (domain Ashwatta.earth) , to explore how climate innovation is evolving beyond buzzwords into real systems change. From her beginnings in chemical engineering to building a venture studio focused on translating breakthrough science into scalable climate companies, Hiran shares a grounded perspective on what it truly takes to build a sustainable future.

• Hiran shares her journey from chemical engineering to climate tech commercialization.
• Ashwatha Earth focuses on building climate companies by translating science into scalable ventures.
• Conversation framed around women leaders in climate and deep tech.

• Shift from clean tech to climate tech, but the mission remains sustainability.
• Circularity and responsible material use are central themes.
• Need to rethink systems that nature cannot naturally recycle.
• Climate innovation goes beyond solar and wind.
• Key areas: thermal storage, alternative fuels, advanced materials, and fusion.
• Industrial heat and heavy transport remain major decarbonization challenges.

• Ashwatha Earth building PVC upcycling solutions.
• Emerging climate startups in emissions tracking, digital twins, hydrogen storage, carbon capture, and biochar.
• Strong in deployment, financial models, and application-layer innovation.
• Gaps in deep-tech ownership, patents, and long-term risk capital.
• Opportunity to move from adoption to innovation leadership.

• AI accelerates optimization, modeling, and material discovery.
• Data availability is still a major limitation.
• AI complements science rather than replacing it.
• Institutional co-founder approach to take tech from lab to market for making Venture Studio Model
• Higher success probability compared to traditional VC power-law models.
• Focus on zero-to-one building and de-risking innovation.
• Local solutions can scale globally when economics and distribution are solved.

• “It doesn’t matter whether we call it clean tech or climate tech — the goal is a sustainable future for all.”
• “Electrons alone won’t solve the energy problem. Heat, materials, and chemistry matter just as much.”
• “Circularity isn’t a trend — it’s learning to live within the limits of the planet.”
• “The Global South is great at deploying solutions, but deep-tech ownership is where we need to grow.”
• “AI can optimize what exists — but the fundamental breakthrough still has to come from science.”

Hiranmayee Vedam is a climate tech entrepreneur, chemical engineer, and Co-founder of Ashwatta Sustainability Ventures(domain Ashwatta.earth), a venture studio focused on translating breakthrough science into scalable sustainability ventures. An alumna of IIT Madras, she brings over 17 years of experience spanning process engineering, advanced materials, and climate technology commercialization. Over the years, she has contributed to research-led innovation and knowledge sharing across materials, energy systems, and sustainability, with work that bridges academic insight and industrial application. Known for her systems-thinking approach to circularity, deep-tech entrepreneurship, and production-scale climate solutions, Hiran is actively shaping pathways for Global South innovations to move from research pilots to real-world impact.

Hiran can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiranvedam/