Promotion

Date: 11th August 2025

Sharing career updates on LinkedIn is a good thing. But I sincerely believe that the impact one creates far outweighs the Designation he or she gets!

Yes, sometime last year, I was promoted and tasked with an additional responsibility. There was a lot of excitement, but I was aware of the challenges that lay ahead. So, we worked closely as a Team - came up with a strategy to deal with things, made some course-corrections

 

And today, it gives me immense pride to say that as a Senior Director, I lead a Global Application Engineering team with varied expertise levels, who work across multiple Geographies and time-zones, speaks different languages, but have one clear focus in mind - our Customers' Success

This one's for you Team!  

4 year anniversary

"Hey Prasan, have you ever considered joining a start-up?"

"Nah, start ups are not for me!"

I distinctly remember having this conversation with a cousin of mine around 5 years back. Yet, in the year 2021, when a friend of mine called me and said that she was planning to join a start-up, it got me interested...

She was looking for guidance and hence I read up about the company and the technology - That was my first introduction to proteanTecs!

I went through the website, the white papers and there was even a YouTube video showing a comical representation of how the founders stumbled upon the original idea. It spoke volumes about the product and the culture 

I asked my friend to join the company and it was me who then kept in touch. And some 7 months later, when she told me that there was another opening in the firm and my experience and qualification was a good fit, I jumped on the band wagon 

So here I am today, about to complete 4 years in a start-up - the very idea that I had rejected many years back....

Heersons

Date: 19th Feb 2025

If you happen to be in the suburb of Vile Parle in Mumbai and ask anyone for a good sweet shop, chances are that you will be guided to 'Heersons'

Since my better half hails from that part of the city, I too have been a regular visitor and amazed with not just the taste, but also the progress made by the owners over the past few years. I was so impressed that I felt this could be an ideal case study for a Management student and I wasn't wrong 

Back in 2016, the InsideIIM guys did make a case study on how the store grew from a small grocery store to what is today a sprawling 3 storey complex which houses everything you can associate with food or snacks!

While you can get the details from the article mentioned below, I sincerely felt that it was all a mater of a clear vision, passion to execute, hardwork and a little bit of luck on the part of the owners to make Heersons a house-hold brand almost all over Mumbai 

Surely, a lesson we can all use in our busy lives 

By the way, if you happen to go to Heersons, don't miss the Jelly Katli - it's my personal favourite

https://insideiim.com/the-real-life-mba-the-story-of-heerson-a-local-retail-shop-in-mumbai

 

India on the go!

A few months back I happened to see a reel where the author asked the question, "How do you know that you have landed at an airport in India?"

The answer was simple - "Look around and you are bound to see atleast a couple of Indigo aircrafts parked, or taxing to or away from the runaway!"

This is so true of an airline which has redefined the way we Indians fly and transformed the complete aviation industry locally. Since it's inception in 2006, it has fought off fierce competition from the likes for Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air, (all of who have ceased to exist today), Spice Jet and lately the combined power of Vistara and Air India - whilst sticking the low-cost airline tag all through

So what does Indigo do well that makes it good

- Clearly indicating that it is a 'No Frills' airlines, but if you book a sandwich during the check-in process, you will not be disappointed (the complimentary drink also helps)

- Once inside the aircraft, look around and you will see subtle hints of advertising (on the back of the seats or even on your cup of coffee)

- While comfort is an area of importance, they focus on on-time performance and fly regularly to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities thus creating a virtual monopoly when you need to fly certain routes in the country 

The list goes on, but slowly and steadily over the past 2 decades this airline has grown to capture the lions' share of the aviation market in India and now sets it sight to limited routes internationally 

No wonder then that when our 2 metro cities announced their second airport readiness, guess which airline they choose for the grand inauguration 

Yes, the airline has had to endure its' fair share of negative feedback and it is not surprising to see complaints every now and then - but overall, it has done it bits to become a very good case-study for any management student to pick up and lived upto it's current tagline - "India on the Go!"

AE life

How's life as an Application Engineer?

I guess most days are good - we get to work on the latest technology and features that RnD rolls out, we get to drive product updates based on field requirements, meet new people, work closely with Sales and Marketing, build connections and ofcourse travel

And then there are days when the knives are out to get you and words like 'Escalation', 'Critical' and 'regular updates' become part of everyday lingo till things get better

But let's be honest -  anyone and everyone who has been in Management has gone through this experience. Taking tough calls when then tide is against you and making things work in an hostile environment is what separates the Managers' from the Leaders'

Don't get me wrong - I am not claiming here that becoming an AE will make you a good leader. But yes, if you do get a chance to working an Application Engineering - give it a try for sure. You may be surprised by discovering a side to yourself which you never knew existed 

 

I'll be back

Date: 7th Jan 2025

I will be back!

I am not sure how many of you noticed, but I had stopped posting on LinkedIn at the end of 2023 and here's why

While I was very grateful for the appreciation and support I received for my posts from many of you, the passion had begun to diminish somewhere inside. I wasn't sure why, but the ideas had kinda dried up and hence I decided to just take some time off, refocus my energies and come back with more thoughts and stories in 2025 with renewed vigour

Writing is something I like doing and I was pretty sure in my head that I wanted to continue and kept the dialog from The Terminator movie in my head and wanted to start this post with just that!

But first, here's wishing you all a Happy New Year 2025 full of good health and success

Patience, my dear Watson

Date: 11th Jan 2025

A year and half back, my now colleague, Mitali called me to say that she is taking up a job as an Application Engineer

I was very happy for her and congratulated her. She then asked me a question, "You have been an AE for many years. What do you think is the biggest attribute a good AE must have?"

I didn't have to think for long, "Patience" was my immediate answer..

"Ahh, I do have a lot of patience" came the response

Today as colleagues we have had the chance to work on many assignments and engagements together and just out the blue, she came up again to me and said, "I still remember your feedback. An AE really needs to have a lot of Patience.... I still have a long way to go."

Patience is a virtue that we all need to cultivate, but why is more applicable to the AE role. Well for starters, it's a customer facing role and many a times, you have to rely on an external party to provide you with the inputs to help you do the job - its could be the sharing of files that you need, or a meeting slot to discuss the upcoming project

Many a times, customers and other external parties have a lot of work and tasks pending and you happen to be on #4 or #5 in the list of their priorities - you can't force their hands, so you simply have to wait

All this waiting has its unique advantages - a good AE starts to develop the virtue of 'timing' - what to say and when to say it so that it creates the required impact

I shall have more to follow in the coming posts....