As we approach a new year and speculate what this year will mean to us, I look back at what the past years have meant to me.
2025 -- Product Builder
Our theme in the first year of Tursio was to turn databases into generative AI machines. However, the idea of leveraging structured data for AI was very high-level. Thus, while we spent 2024 building custom solutions, we started this year with a clear conviction that it is time to productize our ideas. We focused on building an AI-powered query engine, combining our expertise in query engines with the market's need for a robust natural language querying platform. Unfortunately, we found that the bar in AI is already sky-high and faced several failures throughout the year. Towards the end of the year, we finally saw the first signs with one happy customer and a clear market to focus on. Given the potential, we also received an acqa-hire offer, which we declined and continued building instead.
2024 -- Venture Funded
I managed to close our first venture round of Tursio. Only 1% of startups get venture-funded, and so this was a big milestone for us. Closing the round, however, turned out to be a far more stressful and hair-pulling event, as I had to secure a temporary loan while the closing was still in process. Venture-funded startups are expected to be on a fast growth path, and we immediately set out with numerous big-ticket engagements. We had mixed success, loads of learning, and our own bag of mistakes. Towards the end of the year, we closed another extension round based on our early signals. We have solved the resource problem, and the key is to execute now.
2023 -- Startup
After several years at Microsoft and one year at an early-stage startup, Keebo, I finally mustered the courage to start my own. I soon realized that I knew very little about starting a business, including raising capital, building from scratch, and getting customers. The year taught me some tough lessons and was my first period of unpaid time in 17 years. While I still remain unpaid, I finish the year with a strong team, our first paid customer, and a finalized seed round. The road ahead is going to be very challenging with a lot of financial pressure, yet I am glad to get out of my comfort zone and make my father proud.
2022 -- CXO, US Citizen
A year of taking on bigger roles that brought increased power and responsibility. After years of climbing the corporate ladder at Microsoft, I joined an early-stage startup as its Chief Architect and helped build some of its foundational elements. I later also took on CTO and board member roles that got me exposed to new dimensions of business and company matters. Finally, I naturalized as a U.S. citizen this year. The USA is my home now, and I am proud to be building a life and raising my family here. I am committed to upholding its values and principles. I will also be giving up my Indian nationality, which is an emotional moment, but then these are the trade-offs we make and live by every day.
2020 -- People Manager
2021 -- Losing my Father
My parents have been a constant presence in my life since I was born, but that changed this year. I lost my father this year, and it was the most painful period of my life so far. He was my true pillar of strength, providing me with the motivation, the purpose, and the meaning in life, and I suddenly seemed to have lost all of that. Now I need to grow up to take care of both my mother and my father's legacy. This is a new phase where I feel the value of life and its vulnerabilities all the more, and am constantly trying to find ways to distract myself and keep things moving.
2020 -- People Manager
This year, I got the opportunity to start managing a team of people. People management is a job that is often highly sought after, and after several years of professional experience, I finally got the chance to experience it. While I gained more power and visibility in this new job, there was also more politics, more randomization, more overhead, and more stress. My learning was steep, especially as we started working from home a week after my promotion to manager!
2019 -- Principal at Microsoft
Turning principal at Microsoft was a career milestone. It is similar to getting tenure in academia in terms of reaching a level where people start taking you very seriously. Several things had to fall in place for my principal promotion to happen, and it was really satisfying to see it come through. Needless to say, those were moments of true joy for my entire family.
2018 -- Getting publishing mojo back
This was the year I got back into publishing with new zeal and gusto. Publishing had become boring the last few years, primarily due to a lack of real problems, but things changed this year with several exciting problems and several top-tier publications in the same year. In fact, I was already looking at a healthy pipeline of exciting projects and accompanying publications on the horizon.
2017 -- Second child
Aashya was born, and while we always wanted a second, we were never sure of the perfect timing. But seeing her, all our apprehensions melted away. She is a beautiful gift to each and every one of us. She looked identical to Aakhya when she was born, but over time, we realized they are as different as siblings could be. This was a year of warm family togetherness, now that we were a family of four.
2016 -- First home
We got our first home in Kirkland. The feeling of ownership after so many years of nomadic dwelling across cities, countries, and even continents was exhilarating for both of us. It was a bold decision for us to buy right as we were moving to Washington state and to take such a big loan. But we went through trusting our instincts, and we never regretted it as our first one.
2015 -- Industry researcher
I got a scientist position at Microsoft. Given that I had been seriously considering academia for a while, this was not really planned or expected. However, I was intrigued by industry research, and a place like Microsoft, with all the famous academics on its payroll, seemed perfect. This was also my first real job after seven years of being back to school, and it was a pretty good start.
2014 -- First-born
We had our firstborn, Aakhya. This was truly an anxious time for us, given that we knew so little about so many things. The world just seemed too overwhelming in every possible direction. There was also uncertainty regarding my future career. But Aakhya was the tiny little angel that made our lives shine, and things just got easier. Cambridge was also the most amazing community we lived in.
2013 -- MIT dream
Finally, we reached MIT. This was a rollercoaster with the most unexpected turn of events. We had been stuck with visa processing for over six months, and it was pure luck that finally got us through. MIT was an ocean of the smartest people I have ever met, and it was a privilege working with them. It was also an experience settling in the US, after years in Germany, with Mansi making some great friends.
2012 -- Doctorate
I was a doctorate. After my father and mother, I was the third doctorate in the family. I felt a mix of pride and humility. My Ph.D. was accelerated, and so it ended without witnessing the blocker phase that many researchers go through. My research focused on the current hot topics, and I was able to land a Postdoc position with the database group at MIT.
2011 -- Finding love, finally
Mansi and I got engaged towards the end of the year. This was a new, exciting, and nervous time. Getting to know someone, caring about someone, and planning your life with someone was very new. Getting to do things together as a team and creating a world of our own was exciting. Suddenly gaining a lot more responsibility was nerve-wracking. A new life to look forward to.
2010 -- Early research success
I started my Ph.D. and got early success in our projects. This was super encouraging as a new student. The VLDB publication in 2010 remains my top-cited paper to date. Full credit to both my advisor and the postdoc in our group for nudging us in the right direction. The year was full of confidence and creative ideas, all thanks to the early success.
2009 -- Back to school
I returned to school after a gap of almost three years and had to adjust to the new lifestyle. The college rigor came back after three years of corporate luxury. Fortunately, I made friends who helped me go with the flow. The year was filled with numerous upheavals -- living on limited means, deciding courses for future careers, contemplating about the Ph.D. option -- the thoughts were endless.
2008 -- New hope, foreign land
After a couple of years of indecision, I finally decided to pursue my Master's studies at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. This was after I briefly considered an MBA, a startup, and even a career in civil services. Germany was indeed very daunting, cold, and lonely at first. Later, it turns out to be the place I will always remember with great warmth.
2007 -- Wandering
This was certainly a year of wandering without any definite purpose or goal. My sister constantly encouraged me to take on more, and my parents continued supporting me in whatever I tried. I worked extremely hard in my first job, then changed jobs for no apparent reason, and then again worked extremely hard, and then again had moments of pondering, still searching for a purpose.
2006 -- First job
The mist of IIT was finally over, and I was in the real world with a real job. I was nervous and afraid of the harsh realities about to come my way. The first manager, the first project, the first paycheck, the first savings, the first shared apartment, the first landlord, and the working bachelorhood are all never to be forgotten. Bangalore will always remind me of so many firsts.
2005 -- What's next
As we entered the final year of our undergraduate program, the single biggest talk was "what's next". People were pursuing Master's degree, Ph.Ds, MBAs, Civil services, or simply to land a good job. Even within each of these groups, there were numerous choices and extensive discussion. I ended up taking a job to gain some experience, and was fortunate to land a position with BT within the first week of our college placement.
2004 -- Electrical engineering
This year was filled with many of the core courses of our electrical engineering program. The breadth of subfields in our branch -- from power to electronics to communication to computer architecture -- makes electrical engineering the most diverse branch at IITK. However, I also found it very tough to score, given the relative grading and the agonizingly hard-working "batti" junta.
2003 -- Rigor and mayhem
The academic load at IITK was rigorous, and I spent much of the year managing the challenges. Additionally, numerous festivals and events were taking, soliciting active participation. I was hardly active anywhere. However, I did waste a lot of time doing "bulla" --- talking to people, arguing about weird topics, or picking up random games of table tennis.
2002 -- The IIT dream
This was a year of dreams, most importantly, the dreams of my parents and their years of sacrifice. Getting into IIT gave my parents an unmatched sense of pride for having raised a worthy child and a confirmation of having done the right things all these years. It also gave me a humbling experience and a cut-throat competition in a world of very high achievers.
2001 -- Top of the school
The highlight of this year is me being at the top of my school in board examinations. After standing in third and second places respectively in the previous two internal examinations, coming at the top was especially satisfying. Even though I did not perform well in any of the entrance examinations, I will be leaving SJC with a high mark.
2000 -- Lacking confidence
Our class sections were re-organized for classes 11th and 12th, and I moved to the supposedly tougher A-section. This was a year when my self-confidence was all over the place. I was intimidated by the tougher section, didn't appear in the top-3 positions in any of the examinations, lost many of my former friends, and my sister got busy in college. The only good thing is that Y2K came, and we all survived.
1999 -- Early signs
My first public examination, and I stood third in my college. I felt great joy, and celebrations were everywhere. My secondary school had been great so far, and I was looking forward to senior secondary with great hopes and expectations. There was also a sudden change in how friends saw each other in terms of grades, something that I hated.
1995-1998 -- The happy bubble
My secondary school years, from class 6th to 9th, were like a giant happy bubble. I made great friends at school, performend well academically with a consistent 1st in almost all these years, and had a very active social circle in our neighborhood at home. I was young, feisty, competitive, and almost like a star kid in every department of my life, never knowing that this period would come to an end.
1988-1994 -- Elementary bliss
I was very shy and reserved in my elementary school. My teachers always had the perfect image of me as a quiet boy, even though I was very active at home. My mother used to help me with my studies, and I was doing reasonably okay, without having any pressure whatsoever. Elementary life was nothing short of bliss without having to care much or do much.
1982-1987 -- Childhood
My memories of this time are a mix of what I have been told and what I faintly remember. I indeed remember attending a preschool in Allahabad and another one in Hapur, before being coached for admission into St. Joseph's College.
