Profile

 

Focused, results-oriented Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with significant career experience in cutting-edge technology development – infrastructure, architecture, scaling and org building. Seeking senior-level technology leadership, product management, and corporate venture roles with emphasis on strategy, technology innovation, and new idea incubation.

 

•          Stacks/Coding Frameworks – MEAN, LAMP

•          Cloud/Infra –Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, Salesforce Enterprise, IBM SoftLayer, Rackspace, Heroku, Chef, Knife, Docker (Containers)

•          Big Data – Apache Spark, Spark Streaming, MLlib, HDFS, Kafka, Zookeeper

•          Web – HTML5, JS, CSS, Php, node.js, AngularJS, Scala

•          Mobile – iOS Apps & Mobile Web

 

•          Equity Crowd Funding – Compliance & Regulatory Technology

•          Financial Tech – Mortgage, Auto Loans, Peer to Peer Lending, Credit Checks, KYC, Payment Gateways

•          Social TV & Second Screen Applications, Connected Platform, TV Apps, Interactive TV, Mobile Ad Nets

•          Telecommunication & Cable Industries

 

 

CTO ConsultingAug 2015 – Present

Providing architecture, infrastructure scaling and technology development services as Chief Architect and Chief Technology Advisor.

 

•          Mortgage Technology Services

o Leading the enterprise technology architecture for nations top 5 mortgage lender

o Digitizing Mortgage Lending Services – capturing borrower information, pulling borrower data from 3^rd party sources, OCR, rules & decisions engine integration (BPM), loan product & pricing and loan servicing – all via mobile and web interfaces.

o Building their platform on Amazon AWS using – EC2, S3, Amazon RDS, Mongo DB, Node.Js, Apache Spark, Tableau, and MySQL.

•          Cloud and CRM Migration Services

o Migrating a industry leading portal into Azure Cloud, Microsoft Dynamic CRM and Office 365.

o Technology platform for the web portal is Wordpress.

 

•          Platform for Angel Investors and Startups

o Building tools for Investors (VCs, Angels and Institutional) and Companies on funding raising and deal flow management

o Technologies used are Node.Js, Mongo DB and Angular on top of AWS infrastructure.

•          Prototyping and POC for clients using following technologies - Docker, Apache Spark, Scala, Node.Js, Angular.Js, Mongo DB, AWS, Azure and Salesforce.

 

OfferBoard, PrincetonJun 2013 – Aug 2015

OfferBoard is a private placement marketplace for high net worth and accredited investors to invest in growth stage private startups.

 

CTO

•          Play key role in building financial and transaction intensive web platform over Azure Cloud Services (IAAS and PAAS) and Salesforce. Led integration on IBM SoftLayer and Amazon AWS platforms.

•          Hands on DevOps/ deployment orchestration on Softlayer, Azure and AWS.

•          Assist in port legacy .ASP and VB Portal into Azure Cloud Infrastructure. Maintain multi-cloud installations with Heroku.

•          Built BIG data clusters using Apache Spark architecture for Analytics.

•          Customized and built regulatory compliant modules on top of Salesforce Enterprise Cloud. Integrated with DocuSign, NetDocuments and Conga Composer. 

•          Integrate third-party tools, such as Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Marketo, Mandrill, Kiss Metrics, Early IQ, New Relic, and JIRA.

•          Managed various full time as well as freelancer technology and designer resources – including daily scrum/agile calls, bug resolutions, shepherding project delivery and overseeing resource utilization.  

•          Serve as Chief Information Officer (CIO) on Technology Compliance, Security, Operations, and Process. 

•          Technologies include Ansible, apt, Chef, Engine Yard, Cloud Foundry, EC2, VPC, VPN, EBS, CloudWatch, RDS, Chef, Github and Chef.

 

CrowdValley, New York/San Francisco/LondonDec 2011 – Dec 2013

Helped Crowd Valley as a Technical Advisor (part time) on building their white label solution.

 

Technical Advisor (Part Time)

•          Served as technology and infrastructure advisor – evaluated various 3^rd party APIs and solutions.

•          Worked closely with their Product and Business leaders on product strategy.

•          Worked with their CMO on their data analysis and social media.

 

 

Livestage, Inc, New York/Los AngelesAug 2012 – May 2013

Stealth startup building Panoramic Video Streaming platform for live music concerts.

 

CTO

•          Served as technology and infrastructure architect for Live Music Concert Mobile platform;

•          Played a critical role as Product Strategist, defining “go to market” and innovative business models.

•          Used technologies and coding languages that included LAMP Stack, Drupal, Video.Js, JavaScript, JQuery, Drupal, HTML5, iOS, and Android.

 

Self-employedApr 2012 – June 2013

 

Technology & Product Strategy Consultant

−        CTO Level Strategy – Mobile, Social TV, Second Screen, Connected Platforms, and Big Data.

−        Mobile Technology Architecture, LAMP Implementation, SDLC Oversight, and Scrum Master.

−        Prototypes on Azure, Amazon, Heroku, Rackspace and Softlayer Cloud IAAS, and PAAS Services.

−        DevOps for various cloud systems.

−        Mortgage Technology integration – Architected a large scale AWS deployment for one of the clients. Some of the 3^rd party APIs used include ADP, Intuit, Mint, Yodlee, CoreLogic, Xerox, DocuSign, TransUnion, Salesforce.

−        Customer discovery / validation and ecosystem and competitive analysis for International Startups
and clients.

−        Technology/Tools used – Engine Yard, Ansible, Cloud Foundry, Chef

 

Telvetto, Inc, New York/CaliforniaFeb 2011 – Mar 2012

Social TV / Curation Platform that built a curation platform that curates, categorizes, and organizes real time conversations and content around Live TV events using natural language algorithms and Machine Learning Technologies.

 

Founder / CEO / Business Development / Strategy

•          Directed business development, sales, strategic / tactical roadmap, recruiting, and business operations. Focused on innovation, disruption, and lean product development / methodologies.

•          Spearheaded sales efforts with broadcasts, cable networks, cable MSOs, and service providers. Established relationships at Verizon, ATT, Comcast, Time Warner, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Disney, and CBS.

•          Built company “go to market” and product / pricing strategies. Deployed to three customers in five months.

•          Organized fund raising efforts and led customer development for the company.

•          Played instrumental role in defining big data methodologies, technology roadmap, and data visualization architecture. Technologies used included Hadoop, Scala, Drupal, Java, and iOS.

 

Rovi Corporation (formerly Macrovision), New York City, NYJun 2008 – Jan 2011

Enable digital home entertainment experience by allowing businesses to protect, enhance, and distribute digital goods to consumers across multiple channels. Rovi also owns AMG (All Music Group) and Muze along with TV Guide IPG business.

 

Director, Product Management – Mobile and Social Media

•          Incubated new product lines to generate revenue opportunities (within Mobile and Social Media).

•          Managed a technical leadership role in building connected platform applications, covering Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Mobile, and Consumer Internet.

•          Oversaw product strategy, product ideation, and market development for Mobile and Social Media, including Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, and Android. Evangelized new growth opportunities by leveraging core strengths and existing assets.

•          Developed prototypes for TV Widgets using Samsung Widget Platform, Social, and Web Apps using Facebook and Twitter.

•          Developed mobile Apps and WAP portals for iPhone, Android, Nokia, and Blackberry that use Rovi’s rich media data and services across Music, Movies, Games, and TV segments.

•          Participated in operations, resource planning, product roadmaps, business planning, business case development, revenue estimations, and negotiations with internal teams for resources and project prioritizations.

 

Gemstar TV Guide, New York City, NYJul 2006 to May 2008

Gemstar TV Guide is the leader in media & entertainment metadata and guide technology space. Their products serve traditional broadcasters, web portals and mobile applications.

 

Director, Mobile Product & Engineering

•          Reported to General Manager (GM) of Mobile Entertainment Group and acted as CTO / COO for mobile business unit.

•          Supervised 10 direct reports, including two Project Managers, two Sr. Software Architects, one Sr. Software Engineer, three Software Engineers, and two QA Engineers. Five of the team members were in Macrovision Hong Kong Office (offshore). Managed group’s engineering budget.

•          Oversaw product and resource management, strategy, engineering, pre-sales support, marketing support, and operations in US and European markets.

•          Played instrumental role in architecting and designing mobile products, code reviews, and SDLC maintenance as well as overseeing web services and SDK. Made all technology and framework decisions for group.

•          Delivered growing revenues for group via On-Deck and Off-Deck products and services.

•          Liaised with operators (VZW, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile. Virgin, O2, TIM, and Helio), mobile vendors, handset OEMs, and other partners critical for existing and upcoming products for mobile group. Deployed iPhone Apps for group.

•          Negotiated contracts with vendors and partners for mobile group. Managed vendor relationships and RFP process. Directed group requisitions, receiving, purchase requests, and purchase orders through Oracle E-Business Suite.

•          Managed and supported mobile Ad Sales efforts in managing mobile advertisement vendors, inventory, and technical integration. Managed mobile advertising vendors, such as TSM, EnPocket, AdMob, MillennialMedia, Quattro Wireless, and 4Info (SMS).

•          Implemented Dynamic Ad Serving Solution (using third-party ad serving platforms) to increase fill rate and prioritize based on higher CPM rates.

•          Built and managed TV Guide Mobile Solution for Verizon VCAST and Mobile TV guide services.

•          Built industry’s first mobile daisy chain advertising platform using commercial ad networks (AdMob, Third Screen Media, EnPocket, and Quattro Wireless). Named as finalists for Mobile Innovator 2008 Award from Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) among an estimated 300 competing organizations, worldwide.

ABI Research, Oyster Bay, NYDec 2002 – Jul 2006

Leading provider of market research within the wireless and broadband, automotive, and consumer electronics ecosystems

 

Director of Broadband & Digital Home / Media

•          Supervised two Sr. Research Analysts, Sr. Analysts, Marketing Manager, and PR Relations Manager; managed two direct reports, remotely. Evaluated team’s performance, goals, deliverables, and morale on a quarterly basis. Reported directly to COO and CFO.

•          Oversaw P&L for the Broadband and Digital Home / Media practice with budget $0.5M and revenues more than $1.8M in 2005.

•          Published 50+ research reports in various technologies and platforms.

•          Contributed as Speaker and Moderator at major industry shows and conferences.

•          Made several TV appearances: CNBC Squawk Box, NCTA Sponsored CE & Cable Channel during CES 2005 in Las Vegas, and interviewed on NPR Market place and CNET Tech Radio.

•          Cited / quoted in many publications and technology magazines: AP, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Communication Technology, and TWICE.

 

 

Stanford University, Palo Alto, CAMar 2007 – Present

Advanced Project Management Certification

 

Oakland University, Rochester, MIApr 1996

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

 

Nagarjuna University, IndiaAug 1993

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

 

 

 

freedom mortgage, New JerseyFeb 2015 – Sept 2015

Chief Technology Advisory for Digital Loan Application Project within Freedom Mortgage

 

Technology Advisor

•          Advise on backend infrastructure on Amazon AWS Cloud Infrastructure.

•          Assist in productizing key architectures (Systems, Software and Infrastructure) and technology roadmaps for the project

 

Aircast Mobile, Chicago/New JerseyJun 2013 – Jan 2015

Smart TV application for end users to share photos and videos via Smart TV and Smart TV devices.

 

Technology Advisor

•          Advise on backend infrastructure on Rackspace Cloud Service.

•          Help manage / monitor development of iOS, Android, and Smart TV Applications (Roku, Vizio, and Google TVs).

•          Assist in productizing business goals into cross-platform, deeply integrated products.

•          Play key advisory role in integrating and maintaining third-party services, such as New Relic, Google Analytics, and Kiss Metric.

•          Assist in hiring overseas developers.

 

Clamour, New YorkMay 2014 – Jan 2015

Clamour combines the power of local communities with ecommerce and collaborative consumption – providing a safer and fun alternative to Craigslist, Ebay and Yard sales.

 

Technology Advisor

•          Provide technology, architecture and product guidance for the founder and management team. Hands on role in DB Schema design, iOS and Desktop App PRDs.

•          Helping build their Big Data Engine with basic algorithms such as K-Means, Naïve Bayes, Optimization Modeling, Network Graphs and Regression analysis. 

•          Help build their engineering team, vendor sourcing and 3^rd party service providers.

•          Technologies include AWS, ElasticSearch, Twillio, RabbitMQ, Node.Js, Express.Js

 

 

 

American Society of Mensa ǀ International Society of Mensa

Teach Cloud Operations (Azure, Rackspace, AWS) at NJIT University Continuing Education Program

Docker/Containers & Apache Spark Teaching for corporations and trade associations.

 

   I.            Unreasonable Institute

             ·                                    http://www.unreasonableinstitute.org/profile/vsistla

             ·                                    http://unreasonableinstitute.org/stories-of-impact/mana/

             ·                                    http://unreasonableinstitute.org/stories-of-impact/tugende/

 

   II.          Microsoft Ventures, Seattle (https://www.microsoftventures.com/accelerators/seattle)

   III.         Americas Amazing Teens (AAT Project

             ·                                    http://www.theaatproject.com/

             ·                                    http://www.theaatproject.com/aat-team-members.php

 

   IV.         37Angels – Women focused Angel Network (http://www.37angels.com)

  V.          An hour of Code challenge, 2013 - Succeeded in prompting over 3,000 Trenton High School kids to take up the coding challenge