In this interview with BreezyScroll, Dastagiri Reddy, a seasoned enterprise data platform expert, who is based in the US and is currently working with Bytedance tells about his journey. He also tells what enterprise data platform will look like in the near future.
Read on:
Tell us something about your childhood, Mr. Reddy. We believe you are an IIT-ian. It would be great if you could shed light on your time at the institute.
I was born in India’s steel city, Jamshedpur a small town in the eastern state of Jharkhand, to Telugu parents. My parents always kept academics before everything. In 2010, I got into IIT Kharagpur, one of India’s most esteemed universities. It was at IIT that I got a chance to work with IBM Research. This happened roughly around 2012 and along with my team, I developed a novel disaster recovery solution involving image-instance mapping for the cloud.
How was the experience with IBM?
Pretty great. It was influential in shaping my interest in the field of systems and platforms. I consider IBM as the first step in my career.
After IIT, what got you interested in the enterprise data platform?
Well, after I got my degree in 2014 with a 9.19 GPA, I moved to Germany as I had gotten a job at SAP SE. It was there that I worked with engineering leaders and architects on enterprise-grade database systems, which piqued my interest. I also filed a patent on unified data management. I would like to add that my experience at the SAP made me an extrovert of types, and I learned a lot from others.
When did you move to the Silicon Valley?
In 2015, I was transferred to SAP Labs Silicon Valley. But I took a break to complete my master’s in Computer Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, However, I promised myself I would return to Silicon Valley. I was just in awe of the energy there. As fate would have it, in 2018, I got a job at Cloudflare, a late-stage Series D startup at the time.
Can you tell us about your experience at Cloudflare and other start-ups?
See, Cloudflare powers more than 15% of the internet globally. While working there, I developed a unique mindset to embrace scale when designing and building data pipelines. I learned about building data products at scale. The company eventually went public in September 2019.
After Cloudflare, I made the move to the construction tech company Rhumbix in 2020. As a platform product manager, I oversaw field data platform development in the last 2.5 years. I worked on shipping 0-1 products, mobile UX, enterprise sales, customer webinars, and product-led growth. Rhumbix gave me many friends, with whom I would work again if given a chance. I believe Who you work with has a huge impact on who you become and who you become often defines what you can be in the future.
Now that AI has come into the picture, how do you see enterprise data platforms changing in the future?
With the advent of Generative AI, enterprise data platforms will increasingly integrate AI and machine learning capabilities to not only store and manage data but also offer built-in tools for ML model development and deployment. Enterprise data platforms will also need to seamlessly integrate with the AI ecosystem including AI development frameworks, libraries, and marketplaces. In the context of enterprises, data quality and governance become critical. Future enterprise data platforms will emphasize data quality and integrity to maintain reliable data for AI-powered applications. In addition, enterprise data platforms will also incorporate robust security and compliance measures to protect sensitive data.
There’s this quote by Sir Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web: Data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves. I believe this quote
encapsulates the essence of enterprise data platforms in many ways – data integration, data storage, management, analytics, and compliance. Data platforms serve as a foundation for decision-making and driving innovation within enterprises.
Lastly, where do you see yourself in the near future?
Well, I hope to give more to the US since it has given me so much – new friends, an impeccable working environment, and stability. I hope to continue working in startups for rapid growth. What else to say, I have finally realized my American dream.