Hello VOX Readers, how are you? I hope all is well with everyone! Last week, I caught up with Anna Simpson. Did you see her #LifeAtVeritas interview? Today I’d like to introduce my latest Veritas employee interview, which is with Bhooshan Thakar, Senior Director of Engineering based in our Pune, India office. During this interview, Bhooshan shares insights into his 25-year tech career including a day in a life of an engineer, offers advice for people trying to break into IT, and encourages people to join his growing talented team. Read Bhooshan’s interview below.
Bhooshan: It is a bit of an unusual story. My parents are medical doctors and a number of my family members as well. I wanted to do something different outside of medicine but still stay connected with that field. It all started with a dream to make a career in “medical electronics” and I chose to become an electronics engineer. In my post-graduation (MS) research, I started getting fascinated by complexities in super-scalar processor architecture and parallel computing. I guess this journey has taken many turns in the past 25 years and that’s what has made it so beautiful for me!
Zoe: Wow, 25 years as an engineer! So, can you share a summary of a day in the life of an Engineer?
Bhooshan: Engineering is all about building things and solving problems. Innovation, design, build, and test are some of the key tenants. But the core of it is all about analysing and solving problems. I think that is the crux of the life of an engineer and an enriching experience. It is a hectic life but so fulfilling when you solve complex problems for your customers. The IT field is evolving very fast, so continuous learning is an integral part of an engineer’s life.
Zoe: Bhooshan, what career advice would you give to those trying to secure their first IT role? Are you recruiting at the moment?
Bhooshan: A first job is always so exciting. I would say embrace the opportunity your first IT job provides. Focus on becoming a solid professional. That foundation of work ethic, commitment, ownership - would set you for greater success for the rest of your career. Pune, India is our largest Research and Development (R&D) site for Veritas. We are constantly innovating, making our products better, and building new solutions. So yes! We are hiring passionate talent. There are so many exciting positions open to work for Veritas, a fantastic company that has technology at its core.
Zoe: In your opinion what leadership traits make a good leader? And what’s your leadership style?
Bhooshan: Compassion and empathy! A leader should lead by example. The true north for my leadership philosophy is very simple. I am here because of the “products and people”. As a leader for a largescale software development team, my leadership is all about the products we build and the people that build those products.
I believe trust is everything. I trust everyone on the team, and it is up to us to keep it. My leadership is about empowerment. I believe in my team’s potential and intent and my role is to channel it. So, you could categorize my style as “coaching”. Since trust is its core, I believe in making connections, developing relations, the ability to adapt, and seeking alignment to a common goal.
Bhooshan: I am very fortunate to be associated with fantastic people throughout my professional life. I have spent the formative period of my professional life in the US working with some of the best techies. In this leadership role in India, I have the privilege to learn from some of the very best in the storage and data protection industry. At every turn, I found a fantastic coach who guided me and validated my thought-process. There is the one constant throughout, that’s my wife. She is the best thing that has happened to me personally and professionally. Through her analytical approach to the changes and challenges of life, she has influenced me on rational thinking, being decisive, and empathetic. She is a VLSI engineer and she has greatly helped me shape my leadership mindset.
Zoe: How do you define success? And how do you build successful teams across your region?
Bhooshan: In our field of work, success often feels like reaching for the horizon. You have got to keep chasing for it. In that sense, it is about inner satisfaction. Practically, it is about giving your best to help the bigger team win and achieve collective goals.
Building successful teams is about morphing individual talent into a team that has a common purpose and that shares the same vision. The key to such successful teams is to identify the right talent, energize them, and align them with a common objective. I have been blessed to be associated with fantastic teams across the globe at Veritas.
Zoe: Bhooshan, what motivates you? And how do you motivate remote teams across India? Especially in these uncertain times.
Bhooshan: Committed, focused, and humble people around me motivate me. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by awesome leaders and brilliant engineers. I am a very driven person. I want to give my best to help the “people and product” succeed.
Compassion and empathy are very critical leadership traits, especially during these uncertain times. We have a common goal and a robust plan to achieve those goals as a team. That clarity and strong alignment is helping us stay on course while working remotely during these challenging times.
Zoe: Bhooshan, why should people choose to work at Veritas?
Bhooshan: Technology is in the DNA of this company. Veritas has been a technology leader for three decades in data protection and enterprise storage. Here you get to work on cutting-edge technology in the enterprise storage and data protection domain. You get intellectual stimulus every day by working closely with some of the most brilliant minds in this domain. In that process, you will get to design world-class products, shape product roadmaps, influence technology with innovation, and interact with major enterprise customers in the world.
If you are looking to build a robust and fulfilling career in the hi-tech industry, come join me and my team at Veritas!
Zoe: What’s your favourite Veritas solution or product?
Bhooshan: Veritas has some of the best enterprise-class products. But my favourite is, of course, InfoScale (aka Storage Foundation). What a beautiful software-defined solution built over 25 years and still going very strong. It is solving some of the most complex problems in storage management and application high-availability in the most mission-critical environments for major enterprises across the world. I feel privileged to be associated with this product and helping shape it for the future.
Bhooshan: I love sports. I enjoy playing some but greatly enjoy watching every sport. I like long-distance running and cycling. I like to spend time in my garden on lazy Saturday afternoons. As a family, we like to travel to different countries and places and sample beautiful cultures and cuisines. Those travels give me and my family a great opportunity to bond even more.
Zoe: Finally, what technology can’t you live without?
Bhooshan: I know it is a cliché, but I’d say the Internet. The web has connected all of us together, made us global citizens, and has given us access to vast amounts of information. It has helped accelerate the transformation of countries like India. I often find myself googling some unknown places in the world, looking for historical information, looking up biographies of famous people, reading about world news, looking for fancy restaurants, and keeping track of game scores, traffic, and the weather. Besides, without the internet working from home in IT would have been non-existent.
What a fascinating interview with Bhooshan, thank you for sharing your career experience, insights, and tips. We are actively recruiting in India at the moment, so if you’re interested, then please do get in touch. Check out our job vacancies on LinkedIn and apply.
