My love for engineering stemmed from a cricket match. I come from a small town in India and have a very humble background. Before the start of online education or “ed-tech,” I taught myself English by watching news and listening to sports commentary on television and radio. While watching a cricket match, I noticed Hawk-Eye technology, which promotes fairness, safety, creativity and engagement in the sports world. Seeing this sparked my interest for how technology can be leveraged in unimaginable ways.
I joined Goldman Sachs as a campus hire after getting my MBA in 2014. To me, Goldman Sachs was one of the most coveted firms during recruitment season. Interviews with the engineers were more of a conversation and I must say, Goldman Sachs goes an extra mile to integrate campus hires into the firm’s culture. Once I hit the desk, I saw that Goldman Sachs is very nimble and agile. Almost immediately, I found myself in a similar situation to that of a mini start-up – independent and empowered to create my own job portfolio while collaborating closely with colleagues.
Engineering, to me, has always been an avenue to turn my ideas into tangible realities. I have worked across various roles within the firm, some of which were purely business and strategy focused where we used to work very closely with Engineering teams to get our ideas implemented. That’s when I realized how powerful an Engineering role is – people come to you to bring their ideas to life. When you are someone who can understand the pulse of business, ideate and get those ideas implemented, you are very well placed to make a direct impact on the firm, and Engineers are always at the forefront of such disruptions.
Goldman Sachs has a great culture of collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship. Employees at the firm are always ready to go the extra mile to help each other irrespective of which team or geography one works in. You are always just a ping/call away. Entrepreneurship is highly encouraged and rewarded, if you have an idea it will find ears all the way up to the top and the firm makes sure that great/viable ideas see the light of day.
I also take keen interest in behavioral finance and linguistics. I am closely associated with an NGO working in the areas of rural development and poverty alleviation, and I use my linguistic and behavioral finance skills to help people in some of the most remote parts of India. I am also an active member of the Armed Forces Interest Forum and the Goldman Sachs Veterans Network. I draw inspiration from my veteran colleagues, and connecting with them helps inculcate my discipline and “never-say-die” attitude.
In my opinion, Goldman Sachs employs highly talented engineers. My advice to all the young engineers is to start understanding and appreciating the business as early as possible in your careers. An engineer who fully understands the business context behind the products they build is a great partner to the business. This approach always results in building the best products and solutions.