Miril Chheda

I have known Avni for almost ten years and I am super glad (and not surprised) that her customer-focused approach remains unchanged. We were fortunate to have Avni Savant speak to our teams at G2 India. The session was inspirational, and we learned a lot from her. Avni has a wealth of experience, and we are grateful for the valuable insights she shared with us. During the session brilliantly moderated by Aravind Raj, we discussed several topics and gained a few key takeaways: ⚡ Creating an environment that supports a "fail fast" mindset fosters innovation, and consistent leadership support is essential. Interestingly, this is something that Roger Valade aligns with strongly, and we are just in the middle of an innovation sprint. :) 🧠 We explored areas where AI can be implemented to solve product use cases. Avni stressed that we don't need to reinvent the wheel; instead, we should learn from companies that have successfully adopted AI. The most doable areas for AI implementation are to improve developer productivity and summarize insights and discoveries. 📊 We discussed how squad-specific goals (OKRs) can be integrated with the company's larger goals. For example, we can analyze if improving our product's onboarding experience impacts the adoption rate, and understand if the release was successful. Avni emphasized the importance of using data to make feature iterations and prioritization decisions. 💬 We discussed the significance of product development teams being close to the customers and leveraging customer interviews, and feedback from pre-sales, sales, and support teams. 💗 Lastly, Avni highlighted the importance of self-drivenness and having a clear point of view in one's career. She noted that this proactive approach is valued and appreciated. We are truly grateful to Avni for her time and lessons!

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Thought I would share a personal milestone today. I reached 25 blogs on medium https://lnkd.in/dJc3YsKE This is a short blurb on my journey and process. I had started blogging in 2020 and actively from 2021 partly inspired by people I met along the way and also as a way to express my thoughts better. I changed my focus and approach multiple times, from org design, promotion processes and tech frameworks to in depth content on specific areas like cryptography. Sometimes all it took for me to go past a writers block was to just pen down my thoughts even if it doesn't form a cohesive whole and refine it as I continued writing. I decided I would always put in links to the articles or blogs of the articles I had been inspired by. Most of them have better content than mine. I realised that if I had to explain something complex I had to build concepts around it brick by brick so when I started writing about OPAQUE PAKE, I made sure I had covered cryptography in ample depth even if it meant repeating commonly known concepts. I also wanted to focus on the why rather than the what so that my detailed blog doesn't end up like an abstract white paper with references. I wanted the blog to focus on my own interests instead of clickbait. So I kept it free of prophetic albeit popular articles like AI doomerism. So what's your excuse for not blogging?

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Convoluted World of Contra Melody Convoluted world of contra melody! Is it really convoluted? Well, the answer depends on who you ask. For a well trained musician, especially in Western music, it is natural. For most common folks, it is assumed to be there in the Bollywood music, but they will feel the absence rather than presence. Further, they cannot tell you what is missing, but they can tell you something major is missing. We just expect it to be there. Contra melody has a love-hate relationship with the main song. It loves the main song because it enhances the song if the contra-melody is played in the background. It hates the main song because the background volume is low (really low) and the tune does NOT mimic the actual song. The contra melody, or harmony, originated in Western music. In Indian Classical or Semi Classical music we do not use it. This has been well documented by B. R. Deodhar in his books. There is nothing right or wrong about it. Western music took one direction, and Indian music took other direction. The स्वर शुद्धता, for example is much deeper in Indian music. But that is a different topic altogether.  We do talk about this fusion or that fusion today, but the biggest fusion happened in Bollywood music after 1950s. At that point the Goan musicians came to Mumbai (called Bombay that time) and made a major contribution.  Now let us take one more song, where I will play the contra melody by itself, followed by song and harmonium. Our first piece is Madan Mohan gem, Zarasi Ahat. The song begins with a soothing intro piece, followed by Lata’s ad-lib (without taal) singing. Unlike many songs, the taal picks up very softly and naturally; without any fanfare. The contra pieces keep going in the background. The interlude is outstanding, and then again Lata takes over. I have a BIG complaint. Because of Lata/Asha/Rafi/Kishors of the world, it is indeed hard to concentrate on the background music. Second stanza has a very nice, small alaap that only Lata can execute. But I digress, we are not talking about Lata, but rather the background music. Our second and final song for this episode is dil hai chhota sa chhoti si asha by Rahman. In a typical Rahman style, the song begins with soft rhythm followed by a quiet intro piece. The violins make appearance soon enough and start filling out the soundscape. It is unmistakable. Notice the rhythm is guitar chords. I always think Roja was the best creation by Rahman, but he got Oscar later for different movie. Click on https://lnkd.in/gTpVbzcK then press the triangular “Play” button.  Enjoy

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Work tidbits - Living on the edge! Over a year back, I received my patent in the Knowledge Annotation space after 5 years of wait - it triggered me to join this new team.  The space was/still is AI Accelerators, within Cloud Compute. My team specifically was the ‘last mile’, productionize and land the AI accelerators for the top cloud customers.  The work would have been fine in the last 2+ decades of my career - but these times were different. Everyone and everything was in the AI/ML race. Before we(or others) could plan a new stack - something better was out there - sometimes open sourced! Before anyone could make the perf/$ cheaper - There was an update on new numbers available. There were negotiations on software lifecycles, in favor of velocity.   Customers were eager more than any other time. They were feeling the same stress - best LLM, best Stable diffusion, best MLPerf, best ML stack, best chips, best networking, best price! We did very well overall and that part will continue - despite living on the edge. Recently things shifted and I have gotten time to breathe(joined a sister team), also write my thoughts/tidbits - 1.) A friend, a mentor once said - Go far, not fast! Life is not a race and you have a long way to go! I do.  2.) Build resilience. You will see a lot of ups and downs. You don’t always have time to feel sorry for the down, or cheer for the ups! Keep your emotions in the middle spectrum.  3.) Find the true allies, and keep them close. They will tell you when you are wrong, or not - but most importantly they will stick with you, for long. I just ran into my peer from 9 years ago, 2 companies back in the hallway today!  4.) Recognize that some folks are indeed for the fast, maybe also far.. but mostly fast. Let them be! Take 2 steps back. Build resilience.  5.) Invest in your team - My reports, people are/were the team's biggest strength, and the primary reason to keep us going. We certainly don’t end here. The jobs will always be demanding, and that is by design. But the 'how' is on you..   My Amazon manager (now a VP@Microsoft) wrote me a handwritten note that said - Shivani, slow down and take the time to smell the flowers - I have been practicing something like this lately..  I am taking my learnings and my tribe along - and certainly aiming to go far.  Please take care of yourself, no matter what stage! ##resilience #livingontheedge #farnotfast #machinelearning #google #cloud

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From Astrologer's Whispers to Real Connections: Reclaiming Belonging in a Lonely Age Have you ever consulted an astrologer, their predictions swirling in your head, only to feel empty when your day takes a different turn? The emptiness might not be about the details themselves, but about seeking outside approval for your happiness. This same feeling can creep in even when you achieve success. Remember climbing the career ladder, landing that dream apartment, only to find yourself lost in a quiet emptiness? In India's bustling cities, it's a familiar, painful emotion. We're surrounded by people, yet there's a little loneliness at the edges of our lives. Thinking back to Mrs. Deshmukh, your friendly neighbour with the legendary Til Gur Barfi's, who brought the whole neighbourhood together with tea and friendly chats. Those evenings of shared stories and laughter, a web woven by simple human connection, feel like a distant memory in our super-connected yet broken world. We chase success with thumbs glued to screens, building online bridges that leave us feeling more alone than ever. The pressure to create a perfect online self-drowns out the whispers of our own desires. But here's the real deal, that shiny designation and fancy car can't fill the hole left by genuine connection. There's hope, though! We can rewrite this story. Let's ditch the small talk and chase deeper connections. Share your fears and worries, break free from feeling isolated in this sea of ambition. Remember the warmth of family gatherings, the joy of shared childhood games? Revive those small traditions. Pick up the phone for a real heart-to-heart conversation rather than What's Apping. Every act of connection, no matter how ordinary, how small, builds a more satisfying life. Imagine hearing back from an old friend, reliving an old laugh, and being surrounded by people who truly see us, where we belong. Isn't that what life is all about? Together, one conversation, one meal, and one act of kindness at a time, we can tear down the walls of loneliness. We can rewrite the narrative of modern society, where connection becomes the foundation of a life well lived. It's not too late, or is it? #HumanConnections #BelongingMatters #OvercomeLoneliness #RealConversations #MeaningfulRelationships #CommunityOverConnectivity #AuthenticLiving #SocialWellbeing #RedefiningSuccess #TraditionsRewoven #FightIsolation #VulnerableAndReal #KindnessRevolution #SmallActsBigImpact #ReconnectingHumanity #IndianSociety #UrbanLoneliness #DigitalDetox #QualityOverQuantity #ConnectionCures Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲: 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 In today's fast-paced Agile world, it's easy to get caught up in deadlines and deliverables. But what if the key to unlocking higher performance and a more positive work environment was right under your nose? Gratitude. Today's blog post explores the power of gratitude in Agile teams: https://lnkd.in/g_TYCbNX Discover how expressing gratitude can: • Boost team morale and engagement • Strengthen collaboration and trust • Improve communication and problem-solving • Increase resilience and overcome challenges Learn simple practices to cultivate a culture of appreciation in your Agile team and see the positive impact on your projects and people. #Agile #leadership #gratitude #teamwork #performance

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Came across this LLM data poisoning case reported recently by a user that leveraged ChatGPT for writing a bot. Fascinating details are in the post below. What it clearly highlights is the need for AI runtime security that leverages #advancedurl filtering capabilities at its core. The time for Palo Alto Networks’ AI runtime security product is right now! Read more about it at: https://lnkd.in/gPCMbcC8

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A text box is all you need to revolutionize an industry DAT AI Systems Pvt Ltd is changing how you manage your field operations one message at a time

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While organizing some old notes, I stumbled upon this treasure trove of book recommendations from years ago, and wow, I feel like I should be a lot smarter based on all those books I read. From leadership wisdom to business insights, and deep dives into technology and architecture, these books helped shape the way I think and lead today. Special shoutout to Michael Corrigan who had a book recommendation for every occasion and to Erik Synnestvedt who read and discussed some very challenging books with me. There's nothing like discussing ideas and taking away different perspectives! Looking for new recommendations to put on my reading list (especially more technical topics)

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It's all about Desktop AI. 1. Fine-tuning small language model with local data to triage support tickets on a desktop machine 2. Building and running RAG application on desktop machine #desktiopai #slm #rag #ai #generativeai https://lnkd.in/gvCj2HDR

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amazing article ALSHAMA M S ! you outlined the essence of mentoring elegantly, showing how wisdom and skill flow seamlessly, if guidance and support is imparted delicately, patiently and responsibly! never knew stories assembled from real-world experiences could be so insightful! 🎉

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If you work in Tech, and specifically Product teams - you want to follow Shreyas Doshi; here is a just a very very small reason why: https://lnkd.in/gGBXAeva - He created a thread of folks who are hiring Product Managers with 50+ responses of actual opportunities.. #ProductManagement #Hiring

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AI Appreciation Day is here and I am thrilled to share the excitement it brings us as we reflect on the transformative impact AI has on our daily lives and work. AI for us, is not just a buzzword—it's the heartbeat of innovation, driving us to new heights and redefining possibilities. At Smytten Pulse, we leverage AI to understand our consumers better, personalize experiences, and deliver insights that fuel informed decisions. What excites me most about AI is its ability to learn and evolve. It’s like having a team member that never stops growing! With every interaction and data point, our AI systems become smarter, more intuitive, and more aligned with our goals. This dynamic capability empowers us to stay ahead of trends and continuously improve our offerings. 🚀 One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is witnessing the synergy between our talented engineers and AI. The collaboration fosters creativity, problem-solving, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Together, we are not just building technology; we are shaping the future. On this AI Appreciation Day, I want to extend my gratitude to our team at Smytten Pulse and the incredible AI community. Let’s continue to push boundaries, embrace challenges, and unlock the full potential of AI. Here’s to a future where AI and human ingenuity go hand in hand! 🙌 https://pulse.smytten.com/ Smytten Pulse #AIAppreciationDay #AIInnovation #EngineeringExcellence #SmyttenPulse #FutureForward

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A powerful team is never just a collection of individuals. There is extraordinary value in connections and relationships that are built over time. But how do you quantify these nuanced and dynamic traits? Here are some ideas: ✨ DORA Metrics: While primarily leveraged for assessing software delivery performance, DORA Metrics can offer insights into team efficiency and collaboration. Metrics like deployment frequency and lead time for changes are indirect indicators of how well a team operates together. 🌟 Net Promoter Score (NPS): Going beyond customer satisfaction, internally, NPS can be adapted to gauge team members' satisfaction and willingness to recommend their team to others. It captures engagement, morale, and overall sentiment within the team. ♻️ Feedback loops: How often is the team giving feedback to others? Tracking data points like these over time, and especially showing how changing the team impacts the data can tell a compelling story. It might give a clear voice to a nuanced understanding of the impact of changing the team when there are concerns for doing so. As a leader what metrics do you track to help you understand how change impacts a team?

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Challenge Ideas Before falling in love with them Assume all ideas are flawed until proven otherwise, as falling in love with an idea can lead to wasted time and effort. Companies should prioritize validating their ideas by quickly and inexpensively testing them against real user feedback. Instead of getting lost in elaborate business plans based on initial excitement, focus on simple experiments or 'hacks' that can demonstrate whether a concept has potential or not. This approach prevents attachment to unviable ideas and directs energy towards solutions that resonate with actual customer desires. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/erpyd5dp

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#6 Blameless Communication in its Simplest Form Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with many remarkable individuals, each bringing their own unique approach to teamwork and communication. Among them, some stand out for their ability to foster collaboration and emotional safety in high pressure situations. One such individual excelled in turning potentially stressful moments into opportunities for constructive communication. I vividly recall how they handled a common situation when someone broke the build. Instead of assigning blame or finger-pointing, they would send out an email stating, “Looks like there’s some sadness in the build today.” This simple, lighthearted phrasing not only defused tension but also maintained focus on solving the issue without making anyone feel singled out. Another memorable example was during quarterly monolith releases, when all engineering teams gathered for a real-time monitoring session of the deployment, with eyes on error logs. This individual had an extraordinary talent for spotting anomalies and calling them out in a way that was both effective and non-confrontational. When a new error appeared, this person would send a message like, “Look at this cool error, it seems to be logging 1K times per second.” Even when they knew the root cause or the responsible team, their phrasing left space for the owning team to investigate and take ownership, keeping a spirit of shared accountability. Their brilliance extended beyond these moments into everyday communication. They had a knack for expressing dissatisfaction with humor and relatability. Instead of harsh criticism, they might say something like, “That is a turd,” or “That makes me sad.” These candid yet playful remarks captured what many were thinking but didn’t know how to articulate without risking offending someone. Their words conveyed sentiment in a way that everyone could connect with, ensuring messages landed in a sensitive manner. This individual’s approach was masterful in balancing honesty and empathy, turning communication into a tool for uniting people rather than dividing them. Their ability to humanize even the most technical challenges left a lasting impression and set a standard for what it means to lead in both kindness and clarity.

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I was hot headed, typically obnoxious, and overtly arrogant when I started working at my first job. Chirag and Pravin dai will attest to that 😂.   I remember this one incident very clearly. Mahesh was my QA guy and we were building #MONyog, an agentless #MySQL monitoring tool. We missed a customer meeting. Just plain forgot. Obviously the boss' "blood (was) boiling" and his "head exploding" -- phrases we heard a lot those days! He rescheduled the meeting and stood over us while we took the call.   The problem the customer was facing was that every time MONyog started up his network usage shot up for the first few minutes and used up most of the available bandwidth. He showed us #Nagios graphs. Without thinking I asked him what the size of his error log was. He said it was around 1TB.   Every time MONyog booted up, it was reading 1TB of data using SFTP. How did I know? I had no idea. Boss looked at me, "How did you know?". All I said was: "I felt it". Sufficed to say that my boss' blood was no longer boiling over, and his ire was redirected at Sandhya who built the feature 🤣.   It's been over a decade since that incident, and I was reminded of it as I was reading Daniel Kahneman's #ThinkingFastAndSlow. His work, it shines a light on the dark recesses of my mind. It's incredible how the brain works, and we owe it to ourselves to take care of it, to nurture it. I had no idea, when I picked up the book, that Daniel would pass away just a day or two later. God rest his soul. Share your story. Show up.

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