Sharmishtha (Simi) Gupta

Fellow in-house taxonomists, ontologists, metadata managers, and semantic wizards: what is the name of the team or business unit that you work within? I have the good fortune of getting to rename the "Content Standards" program I lead at Kaiser Permanente IT. My team has determined that the name is too vague to convey the core activities of the program, and leads to confusion with the cross-functional teams we collaborate with. I'm looking for a clear name that will resonate with stakeholders within my org. So I've got a very classic taxonomist question: What to call the program? 🤔 For some context... What my program is responsible for: - Defining and governing standards for metadata, structured data, taxonomy, and ontology for classifying/structuring digital content - Implementing processes and platforms to good metadata hygiene - Assessment and remediation of content metadata What my program doesn't cover: - Writing or editorial style guides - Content design - Content strategy - Site maps or navigational structure - Data governance Any ideas are most welcome!

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A successful systems design and delivery strategy begins by assuming that change is likely the only constant. Be adaptable, or fail.

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Harness the power of AI to streamline your workflow, boost productivity, and drive better results. Get started with GenAI today and take your product management game to the next level! 💡 #Chisel #GenAI #ProductManagement #SaaS #Innovation

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🌟 Reflecting on a Memorable Experience 🌟 A while back, I had the unique opportunity to provide crucial advice to the CTO at a mid-sized software development company. They were seeking feedback on fostering collaboration between sub-businesses and sharing best practices across the organization. The differing leadership styles among their direct reports had been a barrier, and I knew addressing this issue would require careful navigation. Initially, I suggested a casual lunch meeting at a favorite Italian restaurant. However, the executive declined due to a garlic allergy and preferred to meet in their office. I was aware of the rumors about the executive's difficult demeanor and previous conflicts, including a significant issue with an employee displaying a crucifix in their cubicle. These factors added to my apprehension. During our meeting, I took a collaborative approach to present the issue. Instead of pointing fingers or placing blame, I highlighted the importance of aligning leadership styles to drive effective collaboration. I shared examples of successful cross-organizational initiatives from other companies, emphasizing how consistent leadership could foster a more cohesive and innovative environment. By focusing on shared goals and the potential benefits of unified leadership, I aimed to build consensus and encourage a collective effort towards improvement. The CTO listened intently and engaged in the discussion, asking insightful questions and offering their perspective. Our conversation gradually shifted from identifying the problem to brainstorming actionable solutions. This approach not only eased the tension but also paved the way for a productive dialogue on how to implement best practices across the organization. During our conversation, I noticed a blood donation poster prominently displayed in the CTO's office. Suddenly, everything clicked - the CTO was a Dracula. Understanding the gravity of the situation, I acted decisively, snapping a leg off of the wooden chair I had been seated on, and using a stapler to hammer it into the executive's heart, sending the demon back to the hell from which it came. The CTO let out a terrifying screech, and within moments, their body disintegrated into a pile of ashes. The room fell silent, and I knew I had done what was necessary to protect the company and its employees. This experience underscored the importance of cohesive leadership styles. Aligning leadership approaches is essential to fostering a collaborative and innovative environment, allowing teams to work together effectively towards shared goals. By ensuring consistency in leadership, we can drive positive outcomes even in the most unforeseen circumstances 💪🌟. #Leadership #Collaboration #Teamwork #Adaptability #CareerGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment

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At the core of effective engineering leadership is the ability to stay connected with your team. This is perhaps the most challenging aspect because retaining the respect of your people is difficult unless you remain technically involved yourself. In my journey as an engineering leader, staying true to the individual contributor role that originally earned their respect has kept me close. This approach extends beyond technical expertise; it's about maintaining a deep connection with the core activities that propel product development forward at Gearflow. One of my biggest professional fears is becoming irrelevant or disconnected from my team and our work. This fear motivates me to continually reinvent and retool in response to market demands. Next month, I'll be sharing about my adventures generating synthetic data recently. And while I'm no expert when I start preparing for these talks, the process is incredibly valuable. It's less about delivering a perfect talk and more about how the preparation expands my thinking and exposes me to new capabilities. This helps me connect the dots to opportunities at Gearflow that bring real innovation to our customers. Speaking regularly holds me accountable and pushes me to learn ahead of the curve, ensuring I remain relevant and impactful day-to-day. Every talk is a journey of discovery, helping me to lead with humility, communicate clearly, and inspire a culture of innovation through a deep, technical understanding of our work.

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Your ability to adapt to changing conditions will be your super power. Being overly adapted to existing conditions makes survival questionable.

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Over the course of each month, I spend a few moments each day or so collecting relevant links, and then, at the end of the month, I bundle them (with the help of some nifty automation scripts) into an easily digestible reading list. Here's everything that I found interesting in June 2024 about the irresponsible use of machine intelligence: #qfm #quantumfaxmachine #blog #irresponsible #ai #machine #intelligence #genai https://lnkd.in/efrC7bEU

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The scale we deal with, the complexity it brings in and the impact we create for millions of customers across the globe, are defining moments for our teams at Amazon India. Every day, our tech teams invent and deliver things that were never thought as possible! #HearFromBuilders at Amazon on how they solve real-world problems with technology. #NationalTechDay #ItsStillDay1 #AmazonIndia #TechAtAmazon

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During his Q&A at 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 today, 𝗦𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻 mentioned an interesting thing - “𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁” Interestingly, earlier this month, in one of the blogs, OpenAI explained how they are improving AI safety by learning from real-world use to improve safeguards via Iterative deployment. And apparently, this is very similar to what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month - 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘶𝘴 I totally agree with this view point. It is critical to leverage real-world customer usage, understand how customers are using AI tools, and then improve from there. This is going to be more differentiating than just training models with the existing, non-real world data. I think we are heading towards a world where we will start having very use-case and scenario specific trained AI tools. And to achieve this, organizations need to incorporate iterative deployment or feedback loops, while building their AI tools. If you haven't, do read the following: OpenAI blog: https://lnkd.in/gwy2jhqR Mark's interview: https://lnkd.in/gkEtR7bb #genAI #openAI #LLM #Meta #llama #AI

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I am incredibly honored and humbled to be named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Silicon Valley, and its an honor to be listed with such an extraordinary group of Women Leaders across the bay area. Congratulations to all recipients Women We Admire. Let's continue to inspire and empower each other as we pave the way forward for the next set of women leaders.   As a Woman in Technology I have faced a lot of challenges in my career and over years I learnt how to overcome these challenges and grow as a professional. I often get questions on what advice I have for someone early in in their career. Here are my humble learnings and advice to the next set of leaders for becoming the best version of yourself:   1. Most people fail to try rather than try and fail. Every job and experience makes you learn something new. Never be afraid of taking risks. 2. Hard Work, killer Instinct and desire to excel are qualities that take you towards path of success 3. Growth Mindset: Ability to learn and master new domains and technologies builds a muscle in you that can leverage in different roles and companies. 4. Believe in yourself and surround yourself with people that truly believe in you. You need this more in tough times as these people lift you and become your sounding board. 5. Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion even in a room which is full of men (or senior people). Don’t be scared of raising your hand when new opportunities arise. Advocate for yourself when no one else does it. 6. There is nothing wrong in dreaming big if you can wake up early in the morning to realize your dreams. 7. Be relentless , greedy and ambitious and have the perseverance to overcome challenges. Dont be afraid of failures. Failures are bound to happen when you take risks. Learn from them and move on. 8. Genuinely care about your reports and there mental and physical well being. Relationships take you places so invest in them as much as you spend time in learning new skills. 9. Be thankful for every opportunity and stay humble. Not everyone in life is blessed with things you have. Try to help others to achieve their goals and become their sponsors. 10. Never for get your roots and where you came from - be your authentic self . You can never please everyone. Mentorship and constructive feedback is a gift and I am very grateful to all my mentors Deborah Liu, Irina Somin, Kira Dales, Aakshi Sehdave , Meera Srinivasan Nalini Natarajan, Niha Mathur, Leena Sampemane, Archie Mayani, Aneet Narang, Talieh Rohani  for spending valuable time with me and giving me their valuable advice and mentorship to traverse my career journey. I would also like to thank all the recruiters Tanvi S., James Zapanta, Josie B., Robert L., Zach Tomashosky that gave me an opportunity to interview and work companies like Microsoft, Meta, Adobe, Intuit that made me learn so much and grow as a person and professional.  https://lnkd.in/gCA5T8Qc

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Solve Locally, Impact Globally!! As an engineer, your own curiosity and zeal to solve your own challenges often lead to solutions that are helpful for everyone. Personally, my love of tinkering with MBR to boot several OS (BeOS, Slackware and 10 more :) on a 400MHz Compaq led me to a journey of automating virtual appliances at VMware. Similarly, at Box, when building Box Graph, the challenge of interacting with too many 'Jeffs' led to the creation of a real-time recommendation platform. I believe that when you solve for yourself, you empathize with the user. While building Box AI, we are addressing problems that everyone encounters daily in a business setting. How do I organize my content and find information efficiently? How can I keep up-to-date with research? Last week, we made a plethora of Box AI announcements, including beta releases and product updates. For instance, Box AI Hubs (https://www.box.com/hubs) has been highly beneficial internally and is regularly used. This is how I stay informed about changes in benefits year-over-year for my specific case, communicate with our Go-to-Market Team about in-flight products, and facilitate engineers' migration from one observability stack to another, among many other uses. It's difficult to explain the joy you get when you make mundane tasks easier for yourself and others. There are more innovations to come with Box AI, offering better solutions for the common challenges we all face. Stay tuned! #boxai

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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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“Don’t wait for your next job to do your best work.” Satya from Microsoft said this in an interview and it was the most profound thing I’ve heard in recent years—for me. What does it mean for me to do my best, what’s expected in my role, compared with my strengths. Whats my unique value add— There are a few things that seem undeniable as priorities: 🔑 (1) building trusted relationships based on proven execution, and 🔑 (2) your ability to influence in person AND in writing. Your best should be defined by more than just your domain knowledge. How do you deal with change, how do you build trust in a constantly changing organization, and how can you verify that. What do your peers say about you when you’re not in the room? What do you want them to say? For me, I’d like to get better at long-form writing. So you’ll probably see more of that from me. What does your best look like?

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Influencing to get things done - is what we do consciously and subconsciously everyday- at work, in the family and with friends. A lovely article from #hbr breaking down this important aspect of our interactions with a few specific use-cases and practical takeaways. Remember - influencing is not the forte of leaders only - we all can influence to win in whatever we do ! Take a read and jot down your own thoughts (or experiences) in the comments section. #influencewithintent #gettingthingsdone

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Insightful session on how AI can bring benefits throughout different stages of the SDLC, including code explanation, generation, testing, code reviews, and monitoring in the production environment

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OTN requires new multi modal user agent (like browser in case of internet) for discovery and executing transactions. Imagine prescription is uploaded by someone from tier5 and User Agent will understand , discover the business serving with lower price and make an order. Multi modal User Agent makes OTN truly accessible to billion people. Every transaction on earth should be powered by OTN (b2c, b2b, b2g, g2g). So every business application(sap, netsuite, etc..) should act as an agent. Onboarding businesses should be uber easy like enter type of business and your catalogue is ready. (this is possible only with universal Item registry). This will be true semantic web.

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Thanks, Amnic team, for hosting me on your podcast. I enjoyed the conversation with Sathya narayanan Nagarajan. We have many things in common from our learnings from working on CD-based products where perfection was the expectation in the first iteration to today, when Amnic and Mindtickle are taking big bets on GenAI and Cloud to delight our customers. In this podcast, I shared my experiences of more than twenty years of building and deploying large-scale systems at Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Mindtickle. The podcast also covers my learnings from moving from large enterprises to a relatively smaller company where being agile and nimble is paramount. #Microsoft, #Meta, #Google #Mindtickle.

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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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🌟Standing Firm on the Solid Ground of Trust — A Woman’s Perspective in Tech Leadership🌟 As a woman in tech leadership, I've navigated my fair share of challenges and triumphs. But one constant that has guided me through this journey is the Leadership Law of Solid Ground, which emphasizes the fundamental importance of trust and integrity in leadership. 🧱Building Trust Through Transparency: In the tech world, where innovation moves rapidly and decisions can have far-reaching implications, transparency is not just a policy—it's a practice. It means being open about processes, successes, and failures. By embracing transparency, I've found that teams feel more empowered, involved, and secure—reaffirming that their leader is someone who values honesty and open communication. Maintaining Integrity Amidst Pressure: Tech often demands quick decisions and actions. Amidst this pressure, the temptation to cut corners can be high. However, maintaining integrity means standing firm on your values, even when it’s challenging. This commitment not only sets a standard for your team but also builds a resilient foundation that can weather any storm. 🪔The Role of Vulnerability: Leadership involves strength, but it also requires vulnerability. Admitting when you don't have all the answers or acknowledging your mistakes are powerful ways to demonstrate to your team that you are human and approachable. This vulnerability helps in building a deeper trust and encourages a culture where learning from errors is seen as a stepping stone to greatness. Empowering Others: Trust is a two-way street. By trusting my team's expertise and decisions, I empower them, which in turn strengthens their trust in my leadership. This mutual trust enhances our collaboration and creativity, crucial for innovation in tech. 🎬Conclusion: To my fellow leaders, remember that our position is as much a privilege as it is a responsibility. Trust is the solid ground upon which effective leadership is built, and once it is established, it allows not just for individual success, but for collective achievement. I’d love to hear how the Law of Solid Ground has impacted your leadership journey. Please share your experiences and let’s continue to support each other in our paths to effective leadership. #lawofsolidground #servantleadership #womenoftech

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