Keerthan Subraya Shagrithaya

He/Him/His
MSSM, 2027

This is how to say my name:

 

Why MSSM?

I have maintained a strong interest in product development and the startup ecosystem for several years now. After my research period at IISc, I had the opportunity to work at a startup where I quickly realized that the hardest parts of building a product aren't usually the engineering problems. It was a fast learning curve, and I am eager to learn more. The MSSM program gives us a methodical understanding and toolkit in approaching and analysing these situations. This would serve to complement well with my rigorous engineering background in AI and compilers. In this new world of AI-dominated coding, I also think that now that the how of coding has had its friction reduced, it is more important than ever to think deeper on the why of it, to make sure we understand customer needs well and serve a true utility rather than merely jumping on the next technology bandwagon. The MSSM program will help cultivate this mindset. All these considerations made it an easy choice for me. I am glad and grateful to have the opportunity.

Education

B.Tech in Computer Engineering at National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India.

Pursued Ph.D. in Natural Language Processing at Indian Institute of Science (dropped out later).

Experience

After my btech I worked at AMD on developing neural network compilers. After IISc, I worked in a startup on ML + hyperspectral image processing.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

The most personally significant achievement for me was at AMD, when I wrote a winograd-based kernel for convolution that outperformed the competition by a significant margin. It was the first time our team had such a win, and the achievement was celebrated jointly. I learnt a lot, worked hard at it independently, and for the first time achieved a result better than the global state of the art. It was a momentous recalibration of my abilities and a surge in my personal confidence.

What type of role are you looking to obtain after you graduate?

If conditions permit, I would like to develop one of my own ideas into a startup. Being pragmatic, if that doesn't happen, I am most interested in roles that would utilise both my technical skills and my newly gained product management mindset. ML engineer, engineering manager, or PM at a small team are all roles that would interest me.