Alumnus Amit Zavery, Google VP/GM and Head of Platform, is keynote speaker for INI virtual graduation celebration

He will inspire INI's Class of 2021 on Sunday, May 23

Alumnus Amit Zavery ('94) will share inspiring remarks as the keynote speaker at the Information Networking Institute’s (INI) virtual graduation celebration on May 23, 2021. He earned his M.S. in Information Networking (MSIN) in 1994 and today serves as VP/GM and Head of Platform for Google Cloud. Previously he was an Executive Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Cloud Platform and Middleware products.

Zavery credits his CMU INI education with helping him build the foundation for his career, noting the value of learning to think broadly across multiple disciplines, including product strategy, software development, business planning, go-to-market and corporate operations.

“INI was a transformational experience for me."

Over the course of his career, this foundation has allowed him to better understand how companies design, build, market, support and grow new products and create new disruptive opportunities.

Zavery was instrumental in building Oracle’s Fusion Middleware product portfolio that scaled from zero to $5B in annual revenue in less than 10 years. He led Oracle's transformation into a cloud platform provider by starting and building Oracle Public Cloud and operating multiple cloud native services that are generating more than $800M in annual recurring revenue. In his current role, he is responsible for Google Cloud's platform development, business strategy and commercialization efforts, more than doubling Google Cloud's revenue in the last two years.

“Given his transformational impact as an industry leader and thoughtful engagement as an INI alumnus, I believe Amit will deliver a powerful message to our new graduates as they enter the next phase of their professional lives,” said INI director Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis.

“INI opened many new doors and connections for me which led to my first job, but also an amazing network across various industries,” added Zavery. “I still apply many of my learnings from INI. It keeps me grounded in my engineering roots while leading various businesses and divisions.”

Honoring the Class of 2021

The INI will celebrate the 140 members of its 31st graduating class virtually on Sunday, May 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET. 

“I am incredibly proud of this year’s graduating class. These students have truly embodied what it means to reimagine their future while embracing their class motto: May the Network Be With You,” said Dr. Haritos Tsamitis.

“I know our students will emerge from this experience stronger than ever, in part because they leaned into the INI’s community of support and helped lift up one another,” she added. “One of the most valuable parts of the CMU graduate experience is emerging with a network of peers who will be with you for a lifetime.”

Graduates are headed to outstanding roles at this year’s top four employers: Amazon, Google, Oracle and Salesforce. Several students will go on to serve our country after graduation, starting careers with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. And a few graduates will be continuing their education as PhD students at CMU and Duke University.

“Our students are pursuing careers that are challenging and exciting, working to solve complex problems as information security engineers, embedded systems software developers, and architecture engineers, just to name a few,” said Rachel Amos, Director of Career Services & Employer Relations. “So far we have a record high reported median salary, which speaks volumes to the talent and demand INI brings to the workforce.”

Reflecting on his role as keynote speaker, Zavery is eager to inspire graduates to take risks and be open to trying interesting new opportunities to change how the world uses technology:

“There is an immense opportunity to innovate and change the world, so graduates should think big and take on challenges that an INI education has prepared them for!”

“I feel fortunate that I can share my experience and advice with the graduating class who I believe will go on to do wonderful things and continue changing the world,” he said. “I'm excited at the opportunity to play a small part in their INI journey and hopefully the graduates will find my thoughts useful as they embark on their professional careers.”

Connect with Amit on LinkedIn >

The INI virtual graduation celebration will be held on Sunday, May 23 on Zoom for graduating students, faculty and staff. The event will be recorded.