In this first of 2-part conversation, Abbhinav (123 of AI) and co-host Debayan (Microsoft) are in conversation with Keerti Purswani, founder of Educosys, LinkedIn Top Voice, YouTube Educator, Ex-Atlassian, Ex-Intuit Software Engineer.

The conversation revolves around Keerti’s journey - from being a North Indian at NIT Calicut, the discrimination she faced in her college and corporate life as a woman, the key moments of her career - from working at a startup to Atlassian to transitioning to an educator, and finally around content creation, and her personal life.

KEERTI REVEALS:

• Her career transition: from an average student to a good software engineer, and finally to successful educator.
• Cultural Adaptation: Feeling like an outsider among predominantly South Indian peers.
• Coping with language barriers, social interactions, and being the only North Indian in her group.
• Balancing passion for teaching and coding with financial stability, and the influence of family expectations on career choices.
• Limitations for female college students: Limited festival celebrations and curfews, different from the boys.
• Gender-based discrimination in corporate life: How a female employee faced discrimination when working late hours
• Women often face pressure to prove themselves more than men, leading to a need for increased effort and resilience.
• The dynamic of women earning more can lead them to take greater career risks compared to men.
• Instances where men face job loss before marriage challenge traditional gender roles regarding financial stability.
• Career Growth: Transitioning to a startup provided valuable learning experiences, leading to increased confidence and career growth.
• The decision to transition from corporate roles to teaching was driven by dissatisfaction with job roles offered by big companies.
• Managing personal commitments during significant life events, such as marriage, required temporary adjustments in career focus.
• LinkedIn and YouTube content creation journey!

BEST MOMENTS:

“If painting paid my bills, I would have probably become a full-time painter”

“I am used to being different everywhere”

“I don't know a single person who has not struggled or who has not faced any sort of trauma... I don't know a single person!”

“Women can take more risk... just because they have this dynamic that's interesting.”

“It is essential...to stop normalising discriminatory practices within social circles.”

“I worked extremely hard... but then I realized... it is not just hard work; you also have to be smart.” ”I love being uncertain... when I know what will happen in the next 6-7 months, I start getting bored”

“I have always stood up and I have never been so scared of speaking up my mind.”

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

123 of AI’s official website: ⁠https://www.123ofai.com⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat⁠

Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents.