Madhu Chavva is an innovative technology leader with over 15+ of experience in enterprise-scale applications, specializing in Applied Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Multi-Cloud Architecture, micro SaaS, and Full-Stack Web Development.
As a Principal Architect at an EdTech company and Co-Founder of Cloud Pac Inc., Chavva is revolutionizing education through AI-powered personalized learning and automating cloud service integration.
She is a technology advisor to multiple startups and is committed to mentoring aspiring female technologists. Her active involvement in community initiatives further distinguishes her as a leader dedicated to fostering a more inclusive and responsible tech industry.
What follows is an interview with Chavva about how she got her start, her current role and what she anticipates for the future in the profession.
Question: How did you get your start in the industry?
Answer: From campus recruitment, while I was doing undergrad, Bachelors of Technology in Electronics and Communications Engineering in Jawaharlal Nehru University. I started my first job as a backend engineer at a Fortune 500 FinTech company working on middleware, APIs, databases etc and quickly became a lead managing & delivering complex projects, automating deployment processes and infrastructure.
Q: What is your current responsibility and what is your typical day like?
A: As a Principal Architect at a leading EdTech company, my responsibility is to define the technical strategy and engineering roadmap to accelerate the adoption of Adaptive Learning, a program that offers personalized educational experiences to students. I am also responsible for creating high-level design and architecture for data enrichment, ML practices, and recommendation systems. As a co-founder and tech advisor, I oversee and lead design and implementation at various stages. I review strategic feature enhancements, key initiatives, and go-to-market strategies.
My daily schedule varies and a typical day starts with office hours with teams addressing questions/concerns with design approaches or implementation, participate in Architecture committee meetings and review high-level designs. I dedicate an hour or more of focus time to clear out my tasks, research about various technology trends, frameworks etc. And then a few 1-1s with peers and my VP. I enjoy that my daily schedule varies, often giving me an opportunity to re-think and re-calibrate what I do and how I do.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The majority of the time, I get to work on open ended green field projects and use cases that have a lot of room for exploration and creativity, requiring the ability to navigate and comprehend the unknown. That gives me an opportunity to explore a wide variety of frameworks and libraries, staying on top of the industry trends. It also comes with a great responsibility of evaluating solutions, identifying risks associated with each design choice I make. This enables me to create sustainable, scalable and achievable solutions that align well with our strategic objectives.
Q: What trends in architecture are you looking out for the rest of 2023 and 2024?
A: Enhanced integration of AI/ML models within applications to provide smarter and more personalized user experiences, increasing adoption for more scalable and cost-efficient application development and growth in edge computing to reduce latency and improve performance for real-time applications.
Q: What is one thing we can do to support or increase the women in architecture?
A: Mentorship and Coaching programs. Connecting aspiring female architects with experienced mentors can provide guidance, support, and networking opportunities. These programs can help women navigate their careers, build confidence, and gain the skills needed to excel in the field.