Sugandha Sahay

Having accrued more than a decade of professional experience in the automation and business fields, Sugandha Sahay currently excels as a technical program manager at Amazon Web Services and a featured expert at Criya, an AI startup. At Amazon, she serves the Office of the Senior Vice President of Engineering, through which she collaborates with various teams within the organization to identify processes from conceptualization to launch, determining areas that can be automated for optimization.

Wielding a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology in 2012, Ms. Sahay launched her career in her home country of India as a research intern at The Energy and Resources Institute before spending years at Tata Consultancy Services, where she was active as a software engineer trainee, quality assurance consultant, production support consultant, and production support project lead. She relocated to the United States and continued her education by attaining a master’s degree in management information systems and services at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, where she also worked as a graduate teaching assistant. Prior to his current appointments, she advanced from a technical program manager to the manager of software development at DataCore Software from 2019 to 2022.

Reflecting on her accomplished career, Ms. Sahay has made notable contributions in mentoring numerous students and early professionals, assisting them to transition to the tech industry. Through her leadership skills, she has been able to help a total of 80 professionals pivot to tech, showcasing her unwavering commitment to empowering individuals and driving innovation in that sector. As a testament to her professional impact, she has collected numerous recognitions over the years, including the Service and Commitment Award from TATA Consultancy Services and the Technical Professional of the Year Award from the Stevie American Business Awards in 2023, among several others. Attributing her success to the ideology of deriving lessons from failures and confronting challenges, she plans on continuing on her current path in the future while also pursuing new goals. She aims to help develop innovative solutions in the automation space, file at least two patents for her original contributions, and ultimately double the number of individuals she mentors, guides, and assists.

Additionally, with her accrued experience in the technology field, Ms. Sahay feels well-equipped to offer insights on how to succeed; she intends to attend more conferences and offer her voice as a keynote speaker with the big goal of sharing what she knows in order to help others grow.