Kartik

It started with a gaze fixed under the hood and an obsession with the silhouette of a speeding car. For me, beauty wasn't just skin deep; it was the synergy between a sleek exterior and the raw power of the engine. This dual fascination led me to Mechanical Engineering, where I spent four years deconstructing the "how" and "why" of physical machines, preparing for a life in automotive design.

Life rarely follows a straight track. My career began at Amazon, a world of logistics and scale miles away from the drafting board. Driven to create, I took a leap into the startup world, pouring my soul (and capital) into building my own vision. Then, COVID-19 hit. The cash burned, the funding vanished, and I had to shut my doors. It felt like a total engine failure, but in the wreckage, I found a silver lining: the rudimentary, self-taught designs I had hacked together for my own product.

The passion I felt for car engines hadn't died; it had simply shifted into the "logic" of digital products. I realised that a user interface is just a chassis, and the user experience is the engine. I traded the wrench for a cursor, certifying my skills through Springboard to bridge the gap between self-taught grit and professional mastery. I wasn't just drawing screens; I was engineering how people interact with technology.

I didn't just want to design; I wanted to optimise. I immersed myself in the technicalities from Pendo certifications to Data Analytics, completing 30+ courses to ensure my designs were backed by hard evidence. I moved through the ranks, building the connective tissue for everything from HOA systems to RPA applications and Cybersecurity platforms, eventually transitioning from a solo creator to a mentor for the next generation of designers.

Today, I serve as a Product Design Manager at SentinelOne, overseeing the Cloud Security Pillar. Whether it's CIEM, CADR, or Compliance, I am back to my roots: managing high-performance "engines" that protect global infrastructure. My current obsession? AI Integration. I'm leading our team to weave artificial intelligence into the design process, ensuring that the future of security is as intuitive as it is powerful.