Atul Nanda

Sajna Samad, CSCP and I met a few years ago when I was on a women in tech panel she curated at Oracle. At the time I was still at VMware. Since then we’ve had various conversations about the role of women in tech and AI, the role of value, fulfillment and purpose in the workplace, building powerful personal brands, and the differences between working a corporate job versus taking the leap of faith into entrepreneurship. She now runs the Lead 2 Impact podcast where she sits down with various leaders to explore career growth, leadership strategies, entrepreneurship, disruption in tech, strategies for success and risk taking, and more. She’s a savant and authentic host with a wealth of experience behind her as a technologist, leader, creator, mom and more. I joined her for an episode where we explore my blueprint for work and success in the age of AI, and this video right here is a little teaser into it! Thank you for having me Sajna. It’s been an honor. Stay tuned for the full episode!!! #Lead2Impact #AIEthics #FutureOfWork #WomenInTech #LeadershipDevelopmenr

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Twilio's SVP of Strategy & Operations, Ivy Grant, shares insights on reimagining AI approaches in InformationWeek. She discusses starting with friction points rather than function, the importance of dual-speed implementation, and creating flywheels of acceleration for meaningful AI transformation. 👇

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Summary of “Monster Transformation” by Ari Lightman, Rafeh Masood, and Gary Hirsch - the authors share that organizations succeed with AI when they treat transformation as disciplined learning rather than frantic change. Progress comes from steady momentum instead of grand gestures. When people stay curious, manage risk wisely, and keep adapting, AI becomes a source of durable progress rather than anxiety or noise. https://lnkd.in/gHnBA2pg

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As we continue to help our customers and partners transform consumer experiences across industry sectors from healthcare to retail to media & entertainment, I am incredibly excited to share the announcement of Google Cloud’s strategic partnership with BRAHMA AI — a pioneering company scaling high-fidelity, interactive “digital humans” for global enterprises. Hear it from CEO Prabhu Narasimhan himself — or rather, from his digital human “ATMAN”.

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Salesforce's VP Gary Lerhaupt, VP Product Architecture weighs in on Google's A2A protocol in enabling intelligent communication and collaboration between AI agents.

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Companies have been dressing up layoffs as innovation for decades. AI is just the latest buzzword that makes Wall Street nod instead of flinch. Salesforce called Agentforce the core of its product strategy. Then they laid off the team that was building it. Pinterest told employees they were going "AI-forward." Then cut 15% of the workforce to hire "AI-proficient talent." But what's the real problem that this new talent is expected to solve? Before jumping on the AI bandwagon, leaders need to pinpoint the actual customer or workflow pain they're addressing. Without this clarity, they're swapping people for buzzwords, not solutions. That's not innovation. That's replacing your people and calling it progress. I've led enterprise-wide transformations. The technology was never the hard part. The hard part was the moment someone on the team looked at me and asked, "Is this going to cost me my job?" What I said next determined whether that transformation succeeded or stalled. Here's what no earnings call will tell you. The people who survive the layoff don't just go back to work. They go quiet. They stop surfacing problems. They stop taking risks. They adopt the new tools just enough to stay employed, not enough to actually transform anything. You wanted AI to make your organization faster. Instead, you made your people afraid. According to a recent Harvard Business Review study, sixty percent of companies have already cut headcount for AI's potential, not its performance. Leadership is making bets on a future they can't predict using the only currency that actually matters: their people's trust. And trust, once spent that way, doesn't come back with a town hall and a new mission statement. When is the last time your workforce believed a transformation was built with them, not done to them? It's time to initiate a more inclusive approach. Leaders should start by implementing fairness audits and arranging co-design workshops, inviting employees to contribute their insights and ideas. By doing this, transformations can truly align with the needs and aspirations of both the organization and its people, fostering a sense of shared purpose and ownership.

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Salesforce's VP Gary Lerhaupt, VP Product Architecture weighs in on Google's A2A protocol in enabling intelligent communication and collaboration between AI agents.

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"One Week After the Layoffs at Microsoft — What I’ve Learned" It’s been a week since the layoffs at Microsoft. While I was not impacted, majority of my team was and I’m still coming to terms with it. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions. The week before, we had happy hours, exchanged phone numbers, and created WhatsApp groups, just in case. Still, nothing could prepare me for the reality. Some of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with—decades at Microsoft, high performers at every level—were let go. It felt random. After a week of reflection, these are the lessons I’m holding onto: 1. Performance ≠ Job Security This one stings. Layoffs aren’t about individual worth—they're about shifting business priorities. If you’re still employed, it’s not because you’re better. If you were laid off, it’s not because you underperformed. Don’t internalize it either way. 2. Your Network is Your Safety Net I recently attended the Women In Tech Regatta conference in Seattle and was reminded how much I had neglected networking beyond my org. The energy, support, and shared ambition I found there was revitalizing. Hitting your OKRs is important—but building your network is just as if not more critical. 3. Own Your Career Like a Product One of my mentors Sid Mathur gave me two simple but brilliant pieces of advice: a. Write a spec for your career: Define your north star. Identify the skills and experiences you need, find the gaps, and make a roadmap. Execute it like you would a product strategy. b. Update your resume every quarter: Not just to stay prepared, but to hold yourself accountable. Are you learning the right things? Are you progressing toward your goals? 4. Build Financial Resilience If you don’t have to take the next job out of desperation, you gain the freedom to choose what’s right. Secondary income streams and passive income give you options. I recognize not everyone has this luxury—especially those on visas—but even small steps toward financial security reduce stress in uncertain times. Layoffs are part of the new normal in big tech. We can’t control when they happen. But we can control how we prepare for them, how we recover, and how we support one another through them. If you're going through something similar, you're not alone. Let's connect.

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