When kids dream of being entertainers, their backup profession isn’t sometimes engineering. However that was Gokul Pandy’s plan if he didn’t make it in Kollywood, a phase of Indian cinema devoted to producing motion pictures within the Tamil language. As a teenager rising up in Chennai, India, Pandy liked performing and dancing, however he additionally excelled in math and science in class.
His mother and father, each educators, supported their son’s ardour however inspired him to think about finding out engineering. They informed him that if engineering didn’t work out, he may all the time strive present enterprise.
Gokul Pandy
Employer:
Accenture in Richmond, Va.
Title:
Software improvement supervisor
Member grade:
Senior member
Alma maters:
Anand Institute of Increased Know-how, Chennai, India; Alagappa College, in Karaikudi, India
He took their recommendation and, as a highschool scholar, started watching YouTube movies of engineers fixing real-world issues. These movies impressed him to enroll within the engineering program at Anand Institute of Higher Technology, in Chennai. Throughout his second 12 months there, a profession in engineering received out over one in leisure. His engineering profession has had its challenges, nevertheless.
At the moment, Pandy is an software improvement supervisor at Accenture, in Richmond, Va. The IEEE senior member additionally serves because the chair of the IEEE Richmond Section.
He was inducted this month into the IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu honor society.
From IT assist to robotic automation skilled
Pandy graduated from Anand in 2008 with a bachelor’s diploma in electronics and communications engineering. It was on the top of the Great Recession, which started in 2007 and resulted in 2009. Many international locations, together with India, had excessive unemployment charges then, making it harder to discover a full-time job. To spice up his possibilities, Pandy earned quite a lot of certifications together with lead system architect, AWS cloud partitioner, and robotic process automation (RPA). He additionally enrolled within the on-line MBA program at Alagappa University, in Karaikudi, India—which he accomplished in 2011.
In 2008 he was employed by Accenture in Bangalore as a contract worker, working in IT assist. Because of his constant laborious work, he says, the corporate promoted him to full-time software program engineer, which was “life-changing.”
He was transferred to the corporate’s Chennai workplace and ultimately was promoted to senior software program engineer.
He turned an skilled on automation frameworks: structured units of tips, instruments, and practices designed to streamline and handle repetitive duties.
To deal with inefficiencies in programs, he and his crew designed and led an open-source automation device that automates processes resembling knowledge entry and validation, and it verifies compliance throughout a number of ranges.
By automating repetitive administrative duties, enterprise customers may give attention to different necessary duties.
In 2015 his firm moved Pandy to the United States to assist a serious health care transformation initiative.
“That transfer marked a turning level in my profession,” he says, “propelling me into the worldwide highlight as a thought chief in enterprise automation.” He turned an automation subject material skilled from a guide tester for 2 main well being care organizations, he says.
His efforts have been acknowledged. He acquired a Global Recognition Award this 12 months for his “outstanding leadership and innovative contributions to robotic process automation (RPA) in health care technology.”
He additionally acquired a 2024 Claro Platinum Award for excellence in technology. The Claro Awards acknowledge folks doing excellent work in AI, data analytics, and expertise.
Pandy is a Fellow of a number of organizations together with the British Computer Society, Hackathon Raptors, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Soft Computing Research Society.
He has authored or coauthored more than 20 papers, a number of of that are within the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. He has peer-reviewed greater than 200 papers for main conferences, and he was invited as a keynote speaker in IEEE and different conferences.
Working an IEEE part to accumulate new expertise
Pandy joined IEEE final 12 months and was rapidly elevated to senior member.
He says he joined as a result of “the group gives me a platform to collaborate with world technologists.
“IEEE stays up to date on the frontier of applied sciences and provides again to the engineering group,” he provides. “It additionally supplies providers to college students and initiates talks the place we are able to discover subjects with respect to our expertise and information, and mentor others.”
Considering volunteering and mentoring, he determined to appoint himself for the place of IEEE Richmond Part chair. The part has greater than 800 members and covers six cities and 26 counties.
Being chair is his first volunteer management place. He says he believed that working the part would improve his management expertise. Profitable the election “was a miracle,” he says. “It was one other enrichment alternative for my profession.”
He began his term in January and was initially anxious concerning the further workload, he says, however to date his time period has been an “superb expertise.” He credit IEEE Senior Member Allen Jones, a previous chair of the part, for serving to him via the transition.
Pandy has been busy since taking workplace. The part fashioned a life members affinity group and has held occasions with the IEEE Virginia Commonwealth University student branch in Richmond. The part additionally held career-development occasions there, permitting IEEE members to mentor engineering college students, present them with networking suggestions, and assist them refine their résumés.
The IEEE Magnetics Society and the IEEE Computer Society chapters partnered with VCU, AI Ready RVA, and the Richmond Institute of Technology and Science to extend artificial intelligence literacy for preuniversity students in underserved communities. The initiative supplies coaching to educators and gives workshops to college students demonstrating the expertise and its sensible functions.
By means of main all these actions, Pandy says, he has picked up necessary expertise together with strategic planning, public speaking, crew collaboration, and finances planning, which he can apply at work.
“These experiences have helped me drive large-scale IT transformation initiatives in my skilled function,” he says, “and improved my capacity to steer various and cross-functional groups.
“Volunteering fuels my power quite than drains it. Additionally, it’s sort of a small, rewarding a part of my weekly routine. I really feel that I’ve completed a bit of bit to assist somebody someplace transfer a step forward of their profession—which supplies me nice satisfaction.”
Pandy hasn’t misplaced his want to be an entertainer. He performs each time potential at cultural events and the part’s social gatherings.
“Dancing and performing at the moment are hobbies,” he says.
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