rsivanandan.com
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About

I'm a leader who's been scripting since the Perl and Tcl/Tk days. Not because it's trendy, but because I genuinely want to understand how things are built.

Over the years I've had the privilege of leading teams and working on hard problems with incomplete information — based in Texas and Illinois early on, back on a US site almost every year through the Juniper decade, and today leading engineering across India, Australia, and China. The people I've learned the most from are the ones who do the actual work — not the ones who talk about it in meetings.

Recently I started building full products myself, end to end. Using AI as a co-pilot, running things on a NAS at home — there's a real learning curve on new territory, but nothing ships without solid test coverage and a clean SonarQube scan first. It's been one of the most humbling experiences of my career — in the best possible sense.

I also recently completed the Global Senior Leadership Program at IIM Lucknow. The biggest takeaway wasn't a framework or a model. It was the realisation that no matter how much you know, there's always more you don't. And that's okay.

Leadership & Strategy

Strategic PlanningCAGE FrameworkPESTELMcKinsey 7SBudget & Workforce PlanningCross-functional LeadershipCXO Advisory

Building & Technology

Node.jsPostgreSQLDockerReactAI-assisted DevTest CoverageSonarQube CleanSelf-hosting

Still Learning

Product StrategyIndie BuildingEntrepreneurshipKnowledge Tools

Journey

Where I've Been

2025

Global Senior Leadership Program

IIM Lucknow

Went back to school at a stage in life where you think you already know things. Turns out I had a lot more to learn — and that was the point.

2024

Started Shipping Full Products, Solo

Self-directed

Been scripting since the Perl and Tcl/Tk days of the 2000s, picked up Python in 2017 — but going end-to-end alone, frontend to backend to infra, with AI as co-pilot, is new since 2024. Readwise clones, portfolio tools, backend APIs on a NAS at home.

2020s

Leading Cross-functional Teams

Senior Management

Leading engineering across India, Australia, and China taught me that the hardest decisions come with the least data, and that the best leaders are the ones who admit they don't know.

2006–2015

Rising Through the Ranks

Juniper Networks

Promoted six times in about a decade — from individual engineer to Senior Engineering Manager, leading a team of 20 on network orchestration platforms carriers relied on. Based in India, but back on a US site almost every year. Grew because the work was good, not because I chased a title.

2000s

Automating Everything

Network & Security Engineering

Based in Texas, then Illinois. Perl and Tcl/Tk scripts to automate test suites, network configs, and IDS/IPS operations — long before "automation" was a buzzword. Learned Python in 2017. The scripting habit never really left.

What I believe

"The best leaders are the ones who
never stop being students."

I try to approach everything with curiosity rather than certainty. It doesn't always work. But it's the intention that counts.

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