Vamsi is currently working as a Manager at Annalect(New York) which is part of Omnicom Media Group. He started his career with IT field, left it for IIFM, worked in development sector as a Young Professional with SERP Andhra Pradesh for a year and then as a business analyst at Blue Frog for half a year before moving back to software development. He moved to USA few years after graduating from IIFM to do master’s in computer science and started his second innings as a software developer at Annalect New York office and stayed there since. The Company deals with Media and Advertising business whereas his team supports the business by developing products that are used by clients.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/vamsipatchamatla/
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I started as a Young Professional with SERP Andhra Pradesh. I worked with the Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture(CMSA) department of SERP. The job is to to create market linkages to the agricultural products while encouraging organic farming.
We were a total of 8 people who joined the department from IIFM. Each of us were allocated a block/district to work with the local bureaucrats and oversee the progress on achieving the goals. I got a chance to work with ground level farmers and understand their issues and superstitions in adopting non pesticide or organic farming. I worked with local project managers and administrative team to set up educational seminars and farmer field schools to educate them about natural pesticides and best practices in shifting to organic farming.
However, my dream of working with grass root farmers and alleviating their situation got a harsh reality check when I hit the roadblock of bureaucracy. Things became very ugly and I had to reconsider my options. Circumstances changed pretty quickly and I had to abandon my choices and move on to my old role as a software developer.
I then decided to move to USA to do masters to establish myself in the IT sector for good. Once I completed the studies and got the degree in computer science, I did few consulting gigs until I landed the full-time job at Annalect as a software developer. This is a startup associated with a parent company called Omnicom which is a leader in Advertising and Media domain.
Q.What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. Once we joined the SERP organization, we had a very successful initial months where we were given training and exposure to industry leading experts from World Bank team & Mckinsey consulting firm. We really enjoyed this period where we got to learn a lot of new things and interact with various teams. We were very motivated to test out our skills in the field and achieve our goals.
I was assigned the tribal area of Eturunagaram, Warangal. This is a remote place where we have very little mobile signal. A typical day used to start with organizing a farmer awareness program, distribute educational material, do some demos and connect with Project Director to brief him about the progress. This was a great learning opportunity.
While working with Blue frog consultancy which develops the IT apps for government, I got to meet with Coal Miners in singareni collieries. That was the first time I have been to a coal mine and was overwhelmed with the scale of everything. The goal was to collect requirements from them to develop a mobile app for them to log worker entries.
We were given a really detailed tour of the coal mine and also briefed on the daily tasks of the employees. I was amazed at the infrastructure and the size of the company to employ so many people.
Studying and working in foreign country is a challenging task and fun too depending on how you view it. It was both for me. I really enjoy working in New York as I get to interact with people from different countries and cultures. I was stuck by the charm of the big apple!
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. I love working with diverse team from various countries while interacting with experts in the domain along with the opportunity to solve challenging problems. Working on cutting edge technologies and taking responsibility of the product that I develop is a great kick for me.
The fact that the products we create makes a massive difference to the business and attracts new business gives a great deal of satisfaction.
Q.Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
Yes, immensely. It is not just the academics but the overall experience of staying at IIFM and interacting with the faculty, seniors and alumni has played an important role in what I am today.
The interactions I had at IIFM with the faculty, seniors and fellow batchmates has played a major role in my career.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A.I made a switch to IIFM after working for 5Y in IT sector. So, I feel it doesn’t matter from where you start, all have an equal footing and has equal chance of success. All I can say is to be hungry and keep assessing your current status with your goals and do a realignment if necessary. Do not be stressed if things doesn’t work out the way you planned, always keep a backup plan.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. I really enjoyed my time at IIFM.
We used to cook chicken kababs behind the hostel building by setting up fire and have live music by Bob(Rahul Sharma) and Parashar all night!! These were usually the days after we finish midterms.
Watching sporting events late night in the sports room with rival supporters, visiting the grass lands and the IIFM wall at night will stay with me forever.
The birthday celebrations were big fun. Everyone used to witness magic trick where the birthday cake disappeared in 1 second!!!
We had amazing field trips in both years. Can never forget the fun we had on those trips. For instance when we were in Gujarat visiting mangrove forests, we walked like 10 kms without knowing where we are supposed to go. The trip to Gir where we saw Lions in close proximity.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. I think my 2 years at IIFM have had a profound impact on my professional & personal development. Some of the courses like the Quant, Finance, Environmental policy have challenged and opened my understanding of these fields and are some of the learnings which I still use today. Apart from the academics the interpersonal skills that I acquired in IIFM played a major role in my personal and professional life.
Q.The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. Arvind Garimella, aka Gary is my batchmate and a close friend from my undergrad days. We joined IIFM together and worked in the SERP project together.
I have made a lot of lifelong friends, to list a few – Abhinav Sen who used to be the first person I meet when I come back from classes! Rajnish Patel, Alen Jacob(roomie), Shitiz Chaudhary, Shobhit Mani, Satya Prakash, Parashar, Vaibhav, Shivanshu, Rahul Sharma, Sumeet, Ankit Singh, Govind.
It is a hard task to narrow down to few names from the many distinguished faculty we have. All the faculty were very understanding and helpful during the course work.
I would like to thank Bhaskar Sinha Sir for all his support and encouragement during placement times. CVRS sir, Ashish David Sir, Yogesh Dubey Sir, Advait Sir, Madguni Sir, Ujjal Sharma Sir, Ashutosh Sir, A K Dharni Sir, Biswas Sir are some of the many faculty who were very helpful and gave great support to me when I was there. I remember the days when we used to go to CVRS Sir’s house after our internship meetings to have some coffee. Nostalgic about discussions we used to have with Ashish David Sir during the field trips.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. Just make the most of the time you have while in the institute. Always be curious and never hesitate to ask for help. Spend the time wisely and make the most of the resources at your disposal. Be open minded and take in all that IIFM has to offer, be it academics, sports, culture, networking etc.
Recognize that this is not just the run of the mill MBA institute. IIFM is a premier institute and has world class facilities to achieve your goals.
Q.What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like)
A. My day usually starts with a standup meeting with my team & stake holders where we take the status from the team members. I usually spend the whole morning in meetings with various other teams, planning the work that needs to be done in coming weeks, doing retrospective activities for the work completed in the past weeks, helping team members to resolve issues and connecting with other teams to facilitate their requests.
Post these meeting in the morning, I get on with my chunk of work where I am expected to go through the requirements, provide architectural solutions to the new features that are in the pipeline. Being a people manager some of the time is spent connecting with my team members, and facilitate what they need to finish their tasks.
I am very lucky to work in downtown Manhattan, which is one of the best places to interact with people from my domain and attend meetups after work.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family and anything else you want to add
A. Always look forward to the weekends after a hectic week. Usually spend the weekends with family outings be it to a beach, Bronx Zoo, Central Park, cruise tour on the Hudson River, NY aquarium, Coney Island and many more. I find summer weekends are precious and strive to make the most of them. Hobbies include watching American Football, Soccer over the weekends.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors
A. I am not much of a book reader. When I do read, I mostly pick up nonfiction genre. I read usually when I am travelling or commuting to work. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harrari, The Warmth of Other Sons by Isabella Wilkerson, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan are some of the books I read recently and recommend to others.
Q.IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A.I would love to contribute to the new path that the institute is taking. If there is any forum where we can share new ideas for this, I would love to be part of it
Q.Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. There are a lot of people in my batch and senior batches who are experts and pioneers in their sectors. I recommend Abhinav Sen, Shivanshu Sharma, Komal Preet Kaur, Kapil Patil, Sumeet Heer, Shobit Mani from my batch.