Vik

The New Leader’s Playbook: Situational Do’s and Don’ts for a Successful Start

Starting a new leadership role is one of the most high-stakes transitions in any career. I’ve gone through it multiple times across very different organizations—fast-moving startups, operationally intense mid-market firms, and post-acquisition integrations. Each time, I was reminded that there’s no universal “first 90 days” checklist that works everywhere. You’re not just taking over responsibilities. You’re entering a live system with its own history, culture, relationships, and battle scars. The way you move early on …

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The Eureka Moment: When AI Pair Programming Actually Delivers

I recently wrote about how AI coding assistants are changing the build vs. buy equation, arguing that the traditional “buy first” approach is becoming outdated. But theory is one thing, practice is another. This week, I lived that theory. I completely rebuilt a production AI system with Claude Code in less than a week – and experienced what felt like the future of software development. This wasn’t just faster coding; it was a fundamentally different way …

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Why Overvaluing Industry Experience Limits Innovation in Data Leadership

A senior exec once asked me whether my experience with streaming vs. batch processing and customer data platforms “really translates” across industries. On the surface, it’s a fair question. But it reveals a hiring mindset that quietly constrains many companies: the belief that industry experience is the primary predictor of leadership success. The Illusion of Uniqueness Every leadership team thinks their industry is uniquely complex. Sometimes that’s true. Regulatory nuance in healthcare, trading rules in …

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Data Teams Are Not Service Teams

Over time, a lot of data teams drift into a pattern that’s hard to break out of. They become ticket takers, constantly responding to requests, pulling data for one-off questions, fixing dashboards, and explaining why numbers don’t match. It feels helpful at first. But eventually, the work starts to pile up, context starts to disappear, and the team is mostly reacting instead of building anything meaningful. The service model becomes the default, and that’s a …

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Why Business Context Is a Force Multiplier for Technical People

Most technical people — whether they’re building software, managing infrastructure, designing data pipelines, or optimizing algorithms — focus heavily on mastering the tools and frameworks of their craft. That makes sense; strong technical skills are the foundation of the role. But there’s a hidden force that can dramatically amplify the impact of those skills: deep understanding of the business context. When a technical professional understands why the business operates the way it does, the technical work changes. Decisions …

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