Amrit Jassal: A Technology Doyen Dedicated To Solve Complex Business Challenges
Amrit Jassal
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Amrit is a BS in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and also holds a master’s of business administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. At Egnyte, he is responsible for the overall technical direction of the company. He works alongside sales, product, and engineering leaders to drive and align Egnyte’s vision of a unified content management and governance solution targeted to comprehensively solve specific business challenges in Architecture Engineering & Construction, Life sciences, and Financial Services domains. Prior to Egnyte, Amrit served as the CTO of Valdero, a supply chain solution provider that received funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Mohr Davidow Ventures and Trinity Ventures. Amrit has extensive experience in building large-scale, highly available systems all over the world and in his previous roles has deployed such systems at Cisco, Fujistu and Sun Microsystems.
Let’s get to know more about him and his accomplishing professional endeavors through an exclusive interview done by CEO Insights magazine with Amrit.
Could you give a brief account of your professional background and experiences? What is the motivation that fuels your daily routines?
I started my career in consulting with the Big six firms, where I got to experience a variety of industries and management styles. These engagements focused on delivering
scalable, richly integrated solutions for multiple Enterprise Resource Planning business processes. These business processes spanned operational departments (supply chain planning and execution, order processing) to financial. This experience gave me the confidence to strike out on my own first with my own consulting company and then founding startups. Currently, I am a founding member of Egnyte a private, 1000-person company based in Silicon Valley that provides content management solutions across multiple verticals for collaboration, security, and governance.
I am motivated by the thrill of applying my technical know how to solve complex business problems. I am excited by the pace of innovation in the areas of machine learning and cloud infrastructure.
You possess over two decades of experience. How has your path to success been and what is your success mantra?
Well, my career journey has been pretty enthralling. I would say that the following have been some of the critical attributes of my success staying humble and curious, focusing on a few things, consuming a variety of media, weaving in your professional pursuits with your personal pursuits, and always learning.
Could you tell us about the unique experiences IIM Bangalore offers and what you learned from the campus beyond academics?
I came to IIM after pursuing engineering at IITs. IIMB was critical in giving me a larger context of problem-solving. It exposed me to the dimensions of people, economics, finance, and management that are mandatory for making any significant change.
How would you define Egnyte as an organization and its current position in the market?
Egnyte is a late stage, private company headquartered in Silicon Valley and has multiple offices across the US, EU, and India. We have 17,000+ enterprise customers that come in various sizes, from SMBs to large multinationals. Though our solutions are largely horizontal, we focus on three verticals: Architecture, Engineering & Construction, and Life sciences (drug development) & Financial Services (Private equity). In these verticals, we are a leader in addressing challenges associated with collaboration, security, and governance of unstructured content.
What is your take on the dynamic technology trends in the sector, and how would you describe its interventions in your organization?
I am excited by the dramatic pace of technological innovations. We
I am motivated by the thrill of applying my technical know how to solve complex business problems. I am excited by the pace of innovation in the areas of machine learning and cloud infrastructure.
You possess over two decades of experience. How has your path to success been and what is your success mantra?
Well, my career journey has been pretty enthralling. I would say that the following have been some of the critical attributes of my success staying humble and curious, focusing on a few things, consuming a variety of media, weaving in your professional pursuits with your personal pursuits, and always learning.
Could you tell us about the unique experiences IIM Bangalore offers and what you learned from the campus beyond academics?
I came to IIM after pursuing engineering at IITs. IIMB was critical in giving me a larger context of problem-solving. It exposed me to the dimensions of people, economics, finance, and management that are mandatory for making any significant change.
How would you define Egnyte as an organization and its current position in the market?
Egnyte is a late stage, private company headquartered in Silicon Valley and has multiple offices across the US, EU, and India. We have 17,000+ enterprise customers that come in various sizes, from SMBs to large multinationals. Though our solutions are largely horizontal, we focus on three verticals: Architecture, Engineering & Construction, and Life sciences (drug development) & Financial Services (Private equity). In these verticals, we are a leader in addressing challenges associated with collaboration, security, and governance of unstructured content.
What is your take on the dynamic technology trends in the sector, and how would you describe its interventions in your organization?
I am excited by the dramatic pace of technological innovations. We
actively seek out new advancements that will make a material difference in solving our customer’s challenges. First, we schedule regular hackathons to do quick experiments with promising technologies to improve internal cost efficiencies and deliver interesting product features. Then, there is an established program to incentivize filing new patents and participating in industry conferences. Last, there is a dedicated team to actively search for new ideas, especially around data science advancements.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Egnyte’s goal is to constantly seek ways to unlock value from the content stored and accessed within various corporate repositories. We will continue looking for better ways to understand natural language, helping customers apply governance policies at scale, seamlessly collaborating internally and externally, and highlighting anomalous access to sensitive content.
My personal goals are to align my interests and passions with those of Egnyte. In doing this, the focus is on delivering exceptional value to our employees.
In light of your strong industry experience, what advice would you give to budding industry leaders?
Well, one must walk in the shoes of one’s customer to deliver exceptional solutions. Knowing when to persist or to walk away from a challenge is essential. We should expose ourselves to various experiences and media. Great solutions marry technical and nontechnical dimensions, one cannot scale without the other.
Amrit Jassal, Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Egnyte
Having pursued a B.S. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and holding a master’s of business administration(MBA)from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Amrit possesses extensive experience in building large scale, highly available systems all over the world and in his previous roles has deployed such systems at Cisco, Fujistu and Sun Microsystems. At Egnyte, he is responsible for the overall technical direction of the company.
•Hobbies: Cooking, Hiking, Reading
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian
•Favorite Book: Meditations Marcus Aurelius, Krakatoa Simon Winchester, Surface Detail Iain M. Banks
•Favorite Travel Destination: Hawaii
•Awards & Recognition: Has been granted more than 10 patents in areas related to storage and scalable enterprise applications
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Egnyte’s goal is to constantly seek ways to unlock value from the content stored and accessed within various corporate repositories. We will continue looking for better ways to understand natural language, helping customers apply governance policies at scale, seamlessly collaborating internally and externally, and highlighting anomalous access to sensitive content.
My personal goals are to align my interests and passions with those of Egnyte. In doing this, the focus is on delivering exceptional value to our employees.
In light of your strong industry experience, what advice would you give to budding industry leaders?
Well, one must walk in the shoes of one’s customer to deliver exceptional solutions. Knowing when to persist or to walk away from a challenge is essential. We should expose ourselves to various experiences and media. Great solutions marry technical and nontechnical dimensions, one cannot scale without the other.
Amrit Jassal, Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Egnyte
Having pursued a B.S. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and holding a master’s of business administration(MBA)from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Amrit possesses extensive experience in building large scale, highly available systems all over the world and in his previous roles has deployed such systems at Cisco, Fujistu and Sun Microsystems. At Egnyte, he is responsible for the overall technical direction of the company.
•Hobbies: Cooking, Hiking, Reading
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian
•Favorite Book: Meditations Marcus Aurelius, Krakatoa Simon Winchester, Surface Detail Iain M. Banks
•Favorite Travel Destination: Hawaii
•Awards & Recognition: Has been granted more than 10 patents in areas related to storage and scalable enterprise applications