2026 3

Kick-starting a PyConf Panelist Interview

I was a panelist at the PyConf Hyderabad AI in SDLC - Panel Discussion. After that, one of the volunteers asked for a video interview. “How was the panel discussion?” he asked. Ever since I started using AI actively, my brain doesn’t work without it. So, instead of an eloquent answer, I said, “Good.” He tried again. “Um… how did you feel about it?” he asked. I searched for my feelings. Again, fairly empty in the absence of AI. “Good,” I said again. ...

IIM Bangalore PGP Interview Panel

Yesterday, I was part of an IIM Bangalore interview panel at Hyderabad, along with Professor Subhabrata Das and Debajyoti. Panels typically comprise of two faculty and an alumni, and handle 8 interviews in the morning and eight in the evening, though in our case, we had 9 each. As we arrived, we were given a USB drive with the student’s resume, statement of purpose, and other documents that they had submitted, which included employment contracts, declarations, letters of recommendation, etc., depending on the student. Each interview was approximately 20 minutes. Luckily, Dr Das set a timer for 18, so we didn’t go too far beyond. ...

Transcript AI-ded interviews

Priyanka was ghost-writing an interview request from PC Quest for Ankor. Two questions were a bit technical: Straive combines data engineering, analytics, AI, and content services. At a technical level, how are enterprises stitching these capabilities together architecturally and operationally when addressing complex business problems at scale? GenAI systems tend to behave unpredictably when exposed to real workloads. What engineering patterns, monitoring approaches, or runtime safeguards are becoming essential to maintain reliability, performance, and cost control in production settings? … and she asked if I could review. ...

2024 1

Oh, wonderful! They’re keen to get in. Wise enough to take help. Honest enough not to be able to cover it up. Sounds like a good hire! LinkedIn

2007 1

Solving multiple choice questions

How would you solve this multiple-choice problem: What is 12345 x 45678? 201932843 563894910 402394820 384718349 938491834 It always amazes me when people try and multiply the two numbers. In any objective-type test (multiple choice question), the aim is not to solve the problem – it is to pick the correct answer! Most people don’t seem to realise the difference. If I had to solve the problem, I’d look for shortcuts. For example, ...