Tell us a bit about yourself
I joined InMobi in 2021, after spending the first couple of years of my career with Morgan Stanley. Moving to InMobi was all about change, both personally and professionally. I had lived all my life in Mumbai, until some months back when I relocated to Bengaluru as we all started coming back to office after the pandemic.
As someone who had just started their career in technology, I wanted to join InMobi to transition from a big corporate to a tech-driven organization with a start-up mindset. Before joining InMobi, I wanted to continue my education and study data science further but because of the pandemic my options became limited and I was considering pursuing my master's degree remotely. This was also a conversation that I had during my interview here. Today, I have been with InMobi for over two years now and I have also finished my full-time remote master’s degree in data science from The University of Texas, Austin.
What was it like living the life of a student and engineer at InMobi together?
There were challenges but that is what made it more fun and rewarding. My manager was always flexible and accommodating of my college schedule. There were times when deadlines for a college assignment and an office project clashed, and the pressure to fulfill both commitments and give my best was obviously there. But that only encouraged me to excel and I always had my team supporting me through it all.
What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?
Science has always been my area of interest growing up. I knew I wanted to build things that have an impact. Build what? – that I wasn’t completely sure of. Even when I started pursuing a degree in engineering, I was not sure if computer science was my calling. What changed that was my internship at IIT, Mumbai. During that three-month internship in my second year of college, my interest in computer science grew, particularly in data science.
Tell us about your role at InMobi
I am currently an SDE II, working with the demand-side platform team, which deals end-to-end with the advertiser side of the business. I work in the post-serve pod, which to explain on a very high level, primarily focuses on collecting data after the advertisements have gone live on the devices of consumers. It is a feedback mechanism of sorts, collecting and processing data to billing the advertisers. The bidder team uses our data inventories to build insights that further optimize our demand side business.
What is an interesting project that you are currently working on?
Right now, I am working on SKAdNetwork (SKAN), a privacy-focused attribution mechanism developed by Apple which abstracts most of the user information from advertisers. Working towards optimizing the data that we get and onboarding the newest version of SKAN is something I have personally been contributing to and it has been a fulfilling and interesting project in terms of learning as a data enthusiast. I have been able to see the impact of the project on our revenue and also help the bidding team. The project has been quite significant since we know that privacy is only going to get stricter, and information is going to get abstracted by other networks sooner rather than later.
A piece of advice for aspiring women in tech
Never give up – it is going to get intimidating at times. Even though the gender gaps are diminishing, it remains to be a male-dominated space. But that should not stop you or discourage you at any point from doing what you truly enjoy. Be confident about your work, invest in networking, and remember to ask without fear of judgment. Your male colleagues can be your allies and cheerleaders too.
To build your tech career with InMobi and work with inspiring women like Neha, opportunities on our careers page.
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