Tahleel Shaikh

Tahleel ShaikhAug 13, 2026

A day of illuminating conversations, fresh perspectives and lessons worth carrying forward. 🌱 On 12 August 2026, I had the privilege of being part of the Capgemini–Symbiosis Digital Academy | Grow Beyond Leadership Connect & Mentoring Session at Symbiosis Bhavan, Pune. The session distilled the realities of entering the corporate world into candid conversations — understanding industry expectations, navigating the transition from campus to corporate life, building professional acumen, and staying adaptable as technology evolves. The Speed Mentoring interaction made those insights all the more tangible, giving us direct access to leaders and their first-hand perspectives. A sincere thank you to our distinguished guests: Gautam Nehra — Chief Operating Officer, Banking & Capital Markets, Financial Services, Capgemini For his candid perspective on navigating the corporate world and building a meaningful career. Ganesh Baliga — Head of Citi Solutions Center India, Citi For his insights on adaptability, continuous learning and evolving with the industry. G Karthik - G.K — Vice President, Capgemini For his perspective on technology, transformation and turning possibilities into action. Dhanashree Page — Head of Operations, Digital Inclusion – CSR, Capgemini For highlighting the importance of inclusive growth and meaningful opportunities. Jagadeeshwari Krishnamoorthy — Client Delivery Partner, Capgemini For sharing valuable perspectives on professional growth and an inclusive workplace. Sangram Shee — Senior Director, Capgemini For sharing practical wisdom drawn from years of industry experience. Rajesh Khanna — Director, Business Operations, Symbiosis For helping build a meaningful bridge between learners and industry. Grateful to Capgemini, Citi, Symbiosis Digital Academy and the Symbiosis Centre for Corporate & Professional Learning for bringing together such a valuable confluence of mentorship and industry perspective. What remains is not a catalogue of advice, but a recalibration of perspective — a reminder that entering the professional world is only the beginning; staying curious, adaptable and willing to learn is what makes the journey consequential. That, to me, is the essence of Grow Beyond. #GrowBeyond #Capgemini #Citi #SymbiosisDigitalAcademy #Mentorship #LeadershipConnect #CareerGrowth #FutureReady

Tahleel ShaikhSep 13, 2026

Yesterday, I had the chance to attend “Build with AI – Code for Communities”, organised by GDG Pune at Thoughtworks. It was a fantastic confluence of 200+ developers, students, tech enthusiasts, and industry professionals, all brought together by a shared curiosity to learn, build, and explore what AI has in store. A few highlights from the day: 🔹 Building Voice Agents with Google ADK: An insightful, hands on session by Aswin C., where we actually got to build a Voice Assistant and figure things out along the way, including the inevitable battle with terminal errors! 🔹 From SQL to AI Agents: Nafis Aslam offered a fascinating perspective on how AI is transforming our interaction with data and enabling more intelligent, real-world applications. 🔹 The community: Honestly, beyond the sessions, the best part was the camaraderie. Meeting fellow developers, students, recent graduates, and professionals, exchanging ideas, and simply being around people equally enthusiastic about technology made the experience all the more memorable. A big thank you to GDG Pune, Thoughtworks, Aswin C., Nafis Aslam, the organisers, and volunteers for putting together such a memorable experience. And to everyone I met yesterday, let’s connect! 🤝 Would love to stay in touch, exchange ideas, and see where our journeys in tech take us. #BuildWithAI #GDGPune #CodeForCommunities #GoogleADK #AgenticAI #GenerativeAI #Thoughtworks #TechCommunity #Networking

Tahleel ShaikhAug 13, 2026

Some conversations do more than answer questions; they alter the questions you ask yourself. As part of the Grow Beyond Leadership Connect & Mentoring Session, I had the privilege of interacting with Gautam Nehra, Chief Operating Officer – Banking & Capital Markets, Financial Services at Capgemini. I had the opportunity to share my aspiration to bring together Engineering, AI, public relations and business development, and explore how the role of a Forward-Deployed Engineer could extend across these domains. I also presented 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘂𝘀 — a project I have been building around the idea of an 𝗔𝗜 𝗵𝘂𝗯 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 that brings together engineering, client engagement and business development, with 𝗟𝗟𝗠 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗥𝗔𝗚 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 embedded within its broader architecture. What stayed with me was Gautam Sir’s analytical lens: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁? What problem does it solve? What makes its architecture and system design consequential? It reinforced a conviction I intend to carry forward — 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻; the ingenuity of its thinking, the rigour of its architecture and the significance of its impact do. Grateful to Gautam Sir for the 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗿, 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 he shared. Our conversation further crystallised an aspiration I have been steadily working towards: to operate at the intersection of technology, business and people, and, in time, contribute that perspective as part of the 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀. 𝗦𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳.