Ankita Sahoo

I attribute my success to several key factors. First and foremost, my husband has been incredibly supportive - he's there for me at every moment, not just every day, and his love and support mean the world to me. It's so important to have someone by your side irrespective of your days and nights. I also believe in keeping myself updated and staying at the forefront of innovation. I live in San Francisco specifically because I wanted to live in the center, in the heart of innovation. I participate in technical events and meet with founders on a weekly basis, many of whom are now my good friends. Even back in 2017, before AI was the hype, I knew about it and was looking into it. Right now I'm learning about agent force, agentic AI, and robotic AI because I participate in those technical events. If you want to be a sound professional and work with technical people around you, it's very important to find where the innovation is happening, go there, understand it, and learn it. Another crucial attribute is my ability to listen to people and identify their pain points, even the unspoken problems they don't know they have. I figured out my superpower - I'm a people person who can communicate well, and it's so important for me to learn about others' problems and educate them about the solution I can provide.

The best career advice I received was during the first year of my job from my first boss. He told me to always be present - never travel in the past or never travel in the future. Don't dwell on mistakes thinking 'I did this mistake, I shouldn't do it,' and never go too much into the future worrying 'if I do this, what'll happen in future?' Instead, try to be present. See how much it is affecting you in present, what will benefit you in present, what will you lose in present. Don't go too much in past and future.

Be open, be very enthusiastic, and be curious. Be curious at most. If you have questions, don't keep your questions to yourself - ask them to people. Participate in competitions, events, hackathons. It doesn't matter what kind of role it is, it doesn't have to be a job to be true. If you're in a conversation with someone, even with the CEO of the company, don't be scared. He's just a human, he won't bite. Ask your questions and learn as much as you can. It's nothing like 'oh, it's not from my field' or 'I don't need to know how to make spaghetti.' Doesn't matter - let it be spaghetti, let it be building an agent, or designing your API framework, doesn't matter. You should learn everything and keep yourself curious.

For me, it's a combination of both work and personal life. When it comes to professional life, you have to be a very good learner - you cannot stop being a student forever. You have to be in that learning mode all the time. Secondly, curiosity is a very good skill to have - asking questions, learning everything, taking notes, doing research, being present. It's such a great feeling. Along with that, always make plans for yourself. Don't just go with the feeling that someday you'll be a millionaire or have a billion dollar house. What you want exactly, make a plan, make a note, have a pen and paper - it's so important. Journal it, write it, manifest. And do not forget to pray, do not forget to believe in something. If you believe in God, very good. If you don't believe in God, it's fine - believe in something, believe in a person that you love. I think it's very important to be emotional. I don't want to be someone who is very strong-hearted but stone-hearted. I don't want anyone to lose their sensitivity - that's the skill of being a woman, that's the best thing of being a woman. Be sensitive and strong, together.