Chandini Saisri  Uppuganti, AWS Cloud Captain on Influential Women

Influential Woman · Software

Chandini Saisri Uppuganti

AWS Cloud Captain, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

San Jose, CA

3Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's in Computer Science and Engineering Degree 2020 Degree Master's in Software Engineering Degree San Jose State University (expected December 2026) Cert AWS Cloud Practitioner Cert Informatica Cloud Data Integration Cert Informatica Cloud Data Quality Cert Informatica Cloud Monetization Cert Cisco Cybersecurity Certification Member AWS Cloud Clubs

Her Story

About Chandini

I have been working in the software field for 4 years, with experience as a data engineer at both Wipro and Informatica. In my role, I develop ETL pipelines and CI/CD pipelines, handle deployments to production, and perform data quality checks. I also gather data from multiple sources along with APIs. One of my key focuses has been developing automations for ETL pipelines to reduce manual intervention. Currently, I'm developing a tool in cybersecurity called Asset Risk Guardian, where instead of manually checking threats, we automated all the processes by using an ML model. I'm pursuing my master's in software engineering with an expected completion in December 2026, and I'll be doing a summer internship at Adobe in the cybersecurity field. I'm passionate about cloud technology because it resolves the limitations of traditional on-prem systems and allows people to access data from anywhere. I believe cloud offers many opportunities including cybersecurity roles, data integration, CI/CD pipelines, and implementing LLM RAG applications and AI applications, all while being cost-effective.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Chandini

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to discipline, hard work, and consistency. I always learn new things daily by reading research papers and keeping up with online news about whatever new technology is coming up. I generally learn and try it myself on my personal laptop so that I can get to know the industry standards. It's not like one time you can study and then you can work on that - it should be emerging. Basically, whenever there is a new technology evolving, we have to adapt. I actually adapt all the technologies throughout these years. That's what makes me successful.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I ever received is: don't expect the results, just do hard work. If we are expecting the results, then our thoughts will stop there. After you achieve the success, then your brain won't work because you have already achieved success. It's not like that. Don't expect any result, just continue learning. That's the best advice I have ever received, and that's from my husband.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Every woman has to be independent, financially independent. I want to encourage them to learn and attend networking events. In the U.S., we have multiple women events which I am going to till now, like women in cybersecurity, women in STEM fields, women in networking. Please utilize those things. Also, make sure don't be scared of anyone. If you are talking to someone and building relationships, that is more important than anything, right? That gives you strength for any other things you do in your daily life. Women should be financially independent, and also they have to come out and speak.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

As I'm entering into the cybersecurity field, there are many challenges coming from traditional mechanisms, like AI model protection. Basically, whenever a hacker wants to try to hack an LLM model, attackers are trying to change the inside prompt. We have to make sure every possible way of securing the application along with developing the application on the AI side. We have to put all our knowledge in, including the corner cases, to find them and make sure to secure the application. It's not just important to develop the application - security, effectiveness, reliability, and scalability are very important in any application, in any field.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

In my personal life, loyalty is important, along with honesty and hard work.

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