Jyoti Shah

My motivation comes from my two daughters. Of course, my father is my motivation, the one I wanted to prove myself to, but my daughters are the ones I want to show how a woman should be. My motivation is to show them what you can achieve with discipline, with consistency, and what your mom has achieved, so that they know a woman who has achieved this much. I want them to never let anyone tell them they can't do something because they've seen their mother do it.

One of the biggest career advice that I ever received was from a woman, whom I still remember. It was at a time when I used to judge myself about whether I was ready for the next role and what I should do. The one career advice that she gave me is never self-reject. That is something that is the most precious gift that you can give to yourself. Don't reject yourself. Just go forward and talk to the people from whom you want this opportunity. The worst that can happen is they will say no. But there are possibilities when that no will turn to yes. But at least you tried, so never self-reject. That is something that I always keep in mind.

One simple advice that I would give to any women is never underestimate yourself. This is one thing that I don't know if it's there in our upbringing, but every time we feel like we are not capable, or we underestimate ourselves. I would say we underestimate ourselves compared to a male person in the same position, and we think we might not get it. So my only advice to women is never underestimate yourself. If they can do it, why can't you? Don't just question yourself. Question the one who is not selecting you, on why not you.

Right now, it's the change of AI that is going on. It's a very difficult, and at the same time, it's a very opportunity-driven phase. If you think AI is something which might take your job down, then you are in a difficult phase. But if you think AI is something that can help you excel, then it is something which will move or progress you in your life. Right now, everyone is facing this, where some of them are really able to achieve by using AI how it should be, versus some of them who are thinking this will take their job away. So right now, I see everywhere, it's not just our field, but everywhere where people are questioning what will happen to us next. I would say, let this time shall pass on. It's just a tool that has come, that is asking us to use it. If you don't use it, you would definitely stay back. If you want to stay ahead of others, then start using it.

Discipline and consistency. If you have these two things, then hard work becomes really easy, and it becomes part of your life. If you don't have discipline, if you don't have consistency, then you cannot achieve anything. These are my principles of life, and I always start from small. I never think I want to achieve big, so how can I do that. Every small step leads to a destination which you have in mind. So start small, have discipline, be consistent, and always be a hard worker.