Influential Woman · Information and Technology

Nidhi Mahajan

Senior Consultant - Global Customer Experience, eBay

Austin, TX

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and Telecommunication Degree MBA in Finance

Her Story

About Nidhi

I have been in my industry for almost 18 years now, and it's been an excellent learning curve that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Most recently, I've served as the Director of Product Program Manager at Visa, where I lead enterprise initiatives across payment gateways, compliance, and client initiatives. On a day-to-day basis, I partner closely with product owners, engineering, legal, and finance teams. A big part of my role is operating in ambiguities, working on trade-offs, and making strategic decisions. As a portfolio manager, I establish and implement consistent rhythms over the week with my teams, stakeholders, and counterparts. I conduct weekly and monthly portfolio reviews and handle escalations, conflicts, and budgets. What I'm most passionate about and known for is bringing clarity in ambiguous situations. I thoroughly believe that clarity doesn't show up by itself - you have to create the clarity. People come to me for advice on how to bring clarity to a situation, how to structure things, how to bring governance and process. I love working in the most complex and sophisticated ecosystem and platforms in payments, which keeps me challenged and gives me an environment where I learn new technologies and work alongside great and like-minded people. I'm comfortable operating in ambiguity, and that's where I thrive.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Nidhi

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to my passion to keep progressing and keep learning, and keeping myself up to date. I'm never shy of learning - if I have to go back to university, I'll go back to university at any age. I just keep learning and keep brushing my skills. I have never given up learning. I read every single day, I make sure that I read every single day, at least for 30 minutes, no matter what. Either it could be technical, or it could be something about the processes, about behavior. I keep learning every single day. I think that has kept me going, and it has given me the knowledge of every single field. I might not be the expert, but I still can understand if someone is talking because of my reading habit every single day and trying to learn every single day.

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

The best career advice I have ever received is: Don't put your head down, keep working, don't follow politics, because with politics, you won't go long, but with your head down and working honestly, you will really go long. So, that's what I do.

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

I would say to them: Focus on your dreams. You are more intelligent and you're more powerful than any other people around you. Just be yourself and focus on your dreams, and don't care about anything. And just keep working hard. That's what I'd say. That's what I have done.

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

I would say challenges that I face now - I see sometimes there's a little bit of a lack of respect for women in technology. People think if it's more technical, it's not for women. Mostly I have faced this because I come from a project and a program management industry, which is treated as admins, I would say, which is eventually changing. Every single day, I work towards not giving people an impression, and especially the teammates that I have who are women, I always tell them: don't think that you're a woman, so you do not have a brain, or you do not have a capacity to have a technical knowledge. That's the kind of challenge I face every single day I have faced, and I see other women also facing. I would say, don't let those kind of people go under your skin. Just keep learning. That's all I would say.

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

Most important values are transparency, accountability, and collaboration. Those are the key qualities that I use in my workspace, as well as in my personal space. I think that has always given me good results, and I'm kind of proud of what all I've achieved. That's how I'm known also - I'm fully transparent, I'm fully accountable, people can rely on me, and I am hardworking.

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