Her Story
About Nishtha
Nishtha Kukreja is a computer science and economics student at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She maintains a 3.8 GPA and is on track to graduate in May 2028 after switching her minor to AI to further develop her skills in that area. As an international student from India, she works at the Student Health and Wellness Center where she helps provide no-cost medicine and services to fellow students and has contributed to the release of the campus Medical Response Unit. Nishtha is actively developing her own AI startup that aims to address environmental concerns by reducing water usage in AI data centers through specialized orchestration techniques. She participates in numerous professional organizations and serves as an Adobe Ambassador on campus while volunteering with the Society of Women Engineers. Her involvement also includes the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, Grace Hopper, and Rewriting the Code. She has earned recognition such as the SWE Award and placement on the Dean's List of Honors, and she previously served as vice president of a student society where the group received an award for outstanding social events.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nishtha
01What do you attribute your success to?
Just speak up, try to adapt, don't change yourself ever for anybody else, be ourselves, speak up as much as you can. If something doesn't work out for me, I go around all the way to get that stuff done. Every single morning I write four things on my iPad: why am I waking up, what am I going to accomplish, what is the benefit, and do I need to wake up for this. When people ignore me or act racist, I give it back by talking more because I don't care.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Work to be efficient, not maintenance. Not listening to what other people say if it's not constructive feedback. If you know that's good for you and you want to really do that, just do it. Get out there, get what you want, and sky's not the limit.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't listen to anything coming towards your gender because at the end of the day what matters is who you are. Focus on yourselves. Push yourself to the point where you actually start enjoying whatever you are doing. Do everything with heart. Start early. Let your kids study, they are gonna accomplish whatever is needed.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Market is really saturated. Scared of AI progressing fast and replacing us, also environmental hazard. Getting a job or internship as international student is extremely hard due to new laws. Being a woman in computer science is hard with many men. Biggest opportunity is building my own startup and networking.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Efficiency and taking time off. Mental health matters a lot. Treat everybody as a friend and with respect. You get what you give. Treat everybody as family when you're at work.
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