Pooja Mehta

I give all the credit to my husband. He played a very critical role early in my career and has provided every support to me. He's the actual force behind where I can get through a lot of things that I wanted to achieve. When it comes to work or personal things, I focus a lot on perfection and I'm constantly doing something, I struggle to sit down, and he's the one who helps and supports me with every decision I make and everything I wanted to do. Even with my personal dancing, he drives me every week so that I can sit and relax during that drive, and during that time, we take our child with us who sits and watches me, because I want her to train when she grows. That clearly means he's not doing what he loves, he's just supporting me in something that I love, and he's super happy about me. When I came to the United States in 2017 and was trying to learn the culture with a language barrier, he helped me overcome all those challenges. He taught me the IT side of things, did interview mock rounds with me, and taught me how to build computers and very basic things. That's how I landed my first Level 1 tech job under his training. Ever since, with every career growth I did, every move I made, he's been there guiding me and helping me move the ladders, do the stuff that I vision. He constantly pushes me and makes me confident on bad days and hard days, constantly reminding me that I can do hard things. Along with that, I give credit to my family who's been supporting me in every way possible, and that's something I don't take for granted. I also take full ownership for my growth. I have been super intentional about learning, stepping up, and taking on challenges, and putting in all the work to move forward with the right people and the commitments to myself.

Be kind—but don’t confuse that with being “nice.” Kindness means telling the truth with respect; being nice often means avoiding hard conversations to keep things comfortable. One builds trust. The other quietly erodes it.

And don’t change who you are just to fit in. Grow, yes. Adapt, absolutely. But don’t dilute the core of what makes you effective—especially empathy, integrity, and self-awareness. Those aren’t weaknesses; they’re leadership advantages.

The world has plenty of polished performers. What it’s missing are grounded leaders who can be honest, hold standards, and still treat people like humans.

That stuck with me: don’t sand down your edges just to belong. Refine them. Use them well.

We don’t need more “nice” leaders—we need more real ones.

My path is very unique, so is everybody's path, so don't blindly follow anybody's path. But in general, if I have to give one advice to women out there who are building their career, not only just in IT but any industry, it's to build your foundation the right way. Starting in a junior role and working your way up is not a setback, so don't try to find those shortcuts. This is an advantage, so don't be shy to pick a junior role. Those are the roles and that's the journey that will give you the depth, the perspective, and the credibility. When you go through the junior role and make your way up to leadership and higher roles, you're not guessing. You know what works because you have done the work, and that's really important to become a leader. You have been in the shoes of the people who are reporting to you right now, and that will help you relate with them, make judgments, and make decisions correctly because you have done the work and you know how things work. Don't underestimate your ability to grow quickly if you stay consistent, focus on learning, and are willing to go outside of your comfort zone. But step up the ladder one step at a time, and when you become a leader, you'll be able to make decisions faster and more consistently, and you'll be able to relate to your team better.

The biggest challenge right now, especially after COVID and after 2022, is that we are expected to deliver more with fewer resources. That's the challenge I continuously see in every organization and in the industry as a whole. The teams are leaner, the expectations are higher, and efficiency is the critical piece. Cross-functional skill sets are no longer optional, they are just required. That means we are constantly cross-training our teams to wear more hats. As a leader, this is a bit challenging because you're expecting your team to perform different roles while also maintaining customer satisfaction. The challenge is mainly driving performance while making sure your team is also staying engaged and not burning out. That was a bit challenging in earlier years, but now, after a couple of years of driving all the teams and running multiple things in the IT organization, it has become a little smoother, though not perfect. It's a continuous challenge as a leader, even for ourselves, wearing many hats and running multiple things, driving infrastructure, doing networking, and making sure the environment is secure. For opportunities, AI is fundamentally changing how we operate, and there are a lot of opportunities in how we can get things done through AI and leverage AI to automate manual work, streamline communication, and improve overall efficiency. We use several AI tools to remediate day-to-day tasks and automate tasks where we can. As a leader, we can use AI strategically, not just to reduce workload but to add impact to our teams.

There are two values that are non-negotiable in both my personal life and my work life: staying humble and hungry. Being humble keeps me grounded and open to learning, and being hungry keeps me pushing forward, taking on new challenges, and continuously improving. That's something I instill in my team and make sure they also follow. In my personal life, I value prioritizing my wellness. Even though things get busy, I make a point to carve out 30 minutes to myself, whether it's working out, going out for a walk, or practicing my dance training. This is something very important to me, and it's something I also talk to my team about in my one-on-ones. I focus on their personal well-being and encourage them to carve out those few little minutes throughout the day. Personally for me, it just helps me be a better leader as well as a better mom. It helps reduce the stress and makes my mind clearer on my to-do list, which is never-ending.