Her Story
About Pranali
Pranali Hande serves as AI Transformation Director at NXN. She leads the organization for AIOps and AI transformation, with responsibilities including customer meetings, industry trend analysis, strategy setting for the AI ops and AI platform portfolio, and conference engagements. Pranali began her professional journey in 2006 at Cisco Systems as a developer before moving into product management with HPE. She then led a networks platform group at Intel, where she was responsible for the networking portfolio and worked with vendors such as Cisco and AWS. After Intel, she joined AWS and pivoted into the Gen AI space. Following her time at AWS, Pranali joined a startup to lead AI transformation efforts; the startup was later acquired by Ericsson. She attributes her success to her extensive network built across multiple companies and the support of C-suite sponsors. Pranali earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from NCSU, followed by a master's in computer science, and later completed an executive MBA with full sponsorship from Intel. She continues her education with certifications such as from Anthropic. Her career reflects a T-shaped profile combining deep engineering expertise with business acumen gained through her MBA.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Pranali
01What do you attribute your success to?
I definitely network and having worked at multiple companies has given me a very rich network of folks. I know a lot of great people in the industry. I have had a lot of sponsors during each of this company, and they themselves are at, you know, in the C-suite, so definitely having that network that I can tap into is what I would say has made me successful.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Do not wait for things to be offered to you, you should be bold enough to ask. Like, the worst thing they can do is say no.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't get bogged down by the concept of glass ceiling. If you show up and you work, you have skills. I do not believe in the concept of glass ceiling or women having any disadvantage in the current industry. Believing that you can do it is what will take you there.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Opportunities: AI has been able to unlock a lot of opportunities, not just for individuals, but also for companies. With AI, vertical integration is very much possible where every business can operate end-to-end. Challenges: The economy has been doing where capital has been really expensive, putting constraints on businesses in the investment portfolio.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
For me, integrity would be the most important value.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.