Ria S. Gupta

I draw the energy and the inspiration from my family, and I would say it's really been my kids lately. I feel like I need to be able to show to them what hard work and what integrity, what excellence looks like. So, I feel like they inspire me, and they motivate me to do well, to do better.

The best career advice I follow is that what got you here won't get you there. People keep repeating and doing the same things just because it has worked in the past and all these years, and they think they just need to keep doing the same thing and they will see success in the future too. But we're living in times where things are so dynamic, things are changing so fast, that what worked before may not work in the future. I work with a lot of people, different generations, different ages, and some people are just so set in their ways that they don't want to try anything new, anything different. I often tell them, what got us here won't get us there. Working in a fast-moving, fast-speed innovation industry, we really have to keep an open mind, and we have to unlearn a lot of things to be able to do better next time.

I would say be curious. Be curious. And don't be shy. Make the bold ask. And if you believe in something, you should pursue it.

The challenge, which some people don't realize is also the opportunity, is just how fast the industry is moving. I think medical device, medical technology has been more or less kind of stable, but with the advent of AI in the past few years, things have been churning on its head. So there's a lot going on. There is a lot of push to adopt AI, but the artificial intelligence models do not work if you don't have a solid infrastructure of your data - you are not going to see those enterprise-wide results. So I feel that's a huge challenge, but then it also is an opportunity to set yourself up for the future and make those changes within the systems, within the organizations now, so that tomorrow you are then fully AI-enabled.

There are several values that are very important to me. I would start with authenticity - being genuine and true. Accountability is very important in the area that I operate in. Having compassion, or what some call emotional intelligence, understanding other people's viewpoints - I think having that compassion and having gratitude are essential. Maybe most important from a professional side is having the curiosity, the willingness to explore and learn. And the last one I would add is serving or contribution, not just to the industry, but to humankind, to people.