Smita Londhe

I attribute my success to never stopping learning and to my family's support, especially my husband's support. My husband believed in me and when I lost my hopes, he gave me hope. His support was always there and that helped me to achieve this. I also believe that continuous education has been crucial. There is no age for education, and education is a continuous process. That's why I pursued my Master's when I was in my late 30s, waking up at 4 in the morning to do assignments while still cooking fresh food for my family and attending afternoon classes. I did that for at least 2 years. This dedication to learning while balancing family responsibilities not only helped me succeed but also motivated my daughters, who tell me they are really proud of me. I want them to understand that education is a never-ending process and that every day we have to learn something new.

The best career advice I ever received was that there is no age for education. Education is a continuous process, and I totally believe in that. That's the reason I've decided to do a PhD, not now, but maybe in 2 or 3 years. I'll be doing it when I'm in my late 40s. This advice has motivated my daughters as well. I have two daughters, and I've heard them saying that they are really proud of me because I pursued my Master's when I was in my late 30s. I used to wake up at 4 in the morning to do my assignments because cooking fresh food for my daughters and my family is very important to me. So I would wake up at 4, do my assignments, then cook for them, and I had afternoon school. I did that for at least 2 years. My daughters see me doing my education while maintaining and giving them food, and that's something I would like my daughters to do as well. Keep on learning, because education is a never-ending process and every day we have to learn something new.

Get into cybersecurity! It's really interesting because there are so many things that we have to take control of, whether it's systems or applications. Don't be afraid of regulations and compliance, because when we hear about regulations compliance, it's like, oh my god, I don't want to get into that field, it's boring. But no, it's not. Regulations are just mandatory things that we have to do, and then translate them to security controls. It's an interesting field. Don't think too much, because doing is really simpler than thinking about it. Just do it. Sometimes thinking is so difficult, and when you start doing it, oh, you're done. It takes time, of course, but just get started. For example, doing my master's was like a task after 14 years. My daughter was in high school and I had to decide whether I should make her learn or I should learn. But I just said, okay, let's do it. I did it in one and a half years, and now I'm in a much better position. I understand security, so yeah, thinking is not good sometimes. Just do it.

There are many opportunities in cybersecurity depending on your personal interests. I was asked at Medtronic whether I wanted to pursue the management side, like a senior manager role, or a principal engineer role. When you choose the principal engineer or staff engineer path, that is more technical. It depends upon your personal interest. If you are interested in the management side and you love to get hold of feature prioritization and other areas of management, then that's your line. But for me, I've always been technical, pertaining to security, so I chose the staff engineer path and I'll be choosing the principal role as well. There are a lot of options. You can start with research if you are a PhD student, you can start as a security engineer, then you can climb that ladder to senior security, then staff engineer, then principal engineer. Or you can choose the management line like manager, senior manager, director. You can be a security director as well, or you can be in compliance. I think there are three lines: one is compliance and governance, the second one is management, and the third one is being technical like principal or staff engineer.

In my personal life, honesty and my giving nature are most important to me. I don't expect much, and I know it's very easy to say, but once you practice that, it becomes meaningful. I feel that desire is the root cause of suffering, so without expecting, if you do things, it's less painful. That's my philosophy. In my career, dedication and research are what matter most. I have worked in research and development throughout every field I've been in, so there's lots of research that goes into my work. When my manager gives me a project, he knows that I'll go into depth and get things done. It's not at a very superficial level or very shallow. It's like going deeper and understanding things, and then getting it done. That's my mantra and it's always been my approach. Hard work, honesty, and dedication are the makings of success for me.