ENGINEERING EXECUTIVE · M.S. · PMP

Turning technology
into business value.

I’m Kiran C. Kantheti. I lead responsible AI-assisted engineering transformation, modernize enterprise platforms, and grow global organizations that deliver meaningful customer and business outcomes.

AI TransformationHuman-in-the-Loop EngineeringEnterprise ModernizationGlobal Leadership
Professional portrait of Kiran C. Kantheti
DIRECTOR OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERINGKiran C. KanthetiEngineer · Leader · Builder
BUILDLEAD
AI TRANSFORMATION ✦ REVENUE ENABLEMENT ✦ PRODUCT STRATEGY ✦ GLOBAL ENGINEERING ✦ PLATFORM MODERNIZATION ✦ AI TRANSFORMATION ✦

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Technical depth.
Executive perspective.

PMP-certified engineering executive with 20+ years in enterprise software and 11 years of progressive leadership at MarkLogic, from quality engineering and DevOps modernization to a global, multi-product organization.

I translate customer needs and business strategy into scalable products, resilient delivery systems, and focused engineering investments. I have led 48–60 engineers and managers across three regions, with accountability for a $12M–$15M R&D portfolio serving more than 90 enterprise and government customers.

01Responsible AI and engineering transformation
02Business-aligned product and platform strategy
03Production RAG for regulated enterprises
04Global organizations built to scale

AI TRANSFORMATION OPERATING MODEL

Adoption built on evidence.
Speed governed by people.

I moved AI-assisted development from senior-engineer skepticism to responsible adoption by proving value in real work, making quality visible, and keeping accountable engineers in every consequential decision.

01

Earn technical trust

Started with working pilots, engaged respected senior engineers as peer champions, and used review data and delivery outcomes to replace assumptions with evidence.

02

Keep humans in the loop

Established explicit human review and approval across requirements, architecture, AI-generated code, tests and evaluations, security, and production release.

03

Deliver production RAG

Led AI-assisted RAG and semantic retrieval initiatives using vector search, embeddings, and knowledge graphs for contextual access across millions of enterprise documents.

04

Scale beyond one project

Extended the same guardrails to general engineering—design, coding, testing, documentation, and operations—so AI increased pace while people retained ownership.

Operating principle AI accelerates the work. Engineers remain accountable for the result.

SELECTED BUSINESS IMPACT

Outcomes at scale.

Across product delivery, customer enablement, cost discipline, and people leadership.

REVENUE$50M+

ARR enabled

Enterprise proposals, technical strategy, demonstrations, and client delivery across Fortune 500 and government customers.

PLATFORM$110M

Revenue platform

Engineering leadership for a data platform serving more than 90 enterprise customers.

EFFICIENCY28%+

Cloud cost reduction

Approximately $1M in annual savings through architecture, governance, and operational discipline.

DELIVERY60%

Faster deployments

Automation, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, and a metrics-led operating model.

35% engineering budget reduction30% developer velocity gain20+ engineers promoted7 ICs developed into managers

SIGNATURE WORK

Where product, platform
and customer value meet.

01 / AI & DATA

AI-first RAG and semantic intelligence

Led end-to-end AI-assisted delivery of contextual retrieval across millions of enterprise documents, with human approval gates and responsible governance for regulated environments.

RAG · LLM Evaluation · Vector Search · Knowledge Graphs
02 / PRODUCT

Enterprise Data Hub evolution

Co-owned product direction and engineering OKRs, balancing customer needs, technical constraints, scalability, adoption, and recurring revenue.

Multi-model data · SaaS · APIs · SDKs
03 / TRANSFORMATION

Modern engineering operating model

Connected quality, DevOps, SRE, portfolio metrics, and executive dashboards to improve delivery predictability, investment visibility, and customer satisfaction.

SAFe · CI/CD · Kubernetes · Observability

CAREER JOURNEY

Built across every
layer of engineering.

From performance and quality foundations to global product and AI leadership.

Progress logoMarkLogic logo
2015–2026Three progressive leadership roles

Progress MarkLogic

Enterprise data and semantic metadata technology within Progress Software’s portfolio of AI-powered application, digital experience, and infrastructure products.

Advanced from Engineering Manager to Director, ultimately leading 48–60 engineers and managers across platform engineering, AI initiatives, DevOps, reliability, and global operations. Led adoption of AI-assisted development among initially skeptical senior engineers and instituted human-in-the-loop controls for RAG and general engineering work.

  • Accountable for ROI across a $12M–$15M R&D investment.
  • Supported enterprise customers including CMS, Boeing, Airbus, CVS, Aetna, and federal agencies.
  • Led two acquisition integrations while sustaining delivery continuity.
SquareTrade logo
2012–2015Engineering Manager, SDET & DevOps

SquareTrade

Now Allstate Protection Plans, a technology-led protection-plan business serving connected consumer products.

Scaled quality engineering, automation, CI/CD, and deployment infrastructure for a high-volume consumer platform—embedding quality gates while improving release reliability and frequency.

RealNetworks logo
2008–2012Engineering Manager, SDET & DevOps

RealNetworks

A digital-media pioneer that created the streaming-media category and later expanded into AI and machine-learning products.

Led performance, quality, and deployment engineering for globally distributed media products, strengthening automation, stability, benchmarking, and release cadence.

Macrovision logo
2006–2008Lead & Senior Engineer, Performance & SQA

Macrovision

Enterprise technology focused on protecting, enhancing, and distributing digital content across entertainment, software, and consumer-electronics channels.

Built the performance and software-quality foundation: scalable benchmarks, automated test suites, reliability practices, and mentoring.

Company marks are shown for career context; all trademarks belong to their respective owners.

LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY

Clarity for the work.
Care for the people.

I create the conditions for teams to solve difficult problems, take meaningful ownership, and grow into the best work of their careers.

“Technology creates opportunity.
People make it meaningful.”— Kiran C. Kantheti
01

Build with purpose

Connect architecture and investment decisions directly to customer and business value.

02

Scale through people

Grow leaders, distribute ownership, and build inclusive global teams that compound impact.

03

Modernize pragmatically

Transform legacy systems while protecting continuity, trust, and operational resilience.

04

Adopt AI with evidence

Earn trust through real results, transparent quality signals, clear guardrails, and accountable human decisions.

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

Engineering foundations.
A lifelong learning mindset.

Formal training across electronics, communication, and computer systems—strengthened by more than two decades of turning theory into operating platforms and business outcomes.

MASTER’S DEGREE

Computer Systems

Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING

Electronics & Communication

Visvesvaraya Technological University

Karnataka, India
PMPProject Management ProfessionalProject Management Institute
Kiran C. Kantheti in a modern executive workspace

LIFE BEYOND ENGINEERING

The people behind
the purpose.

FAMILY FIRST

My proudest and most important role is at home—as a husband and father to a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Family keeps me grounded, curious, and focused on building a future that matters.

01Camping02Hiking & outdoors03Watching sports04Movies

START A CONVERSATION

Building what’s next.

Open to conversations about AI transformation, enterprise platforms, engineering leadership, and ambitious products worth building.

Connect with Kiran ↗