SRIKANTH KAJA

• In this position, I am responsible as Head of Data & AI platforms for Mercedes Benz reporting to Group CDO.
• As a key leader of the global data organization, entrusted with overseeing Data & AI platforms, I spearheaded the development and implementation of a comprehensive product strategy in the areas across data value chain.
• Extensive experience in Data Mesh, Data Products, Data Sharing, Data Analytics, AI, Generative AI, and Cloud technologies, driving transformational solutions across the company.
• Led the overall strategy for data and AI strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals and fostering innovation, resulting in a 25% growth in data-driven decision-making capabilities across the organization.
• Delivered successful large-scale Data & AI solutions, including platform modernization, data migration, and advanced data architectures like Data Mesh and Data Fabric.
• Developed and executed strategic plans for business growth and expansion using Data as a catalyst.
• Utilized agile methodologies to manage multiple scrum teams on simultaneous builds, achieving a 30% increase in development efficiency and timely product launches.
• Strong technical understanding of Generative AI, including LLM Ops, HPC Infrastructure, and Foundational Models, delivering cutting-edge AI-driven solutions.
• Collaborated with data platform providers, including Snowflake, Databricks, and Collibra, to deliver robust SaaS and PaaS data solutions.
• Demonstrated expertise in commercial deal shaping, contract negotiations, and building compelling client value propositions to secure high-value contracts.
• Led the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from ideation through launch and subsequent iterations, ensuring alignment with market needs and business objectives.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including design, engineering, and marketing, to create and launch strategic products that met customer requirements and drove business growth.

• This role is instrumental in driving digital strategy and technology adoption across key portfolios within the company.
• Leadership has led to the successful migration of multiple applications to cloud-native architectures, scaling and managing cloud teams, and enhancing CI/CD pipelines for over 50 applications.
• Additionally, spearheaded the standardization of IT service management processes across 15+ APAC locations and drove innovation by leading the development of a B2B decentralized data marketplace.
• This role also involved holding a leadership position within the organization, contributing to strategic direction, and serving as a key member for critical technical portfolios in the APAC region, ensuring the company remains at the forefront of technological advancements.

Key member of the founding team for digital trends and new IT technologies, to drive transformative initiatives, including:

• Onboarded 20+ projects to production, expanding business unit service portfolio offerings.
• Established Center of Excellence for Cloud and DevOps, aligning with group-wide strategy and expanded to 15 markets, generating new revenue streams.
• Implemented cloud cost optimization strategies, reducing overall costs by 20%.
• Led cloud design, re-platforming, and migration initiatives, improving system performance by 40%, reducing operational costs by 30%, and enhancing scalability to support a 50% increase in performance.
• Orchestrated agile project execution for rapid delivery and continuous deployment.

• Core Member of the first DevOps Engineering team for the bank with key responsibilities include designing and implementing an enterprise CI/CD framework for automating application deployments across the 100+ bank's business applications.
• Reduced the overall deployment time for critical and non critical applications in the bank by >50% resulting in faster product releases.
• Collaborated with internal business teams to identify challenges and develop customized products, achieving their business objective and project goals.
• Provided strategic consulting services to clients, delivering insights and recommendations that improved operational efficiency and drove business transformation.

• Consultant for Mercedes Benz on mission-critical migration projects focusing on IT infrastructure, middleware, and web app components.
• Successfully led a large-scale data center migration, resulting in a 25% reduction in operating costs and a 15% increase in system efficiency.
• Spearheaded the re-platforming of legacy systems, cutting maintenance costs by 20% and boosting application performance by 35%.
• Oversaw the integration of middleware solutions, enhancing the overall architecture with industry standard tools.

• As leader of the application middleware team for a global logistics company, ensured platform reliability, achieving 99.9% uptime.
• Engaged in solution design that reduced latency by 25% and optimized infrastructure, leading to a 20% decrease in operational costs.
• Provided technical guidance that resulted insignificant improvement in system performance and contributed to strategic planning,
• Handled all day to day operational topics in ensuring stability and reliability of application middleware systems.