About Vishal Balasubramaniam

Based in Seattle, Vishal Balasubramaniam, is clearly an early riser- talking to UCD at 5AM Seattle time. Its easier to get up early when you enjoy your role and career and it seems Balasubramaniam certainly does. He is, like many Indians in Seattle and also Silicon Valley, successful and happy. But what really drives him is solving problems, many of them technological in nature, but with a financial element.

He started his career (after university in India) with Google in Hyderabad where he was part of their online sales and operations team. He also worked in India with a start-up called OnMobile in Bangalore. After a couple of years he says he was bitten by the ‘entrepreneurial bug’. 

 “So I decided to set up my own corporate food retailing company with a focus on serving healthy food to students and corporate employees,” he recalls and he agrees the whole period was a learning experience. But he had a different ambition - he wanted to experience life outside India so he decided to sell this business, but also go further- and take on an MBA. He says he knew there was a strong tech presence in Dublin and this was a key attraction in doing the UCD MBA at the time.

 “I realized there was a big start-up ecosystem in Dublin and so you know, I wanted to find an opportunity in technology and so UCD, seemed like a great fit,” he says. He had not been in Europe before, so he admits it was a big risk as he didn’t know the continent well and an adjustment was going to be necessary.

“You know, I spoke to a few of the UCD alumni who were nice enough to share some of their experiences at UCD, and in Ireland, and their experiences were very positive, and so I decided to take the plunge”.

As for his experience directly of UCD Smurfit’s One Year Full Time MBA, he says: “There were so many accomplished classmates from different industries, and you know from various backgrounds and and I really enjoyed some of the courses at UCD, particularly the marketing course taught by Damien McLoughlin. I enjoyed the strategy course with Pat Gibbons. Those were some of my best experiences at Smurfit”. He says students also got to do an emerging markets trip to Brazil, which he remembers fondly. 

He says UCD and his later move to Microsoft were ideal, as the technology industry is very global and both moves gave him the change to work with people from all over the world. After completing the MBA his working life took a different direction as he joined Microsoft in Ireland in 2012. He explains that timing was everything in getting the move to Microsoft, and doing well once in the company.

“So that particular year, Microsoft had visited the UCD Campus and they had a program called MACH, its called the Microsoft Academy of College Hires, and they were looking to hire 2 candidates from UCD. And it was a very competitive process,” he remembers. He was fortunately successful and believes one factor played in his favour.  “I think, and I am guessing here, but what may have impressed them was my entrepreneurial background and the fact that I'd worked for Google previously. So that and the credibility of UCD itself was vital,” he says.

“I also joined the company at the right time. It somewhat coincided with the rise of the company's current, CEO Satya Nadella. During the time I was there, you know, there was a complete turnaround within the company, and it went from being a laggard, to becoming one of the the leaders in the tech industry,” he explains.

 “I was there for almost 9 years and I took on a few different roles. I was able to influence their quote-to-cash processes and influence the way they sell their cloud services, such as Microsoft 365 and Azure. I also got to work with some of Microsoft's biggest partners, particularly in Europe,” he states. The Ireland leg of his career was important for him for other reasons too, as that is where he met his wife!

He also got to move from Ireland to Microsoft in Seattle which was a big moment in his career development.

He then stayed in Seattle and worked with a healthcare startup called Big Health, which offers digital programs for mental health issues, such as insomnia, anxiety and depression. His job was to scale up the company's product and data platforms. These days he is a product leader at Vista global, which is a business aviation company. He acknowledges he is not a pure-bred technologist, but believes he has technological knowledge that is combined with a background in finance.
 “I had a taste of finance from quite early on in my career,” he points out, with his start up years. “I had to maintain, you know the books, and take care of profit and loss accounts and balance sheets and all that. But I knew that in the long term I wanted to be in the tech sector,” he explains.

He is originally from a city called Coimbatore, in the south of India, the city is about a 45-minute flight from Chennai. As for India itself, he says, “I do, miss home” and he tries to go home at least once a year. Ultimately he sees himself as an entrepreneur, even if he has spent a lot of time in large multinational environments. “Running your own business,the buck stops with you. You can't blame anyone else, and so that mindset has stuck to me ever since you know, around my company. You know I call it the ownership mindset.” 

He also acknowledges that there are now many prominent Indian-born executives in the tech world and while he has not got the definitive answer, he has some thoughts on why that might be.

“There are a few reasons for it. I'd say first of all, there's a lot of talent in India that's looking for opportunities, right? And I’d say a couple of skills come naturally to Indians. One, I'd say, is problem solving. When you've grown up and been educated in a developing country like India, you have to problem solve on a daily basis. And so I think that sets them up for success. And then rising through the ranks in a competitive environment like India also requires you to have leadership skills. And so you build those problem solving and leadership muscles, through your formative years I think that's what sets some of these people apart,” he explains. 

He also doesn’t shrink from a description of himself as a problem solver. These are skills he is calling on in his current role, which is in the aviation sector at Vista, a company that describes itself as giving customers “access to a global fleet without any of the responsibilities of owning an aircraft.” There he is principal product manager, trying to enhance the company’s processes and systems, including a billing platform and automation.

As for life in Seattle, he says “I love it here. Its in the Pacific northwest. I really enjoy the outdoors and I try to make the most of it’’. He adds that he sees his future remaining in the tech sector, so getting out into the outdoors isn’t going to end for him anytime soon.

Insight Track

Reflecting on your time at UCD, what experience stands out as particularly impactful or memorable?

Two of my classmates and I had a unique opportunity to participate in a sweat for equity program at the National Digital Research Centre. It was an incredible action learning experience.
 
Is there a particular book or song you have carried with you for much of your life?

One of my favourite books is Freakonomics - it introduced me to the world of behavioural science.
 
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received, funny or serious?

Persistence pays off more often than not!
 
What's a hobby or activity you've always wanted to try but haven't gotten around to yet?

I am a big fan of Texas Hold 'em Poker. I hope to compete in the World Series of Poker someday!
 
If you could have a conversation with any historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask that person?

As a sports enthusiast, I would love to have a conversation with Kobe Bryant and ask him about his signature "Mamba Mentality".
 
September 2024