From Stage and Screen to High-Tech Service Sector

When children dream of being entertainers, their backup career isn't typically engineering. But that was Gokul Pandy's plan if he didn't make it in Kollywood, a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing motion pictures in the Tamil language. As a youngster growing up in Chennai, India, Pandy loved acting and dancing, but he also excelled in math and science in school.

His parents, both educators, supported their son's passion but encouraged him to consider studying engineering. They told him that if engineering didn't work out, he could always try show business.

Gokul Pandy

Employer:

Accenture in Richmond, Va.

Title:

Application development manager

Member grade:

Senior member

Alma maters:

Anand Institute of Higher Technology, Chennai, India; Alagappa University, in Karaikudi, India

He took their advice and, as a high school student, began watching YouTube videos of engineers solving real-world problems. Those videos inspired him to enroll in the engineering program at Anand Institute of Higher Technology, in Chennai. During his second year there, a career in engineering won out over one in entertainment. His engineering career has had its challenges, however.

Today, Pandy is an application development manager at Accenture, in Richmond, Va. The IEEE senior member also serves as the chair of the IEEE Richmond Section.

He was inducted this month into the IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu honor society.

From IT support to robotic automation expert

Pandy graduated from Anand in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in electronics and communications engineering. It was at the height of the Great Recession, which began in 2007 and ended in 2009. Many countries, including India, had high unemployment rates then, making it tougher to find a full-time job. To boost his chances, Pandy earned a variety of certifications including lead system architect, AWS cloud partitioner, and robotic process automation (RPA). He also enrolled in the online MBA program at Alagappa University, in Karaikudi, India-which he completed in 2011.

In 2008 he was hired by Accenture in Bangalore as a contract employee, working in IT support. Thanks to his consistent hard work, he says, the company promoted him to full-time software engineer, which was life-changing."

He was transferred to the company's Chennai office and eventually was promoted to senior software engineer.

He became an expert on automation frameworks: structured sets of guidelines, tools, and practices designed to streamline and manage repetitive tasks.

To address inefficiencies in systems, he and his team designed and led an open-source automation tool that automates processes such as data entry and validation, and it verifies compliance across multiple levels.

By automating repetitive administrative tasks, business users could focus on other important duties.

In 2015 his company moved Pandy to the United States to support a major health care transformation initiative.

That move marked a turning point in my career," he says, propelling me into the international spotlight as a thought leader in enterprise automation." He became an automation subject matter expert from a manual tester for two major health care organizations, he says.

His efforts have been recognized. He received a Global Recognition Award this year for his outstanding leadership and innovative contributions to robotic process automation (RPA) in health care technology."

He also received a 2024 Claro Platinum Award for excellence in technology. The Claro Awards recognize people doing outstanding work in AI, data analytics, and technology.

Pandy is a Fellow of several organizations including the British Computer Society, Hackathon Raptors, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Soft Computing Research Society.

He has authored or coauthored more than 20 papers, several of which are in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. He has peer-reviewed more than 200 papers for major conferences, and he was invited as a keynote speaker in IEEE and other conferences.

Running an IEEE section to acquire new skills

Pandy joined IEEE last year and was quickly elevated to senior member.

He says he joined because the organization offers me a platform to collaborate with global technologists.

Never Lose Hope

Gokul Pandy offers young professionals this advice for having a successful career:

• Be patient, work hard, and never lose hope. Today's young adults want everything instantly-which isn't realistic in the workplace.
• Keep learning. Today's technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are evolving quickly, and you need to stay on top of the latest innovations.
• Don't wait for the perfect opportunity; rather, create it.
• Don't view yourself as just" a software engineer or just" an associate engineer. Go the extra mile, even if you aren't paid to do so. That way, you'll always be one step ahead of the competition.
• Build solutions that will have a real-world impact, not just theoretical value. Theoretical value is good to study, but make the application practical. When you do practical work, you'll come to know the difficulties, the failures, and the pros and cons.
• Staying true to yourself will help you grow in your career.
• Stay humble, and don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you think they are silly.
• Get involved in a professional organization, such as IEEE, early in your career. You'll get to know about cutting-edge technologies, meet great leaders, and pick up skills that will help your career.

IEEE stays updated on the frontier of technologies and gives back to the engineering community," he adds. It also provides services to students and initiates talks where we can explore topics with respect to our skills and knowledge, and mentor others."

Interested in volunteering and mentoring, he decided to nominate himself for the position of IEEE Richmond Section chair. The section has more than 800 members and covers six cities and 26 counties.

Being chair is his first volunteer leadership position. He says he believed that running the section would enhance his leadership skills. Winning the election was a miracle," he says. It was another enrichment opportunity for my career."

He began his term in January and was initially anxious about the additional workload, he says, but so far his term has been an amazing experience." He credits IEEE Senior Member Allen Jones, a past chair of the section, for helping him through the transition.

Pandy has been busy since taking office. The section formed a life members affinity group and has held events with the IEEE Virginia Commonwealth University student branch in Richmond. The section also held career-development events there, allowing IEEE members to mentor engineering students, provide them with networking tips, and help them refine their resumes.

The IEEE Magnetics Society and the IEEE Computer Society chapters partnered with VCU, AI Ready RVA, and the Richmond Institute of Technology and Science to increase artificial intelligence literacy for preuniversity students in underserved communities. The initiative provides training to educators and offers workshops to students demonstrating the technology and its practical applications.

Through leading all those activities, Pandy says, he has picked up important skills including strategic planning, public speaking, team collaboration, and budget planning, which he can apply at work.

These experiences have helped me drive large-scale IT transformation projects in my professional role," he says, and improved my ability to lead diverse and cross-functional teams.

Volunteering fuels my energy rather than drains it. Also, it's kind of a small, rewarding part of my weekly routine. I feel that I've done a little bit to help someone somewhere move a step ahead in their career-which gives me great satisfaction."

Pandy hasn't lost his desire to be an entertainer. He performs whenever possible at cultural events and the section's social gatherings.

Dancing and acting are now hobbies," he says.