Reflections of Life at Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship

The year spent at Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship was one of the best years of my life. It was like a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs, it was an intense one-year program that covered not only the core AI, ML technical modules but also the subjects involving multiple dimensions of life.

I was an engineering graduate so the concept of combining engineering with arts by giving it a humane aspect was pretty new for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the courses on self-reflection and leadership like “Designing our life” by Prof Rachel Dzombak, leadership boot camps by renowned life coaches Ken Singer, Kenwyn K Smith, and Balvinder Singh Sodhi.

The Tech Leaders Fellowship (TLF) journey at Plaksha goes beyond technical learning, offering fellows opportunities for self-reflection, leadership development, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and industry exposure. For alumni, the experience becomes a journey of personal and professional growth, shaping how they approach technology, leadership, and real-world challenges.

Term-1 kick-started with leadership boot camp from Ken Singer and included courses on Design Thinking Principles by Prof Jitesh Panchal and Engineering Ethics by Prof Andrew O Brightman. Within this short span of time, I got the privilege of meeting some of the most impactful entrepreneurs and corporate leaders around the globe including Hitesh Oberoi (MD, InfoEdge), Pankaj Chaddah (Co-founder Zomato), Mohit Thukral (Founder Vivtera), Neeraj Aggarwal (Chairman, BCG), Ashish Gupta (Benori Venture), as well as global venture capitalists including Vikrant Raina (BV Investments) and Dr Ashish Gupta (Helion Ventures).

In Term 2, Prof Ikhlaq Sidhu conducted a session on An Introduction to Innovation Engineering. During the session, he explained the concept of Innovation Engineering and how it can be used to efficiently carry out innovative projects within teams from start to finish. He developed this idea using his years of experience working with industry and academia at the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, University of California, Berkeley.

For me, it was a matter of great pride and honour to receive one of the first signed copies of the book Innovation Engineering from the author himself, Prof Ikhlaq Sidhu.

While in the midst of my Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship journey, I started to feel that I had discovered a lot about myself that I had never known before. It helped me see myself through a completely new lens and opened up a world of new opportunities. But it also reminded me that there was still much more to come.

During this time, we attended a three-day leadership boot camp led by the extraordinary leadership coach Balvinder Singh Sodhi of Vanto Group and Prof Kenwyn K Smith of the University of Pennsylvania. My journey through these boot camps was full of emotional highs and lows, allowing me to better understand myself and the people around me. Those days were exceptional. They allowed me to explore the secrets behind high performance and charismatic leadership. I learned about the three pillars of leadership—leading self, leading others and leading work.

In Term 5, we started our journey in the Challenge Lab. Challenge Lab is a 12-week entrepreneurial experience. It begins with identifying a problem, testing hypotheses, building a prototype and pitching it to venture capitalists on the final day.

For me, it was a matter of great pride to have Pankaj Chaddah (Co-founder Zomato) as my mentor.. It was always a pleasure to discuss our strategies and brainstorm with him. He explained complex market concepts through real-life experiences and anecdotes. He was supportive and approachable throughout the journey and always helped us find clarity whenever we were uncertain. My Challenge Lab journey with Pankaj concluded with one key lesson: the importance of starting quickly, working in an agile manner and acquiring the first few customers early.

After the Challenge Lab, I had the opportunity to be part of Arcesium's flagship summer internship program as a Data Science Intern during the Capstone term.

My eight-week journey with Arcesium was amazing and fulfilling. It was an enriching experience to work in an organization that places immense value on a culture of flat hierarchy and innovation. Two months passed in the blink of an eye, but the learning and growth were invaluable for my professional career. At Arcesium, every voice matters and innovative ideas are welcomed from everyone. It was here that I learned never to be complacent and to always challenge the status quo.

I have been fortunate to meet some of the most successful and brilliant people—distinguished professors, world-renowned educators, industry leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world. From interacting with them, I realized they all shared one common quality: simplicity and humility. That was the one lesson that resonated with me the most and inspired me to remain humble, no matter how high I may fly.

Life at Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship was exciting and memorable. It involved interacting with brilliant peers, solving meaningful problems together, working on live projects, celebrating at batch parties and so much more. My entire experience is difficult to put into words. I would like to conclude with a quote about the Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship:

“The TLF program is not just about learning; it's about experiencing the best within you.”

TLP Team