Coming Home, Starting Fresh: My Journey from the Bay Area to Workday Chennai
A Decade in the Bay Area
I spent over a decade in the Bay Area, working with two large product companies. Most of my time was in DevOps and platform engineering, and I was lucky to be part of the cloud transformation as it happened. Cloud computing, containers, and microservices all took shape during those years, and I got to be hands-on through each phase.
What I appreciated most about the Bay Area was the pace of learning and the strong tech community. There were always meetups and community events where people came together to talk about tech, share ideas, and learn from each other.
Over the 10 years, I saw a clear shift from general cloud adoption to more specific conversations around architecture. When I started, no one talked much about monoliths or microservices. By the time I left, those were common terms. I had the opportunity to work with leading cloud platforms, container technologies, and DevSecOps practices. In my previous role, I worked directly with large enterprise customers on their cloud adoption journey. That role gave me a front-row seat to how different businesses approached transformation.
That decade shaped not just my technical foundation, but also how I think about building teams, solving problems, and staying curious. Being in that environment taught me to value both speed and stability, innovation and pragmatism. It was an intense, fulfilling chapter. And when it came time for the next one, the decision wasn’t just about work.
Returning to India and Adjusting to a New Life
In December, I moved back to India. The decision was personal — my parents needed me here, and my wife and I wanted our children to grow up closer to family.
After living in the U.S. for 14 years, we were understandably a bit nervous. The biggest change was for our children, especially our older son, who had just entered 6th grade. In the U.S., academics become intense only in middle or high school. In India, it starts much earlier. So far, he’s adapting well, which is a big relief.
For my wife, being back has meant reconnecting with family and culture. Now we can attend festivals and family functions without booking a long flight or planning months in advance. And for me, it’s been great to enjoy the food I missed all these years.
One of the most noticeable differences has been healthcare. In the U.S., even with good insurance, getting an appointment with a specialist often takes time. Here in India, access is much quicker, which makes a big difference when you have young kids or aging parents.
Why Workday and Why Chennai
Professionally, the move wasn’t planned. I had hoped to continue with my previous employer through an internal transfer to Chennai, but with the global slowdown, that didn’t work out. I didn’t want to relocate to another city, as the whole point of moving was to be closer to my family. That’s when I started looking at external opportunities.
I remembered Workday from my time in the Bay Area. I used to drive past their Pleasanton office every day on my commute from Lathrop to Fremont. I had heard great things about the strong company culture, how well employees were treated, and its strong position in the HCM space.
So when I saw that they were hiring in Chennai, I didn’t have to think twice.
Chennai has a vibrant IT ecosystem and a strong startup culture, but Bangalore and Hyderabad have traditionally been more attractive for product companies. So when a company like Workday chooses to set up in Chennai, it signals something important. It shows confidence in the local talent pool, which is strong thanks to the many excellent universities and engineering colleges in Chennai. The focus has traditionally been more on manufacturing than product engineering. Workday’s presence changes that, and I hope it encourages more product companies to consider Chennai in the future.
I didn’t apply anywhere else. Other companies reached out, but Workday was the only one I was interested in. I already trusted the brand and saw this as a rare opportunity to help build something from the ground up. Being one of the first few people in the new office gave me the chance to build something new. When you’re part of the early team, you help shape the culture and set the direction.
Building the Developer Experience at Workday
Today, I lead the Development Platforms team in Chennai as an Engineering Manager. Our mission is to enable Workday developers to innovate. We manage the development environments for both single-user virtual machines and multi-user Kubernetes clusters that over 5,000 developers rely on globally.
My team in Chennai is part of a broader global structure, working closely with teams in Pleasanton and Dublin. We are moving toward a follow-the-sun model so developers across time zones get continuous support.
One of our current focus areas is reducing operational noise. With more than 30,000 virtual machines spun up daily, the volume of support tickets and Slack messages can get overwhelming. We are working on self-service tools that make it easier for developers to solve problems on their own. This includes AI-powered chatbots and better documentation. The goal is to reduce latency and free up our team to focus on more strategic work.
If you’re a developer considering joining us in Chennai, now is the right time. We’re still in the early stages of building, which means there’s space for ownership, new ideas, and meaningful contributions. We’re learning from global best practices, identifying gaps, and creating solutions that work for our context. Workday is also investing heavily in platform engineering and AI, which makes it an exciting space to be in.
Coming back to India was a big step for me and my family. But today, I feel like I’ve found the right balance: close to loved ones, and working on meaningful problems with a team that’s just getting started.
A brighter work day is just around the corner. ☀️ Explore career opportunities here. For more #WDAYLife content, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
