AMBIKA KULKARNI
DevOps/Platform Architect
Bangalore
Summary
Dynamic DevOps and AWS Lead with a strong background in AWS cloud infrastructure, CI/CD automation, and fostering a culture of DevOps adoption. Expertise in developing and managing deployment strategies, along with a deep understanding of automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC). Proven success in leading teams to optimize cloud environments while driving operational efficiency through innovative automation solutions. Committed to leveraging technical skills and leadership experience to enhance organizational performance and deliver exceptional results.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
2
2
Certifications
Work History
DevOps/AWS Lead
Accenture Pvt Ltd
01.2019 - Current
- SAP DevOps – SAP Core Banking
- Client: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Bankwest) (Aug 2024 - Present)
- Provisioned and automated cloud infrastructure using Terraform, Ansible, Ansible Tower as Configuration as Code (CaaC), Shell, Python, and implemented GitOps for automated AWS EC2 deployments, improving deployment consistency and reducing deployment time.
- Extensively worked on AWS services such as VPC, EC2, S3, ELB, EBS, Route 53, ASM, KMS, ECS, ACM, FXS, EFS, AMI, etc.
- Design and develop Ansible playbooks, roles, and modules to automate the deployment and configuration of infrastructure, applications, and cloud resources.
- Creating workflows in AAP CI/CD automation to provision and automate SAP servers, ASCS, Hana, and app servers with a blue/green deployment strategy.
- Create workflows for patching, server upgrades, AMI in-place patching, start/stop of HANA and ASCS clusters, services, and instances.
- Implemented SAP Server Cluster failover, failback, rollback, HSR, scale-up, scale-out strategy by developing Ansible modules.
- Implemented cloud security, networking, monitoring, and cost management best practices.
- I participated in all aspects of DevOps engineering and promoted industry-standard methodologies in DevOps.
- Design and build releases for the production pipeline.
- Developed Python and Bash scripts for cron jobs, password rotations, and storing new passwords in Vault.
- Working experience in AI tools, prompt engineering
- Led the implementation of CI/CD pipelines using AWS services, significantly improving deployment efficiency and reducing downtime.
- Designed and optimized cloud architectures on AWS, resulting in enhanced system performance and resource utilization across projects.
- Spearheaded cross-functional collaboration to automate infrastructure provisioning, achieving streamlined operations and faster delivery timelines.
- Mentored junior engineers in DevOps practices and AWS tools, fostering skill development and increasing team productivity.
- Implemented monitoring and logging solutions using CloudWatch and ELK stack, enhancing incident response times and operational visibility.
DevOps & SRE Role
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
09.2023 - 08.2024
- Onboarding APIs using the Kong Gateway.
- Client: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Sep 2023 – Aug 2024).
- Designed and implemented Kong Gateway for API authentication and routing.
- Led API onboarding for over 30,000 services through Kong Gateway, ensuring secure authentication and routing using IDP protocols.
- Automated API onboarding using Jenkins pipelines and custom scripts in Shell, Golang, and Groovy.
- Integrated AWS IAM roles, S3, RDS, and KMS for secure API access and management.
- Established observability practices to ensure real-time insights into system performance, availability, and customer experience. Implemented monitoring tools, metrics, and dashboards to proactively identify and address potential issues.
- Lead all aspects of the end-to-end production support process, including incident management, problem resolution, and service-level agreement (SLA) compliance. Driving continuous improvement initiatives to enhance operational effectiveness and reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR).
- Collaborate with multi-functional teams and API owners to enhance customer journeys through seamless, reliable technology experiences.
- Promoted and implemented standard methodologies, including error budgeting, chaos engineering, and disaster recovery planning. Cultivated a culture of resilience and reliability within technology.
- Champion automation initiatives to streamline operational workflows, deployment processes, and incident response tasks. Leveraging automation tools and orchestration to improve reliability and reduce manual intervention.
DevOps Specialist
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
10.2019 - 08.2023
- SAP J2C - CBA SAP CRM Cloud Migration.
- Client: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Oct 2019 - Aug 2023).
- Automated SAP CRM infrastructure deployment using CloudFormation, Terraform, and Ansible Automation Platform (AAP).
- Extensively worked on AWS services such as VPC, EC2, S3, ELB, EBS, Route 53, ASM, KMS, ECS, ACM, FXS, EFS, AMI, etc.
- Built CI/CD pipelines for SAP service management, automating start/stop processes.
- Build CI/CD pipelines for SAP CRM infrastructure deployment, server patching, failover, database backups, AMI creation, deletion of infrastructure, etc.
- Implemented blue-green deployment strategies for system patching.
- Integrated security measures using AWS Secrets Manager, IAM policies, and HashiCorp Vault.
- Manage and drive the DevOps pipeline that supports the application life cycle across the DevOps toolchain — from planning, coding, and building, to testing, to staging, to release, configuration, and monitoring.
Service Delivery Lead
Southwest Airlines (SWA) IT Support , L3 & Automation
09.2016 - 12.2018
- Led a team of 40 engineers, managing IT support operations & automation.
- Automated incident response and monitoring workflows reduce manual efforts.
- Ensured compliance with ITIL processes, and conducted security audits.
- Developed automated scripts to optimize airline IT operations.
- To restore normal service operation as quickly as possible and to minimize the impact on business operations, thus ensuring that the best possible levels of service quality and availability are maintained, following the ITIL best practices approach in adherence to the service-level agreements.
- Driving the efficiency and effectiveness of the incident management process, and producing management information, including KPIs and reports.
- Preparing Key Operating Procedures, Documents of Understanding, and Run Books during the Transition.
- Drive group chats and bridge calls effectively to resolve incidents.
- Managing P1 (Critical MI) and P2 (Major) outages, and working toward the quick restoration of services.
- Manage and coordinate activities during the overall ticket life cycle.
Solution Architect
Softtek Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
09.2014 - 12.2018
- Architected cloud migration strategies for enterprise applications, optimizing AWS infrastructure.
- Built CI/CD pipelines to automate code deployments, improving release efficiency.
- Designed and managed cloud environments using AWS, including IAM role management, S3 storage, and EC2 scaling.
- Design and define the overall DevOps architecture/framework for a project/module delivery as per the client requirement.
- Decide on the DevOps tool and platform, and which needs to be deployed, aligned to the customer’s requirements.
- Create a tool deployment model for validating, testing, and monitoring performance, and align or provision for resources accordingly.
- Define and manage the IT infrastructure as per the requirements of the supported software code.
Project Coordinator
General Electric (GE) - Multi-Domain IT Projects
09.2014 - 08.2016
- Managed DevOps transformation for multiple GE verticals, including GE Capital, GE Corporate, GE Nuclear, and GE Oil & Gas.
- Designed CI/CD pipelines for Java and PHP-based applications.
- Led compliance audits and security assessments for enterprise projects.
Senior Software Engineer
Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
03.2012 - 09.2014
- Developed and deployed cloud-based applications using Java, PHP, and Groovy.
- Implemented DevOps best practices for application monitoring, automated testing, and CI/CD integration.
- Managed AWS services and built infrastructure-as-code templates for seamless deployments.
- Review technical designs and perform code reviews for the source code created by peers and/or junior team members.
- Enforce code and deployment verification rules, as per the project standards, to validate the builds.
- Interact with onsite clients, coordinator/scrum master, analyst, onshore development, and other cross-functional teams.
Senior Software Engineer
Checksum Infosoft Private Limited, Bangalore
03.2010 - 03.2012
- Developed scalable applications in PHP, CakePHP, and Zend Framework.
- Automated deployments and infrastructure management for web applications.
- Designed and implemented database solutions using MySQL, MongoDB, and Cassandra.
Education
Master of Computer Applications - Computer Applications Development
Bangalore Institute of Technology
Bengaluru, India 04.2001 -
Skills
AWS services
Ansible
Terraform
CI/CD pipelines
CloudFormation
Monitoring solutions
Incident management
DevOps practices
Infrastructure as Code
Automated deployments
Jenkins, Teamcity, AAP
Python scripting
Shell scripting
Performance optimization
Cost management
Configuration management
Disaster recovery
Agile methodologies
Docker
Kubernetes
Git, GitHub, GitHub Actions
Grafana, Promethus, ELK
SRE, Observability
Certification
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03)
Team Management
- Set goals for direct reportees, conduct timely performance reviews and appraisals, and give constructive feedback to direct reports.
- Incase of performance issues, take necessary action with zero tolerance for ‘will’ based performance issues
- Lead and drive engagement initiatives for the team
- Track team satisfaction scores and identify initiatives to build engagement within the team
- Proactively challenge the team with larger and enriching projects/ initiatives for the organization or team
- Exercise employee recognition and appreciation
Timeline
DevOps & SRE Role
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
09.2023 - 08.2024
DevOps Specialist
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
10.2019 - 08.2023
DevOps/AWS Lead
Accenture Pvt Ltd
01.2019 - Current
Service Delivery Lead
Southwest Airlines (SWA) IT Support , L3 & Automation
09.2016 - 12.2018
Solution Architect
Softtek Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
09.2014 - 12.2018
Project Coordinator
General Electric (GE) - Multi-Domain IT Projects
09.2014 - 08.2016
Senior Software Engineer
Happiest Minds Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bangalore
03.2012 - 09.2014
Senior Software Engineer
Checksum Infosoft Private Limited, Bangalore
03.2010 - 03.2012
Master of Computer Applications - Computer Applications Development
Bangalore Institute of Technology
04.2001 -