SHEKAR THANDAVA
Bengaluru,Karnataka
Summary
Delivery expertise in aligning data analytics strategies with organizational objectives to drive innovation and cultivate a data-driven culture. Proven expertise in implementing and maintaining complex data platforms, including Big Data, Cloud, and ETL solutions that facilitate seamless data consolidation and consumption. Strong advocate for digital transformation initiatives, contributing to measurable enhancements in efficiency and ROI through Agile, DevOps, and automation practices. Recognized for effective communication and collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders, complemented by a commitment to professional development through industry certifications in Databricks and Snowflake, alongside ongoing pursuit of the AIGP certification.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Data and Analytics Lead/ Deputy General Manager
HCL Technologies
07.2024 - Current
- As a Data and Analytics Lead - the client's data landscape ranges over SAP BW, Snowflake Datawarehouse and Databricks Datalakes. I work with a team of 12 senior and junior resources in enhancing the Databricks and Snowflake data space.
- Implemented Vector Searches with AI Embeddings for Databricks tables using Mosaic AI Vector Search which has increased the Databricks transformation performance by up to 30%.
- Architecting a 'Semantic Layer' for Enterprise Search by leveraging Snowflake Cortex to map unstructured data to business entities, enabling stakeholders to retrieve complex insights via natural language without writing SQL.
- Driving a reduction in manual data tagging by implementing AI-driven classification within the Databricks Unity Catalog, ensuring automated governance and PII protection across the entire Datalake.
- Leading the modernization of the Demand Planning data feed by integrating Snowflake Cortex's built-in ML functions for trend detection, providing more accurate predictive markers for the third-party reporting tool.
- I also manage the delivery of a data feed system to a third-party planning tool that provides demand planning stats back to the client for reporting purposes.
Delivery Lead / Data Chapter Lead
Standard Chartered Bank(SCB)
08.2016 - 03.2024
- With my tenure in SCB I was associated with several data projects going across On-prem Hadoop platforms and Azure Cloud platforms for the Bank's Retail unit with data sourcing, building consumption specific data lakes, maintaining data consumption, enforcing data governance principles and data. The infra involved building various integration channels like Solace, Kong, DataPower, ZScalar, Multi Factor Authentication(MFA), Single Sign On(SSO), Webhooks, tokenisation etc. With a shift to Cloud Data technologies implemented Retail Data Analytics data lakes using Databricks, Snowflake, DBT and Data Factory.
- Leading multiple project initiatives and catering to a prime consumption client of the Retail data platform, I implemented a decisioning engine platform using the Pega product on AWS. The Pega platform was strategically targeted to replace the inhouse decisioning platform that drives the bank's campaigns and promotions for mobile and internet banking.
- Undertook a huge sourcing project which set a landmark fundamental shift in making Enterprise data available for consumption. Out of about 150+ systems available across the bank, my team sourced in about 45 key systems. Worked with client / bank-end systems like Mainframe and Oracle systems in a F2F environment to solution and build pipelines for data sourcing.
Technical Lead
IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
07.2010 - 02.2016
- As a Technical Lead I worked on multiple projects with several different clients on Data Warehousing projects with primarily Teradata(+ETL) & also ETL tools like Informatica, DataStage.
- Worked in the US as Client-facing manager for 2 years. Bagged multiple enhancement projects during my association here.
- Started my Big Data journey on Hadoop data systems delivering data analytics projects for a digital TV client.
Team Lead
Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd.
03.2007 - 07.2010
- Primarily worked with Accenture on Data Warehousing projects with Teradata ETL as core focus. Worked on several projects including ETL process to load and manage data, migration projects and data gap fixes.
Senior Software Engineer
iGate Global Solutions Ltd.
01.2006 - 02.2007
- Here I continued working on mainframe systems and maintaining the clients loan management systems and delivering statements to customers using AFP.
Software Engineer
Attra Infotech Ltd
09.2005 - 12.2005
- Worked on a migration project of VisionPlus system to one of the new versions and identifying gaps between the two versions and bridging that gap.
Associate Consultant
Kanbay Software Pvt. Ltd
11.2003 - 08.2005
- Worked on Credit Decision Vision Plus module - focus was on optimising the internal cross checks for detecting fraud, obtaining FICO scores, credit card approval process.
Education
Master of Computer Applications - Computer Applications Development
Visveswaraiah Technological University
Bengaluru, India10-2003
Skills
- Data Analytics
- Data Management & Governance
- Data Warehousing
- Technological Roadmaps
- Project Management
- Client/Stakeholders Management
- Snowflake
- Databricks
- Big Data
- Cloud Platforms - Azure, AWS, GCP
Certification
- Databricks Engineer Associate
- Snowpro Core
- Teradata Certified Professional
- Teradata Certified SQL Specialist
Notable Highlights
- Implemented cutting edge AI technological concepts using AI Agents, RAG, CAG, AI Embeddings, Vector Search Indexes and Natural Language Semantics.
- Led a team of 25 resources to source over 45 key systems out of 150+ systems for enterprise data warehouse creation, achieving a 97% operational reconciliation.
- Implemented a critical Pega decisioning system on AWS, enhancing bank's promotions and campaigns efficiency/reach ratio by 45%.
- Built a data analytics platform using Azure Databricks, reducing target system data availability by up to 70%.
- Managed data governance for various platforms including data lineage, access control mechanisms, and policy-based data access.
- Worked on Compliance projects to adhere to Regulatory norms like IFRS9 and BSBS 239.
Other Competencies
- Artificial Intelligence & ML
- DevOps Engineering
- Cloud Platforms
Other Non Primary It Skills
- Apache Spark
- Python
- HBase
- Kerberos
- Elastic Search(ELK)
- Teradata & utilities
- Oracle
- DB2
- Data Modeling Tools - ERWin, ER Studio
- Informatica
- Data Stage
- IBM CDC
- Containerisation - Kubernetes, Docker, Podman
Timeline
Data and Analytics Lead/ Deputy General Manager
HCL Technologies
07.2024 - Current
Delivery Lead / Data Chapter Lead
Standard Chartered Bank(SCB)
08.2016 - 03.2024
Technical Lead
IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
07.2010 - 02.2016
Team Lead
Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd.
03.2007 - 07.2010
Senior Software Engineer
iGate Global Solutions Ltd.
01.2006 - 02.2007
Software Engineer
Attra Infotech Ltd
09.2005 - 12.2005
Associate Consultant
Kanbay Software Pvt. Ltd
11.2003 - 08.2005
Master of Computer Applications - Computer Applications Development
Visveswaraiah Technological University