Portrait of Sai Kiran

Sai Kiran Chalamalasetti

From customer service to Generative AI: the journey behind RIVISOR.

Hello, I'm Sai Kiran.

My journey has taken me through customer service, industrial automation, entrepreneurship, software engineering, enterprise technology and Generative AI.

Let me show you how these experiences shaped the way I understand businesses, solve problems and approach technology.

Scroll to explore my journey

01 After B.Tech

Where my journey began

Understanding people and solving practical problems.

Before I became a software engineer, I learned something important: every problem starts with a person who needs a solution.

My early experiences taught me to listen, understand the issue, and work toward a practical answer.

What happened

  • About a year as a service engineer at Sony Electronics: visiting customers' homes, hearing their complaints, diagnosing the problem, explaining likely causes and repairing Sony televisions on site.
  • Then a data entry operator at VSoft Consulting on a cheque-processing project.

What it taught meCustomer interaction, problem diagnosis, operational processes and clear communication.

02 M.Tech, Mechatronics

Engineering and industrial automation

Understanding how real businesses operate.

During my engineering journey, I stepped into the world of manufacturing.

I began seeing how procurement, storage, assembly and quality processes connect to keep an industrial operation moving.

That experience would later help me understand business requirements that go far beyond the software itself.

What happened

  • Cleared the entrance examination for M.Tech in Mechatronics, and served as class representative.
  • Project work at Mahindra & Mahindra's Zaheerabad plant: line automation for the Mahindra Jeeto engine assembly unit.
  • Exposure to assembly lines, procurement, storage operations and quality assurance.

What it taught meHow procurement, storage, assembly and quality connect inside one operation.

03 After M.Tech

My first business and my first major lesson

Entrepreneurship, responsibility and learning from setbacks.

After my M.Tech, I decided to build something of my own.

I started an industrial automation company and worked on real projects, including one in pharmaceutical production.

The business eventually did not work out, and I had to close it.

It was a difficult chapter, but it became part of my experience of what building a business actually involves.

What happened

  • Founded Sri Devi Industrial Automation Solutions in Hyderabad.
  • Handled two projects, one of them a pharmaceutical production line covering bottling, labelling and packaging.
  • The business did not succeed and was closed.

What it taught meWhat it takes to carry a business, and its projects, yourself.

04 Selwyn Technologies · Dec 2015 – Aug 2017

An unexpected entry into software engineering

A new opportunity and a new direction.

My software career began in an unexpected way.

After closing my business, I was looking for a job when a conversation during a journey home led to an opportunity at Selwyn Technologies.

I joined as a Junior Developer, but I was also involved in project decisions and client interactions.

That experience introduced me to software delivery while keeping me close to the business problems clients wanted to solve.

What happened

  • Offered a job at Selwyn Technologies after a chance conversation on a journey home.
  • Joined as a Junior Developer, involved in project decisions.
  • Worked with more than 30 clients over roughly two years.
  • The company later faced financial difficulties and its director asked employees to look for other opportunities.

What it taught meSoftware delivery, kept close to the business problem behind each client.

05 Innovapptive · Sep – Nov 2017

Connecting industrial knowledge with software

Domain knowledge and engineering execution are different challenges.

At Innovapptive, I returned to the industrial domain, this time through software.

My earlier exposure to manufacturing and storage helped me understand the business workflows behind the application.

I also realised that understanding a business process and meeting the execution demands of a software engineering role are different challenges.

That experience helped me recognise the importance of strengthening my hands-on engineering capabilities.

What happened

  • Worked on an application for storing and retrieving goods from storage areas using handheld scanner guns.
  • Earlier exposure to manufacturing, procurement and storage helped with the operational workflows.
  • Struggled to match the coding pace the company expected; the role was not the right fit and ended after about three months.

What it taught meBusiness understanding must be paired with strong hands-on engineering.

06 IBM India · Dec 2017 – May 2019

Becoming a stronger software engineer at IBM

Hands-on engineering and digital transformation.

At IBM, I made a deliberate shift toward strengthening my software engineering skills.

I worked on an insurance application, focused on coding, and learned how technology was changing the insurance industry.

This chapter helped me build a stronger engineering foundation while continuing to expand my understanding of business domains.

What happened

  • About a year on an insurance project, concentrating on coding while learning the domain.
  • Exposure to digital transformation in the insurance industry.
  • The engagement ended when the team was downsized.

What it taught meA stronger engineering foundation, and a growing range of business domains.

07 Publicis Sapient · Jun 2019 – Nov 2021

Enterprise security and global logistics

Building applications for different industries and users.

My work at Publicis Sapient introduced me to two different enterprise challenges.

One involved security-focused software in a financial-services environment. The other involved adapting a logistics application to serve users across languages and regions.

Both reinforced the importance of understanding the users, the business context, and the requirements beyond the interface itself.

What happened

  • Frontend developer on a Goldman Sachs project: a network-scanning solution aimed at identifying or helping eliminate threats such as phishing, insider trading and employee-security concerns. I was part of the team; I did not own the whole system.
  • The team completed the project and handed it to the client after about a year and a half.
  • Then a UPS application enhancement supporting Arabic-speaking users: internationalisation so users could track packages and interact with UPS in Arabic.

What it taught meInternationalisation, logistics workflows, and how much context sits behind an interface.

08 Intellect Design Arena · Nov 2021 – Mar 2022

Entering technical leadership

Financial technology and greater responsibility.

My next opportunity took me into financial technology.

I joined Intellect Design Arena as a Team Lead on a project involving international transactions and transaction tracing.

Although organisational changes brought that chapter to an early end, my career was continuing to move toward broader technical and delivery responsibilities.

What happened

  • Joined as a Team Lead on an international transaction project covering SWIFT codes, transaction tracing and transaction history.
  • The company faced financial difficulties, new projects were put on hold and downsizing ended the engagement.

What it taught meA first step into team-level responsibility, in financial technology.

09 Hitachi Digital Services · from Apr 2022

Nissan: business understanding meets engineering leadership

Building from scratch and working with international stakeholders.

At Nissan, several parts of my journey came together.

My earlier understanding of manufacturing, procurement and operational processes helped me understand the business challenges behind the project.

We built a procurement automation solution from scratch, working with international stakeholders and navigating changing requirements.

This was a defining stage in my career because I was connecting domain knowledge, software delivery and technical leadership.

What happened

  • Joined the Nissan engagement at Hitachi Digital Services as a Lead Engineer.
  • The project automated procurement, quotation and approval workflows that were slow and lacked traceability, and was built from scratch.
  • Worked with stakeholders from the UK, US, Japan, Mexico and Australia, including a client visit to Japan.
  • The second phase was delivered with what I reported as 100% client satisfaction.
  • Later, Nissan's merger and demerger activity and funding issues slowed the project until it halted. After about two successful years I moved to another project.

What it taught meDomain knowledge, delivery and leadership working together.

10 Hitachi Digital Services

Leading a team of 34

From individual engineering to broader delivery responsibility.

My responsibilities expanded beyond the implementation itself.

I was leading a team of 34 people while handling client discussions, requirements, presentations, approvals and changing expectations.

That experience strengthened my understanding of what it takes to coordinate people, technology and business priorities toward a shared objective.

What happened

  • After the Nissan engagement, moved to another project.
  • Responsibilities: business requirements, documentation, leading a team of 34, client calls, presentations, approvals and managing requirement changes.

What it taught meCoordinating people, technology and business priorities toward one objective.

11 Penske · today

Penske: entering the GenAI era

Conversational AI for enterprise operations.

Today, I'm working at the intersection of enterprise software and Generative AI.

At Penske, I'm leading a project that takes a chatbot beyond simple scripted interactions.

The vision is to let users ask questions about orders, vehicles, freight values, locations and other operational information, and receive relevant answers through a conversational experience.

For me, this is a continuation of the same journey: understanding business problems and exploring how technology can make the answers more accessible.

What happened

  • Serving as a lead on a project developing a more capable conversational assistant called Genie.
  • Users can ask about operational information such as previous orders, vehicles, freight values and locations.
  • The goal is to make business information easier to reach through natural language. The visuals here use no real company data.

What it taught meThe same question as always: how can technology make the answer easier to reach?

12 Alongside my primary role

Consulting beyond my primary role

Client relationships and entrepreneurial initiative.

Alongside my enterprise work, I continued exploring the business side of technology.

Through consulting engagements with GVS India, I worked with clients and helped bring new project opportunities into the company.

This strengthened my interest in building client relationships, identifying opportunities, and connecting business needs with technology solutions.

What happened

  • Freelance consulting for a friend's company, GVS India.
  • Helped secure more than four clients and brought projects to the company as a freelance consultant.

What it taught meClient relationships, spotting opportunities and connecting needs to technology.

13 The next chapter

RIVISOR India LLP

Bringing experience together to build something meaningful.

RIVISOR emblem
  • RI Rise
  • VI Vision
  • SO Solution
  • R Result

Every stage of my journey has given me a different perspective.

I've worked with customers, seen industrial operations, built software, learned from entrepreneurial challenges, collaborated with international stakeholders, led teams and explored the possibilities of Generative AI.

Now, I'm bringing those experiences together through RIVISOR India LLP.

My goal is to help businesses make informed technology decisions, explore meaningful AI opportunities, and build practical solutions around the problems that matter most.

Because meaningful transformation starts with understanding the problem, and finding the right way forward.

What happened

  • RIVISOR India LLP focuses on technology consulting, AI solutions and business transformation.
  • The ambition: help businesses understand their challenges, identify meaningful opportunities and turn ideas into practical technology solutions.

What it taught meMy experience is the foundation. RIVISOR is where I intend to put it to work.

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  • Technology consulting

    Technical direction and practical decisions.

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  • AI and GenAI opportunities

    Where conversational and AI tools could genuinely help.

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  • Business transformation

    Understanding the problem before choosing the fix.

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  • Startup and product collaboration

    From idea to a product that works.

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Prefer email? hello@rivisor.com

Portrait of Sai Kiran

Thanks for following the journey. If you have a challenge in mind, I'd be glad to hear about it.