Latest news with #TejpaulBhatia
Business Insider
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
These 5 tech execs successfully made career pivots
Five tech executives share how they made career pivots and the advice they would give to others. Axiom's CEO advised leveraging transferrable skills while others recommended leaning into discomfort. Some executives also advised collecting information before making a change. Making a career pivot can be intimidating since it usually requires stepping into unfamiliar territory. Despite the challenge, career transitions are top of mind for many Americans. A Glassdoor community survey from earlier this year found that 50% of professionals were planning to pivot in 2025, and 32% were considering it. We spoke to five executives at tech companies, including Google and Salesforce. All of them made at least one pivot on the way to becoming a tech leader, and some have made multiple career changes over the years. Here's how they transformed their careers, and the advice they would give to others: Axiom CEO Tejpaul Bhatia Before leading a private space company, Axiom CEO Tejpaul Bhatia had a "whole other chapter" to his life. Bhatia started his career in product and international strategy at ESPN, then worked as a startup founder for 10 years, and eventually went on to lead Google's external strategic narrative on remote work for the office of the CIO. Bhatia said that he wrongly assumed the space industry was for rocket scientists or billionaires. He was neither of those things, but he had transferrable skills. He said that if you want to pursue a career in space from another industry, "don't assume there isn't a role for you. That's exactly what I did in my head." Bhatia said the biggest transferable skill he brought from Big Tech to space was entrepreneurship. He said you don't necessarily have to launch your own startup. It's more about having the ability to navigate uncertainty and solve problems independently. Google Cloud exec Yasmeen Ahmad Google Cloud's Yasmeen Ahmad started her career in genomics and life sciences. She said the biggest challenge she experienced in her career was accepting the unknown. "As humans, I think we struggle sometimes with the unknown," the product and GTM executive at Google Cloud said, adding that she wondered where she would work after getting a Ph.D in life sciences. She said she always felt slightly out of place wherever she was because she didn't follow a traditional path into Big Tech. Looking back, though, she said she learned to enjoy the journey and being the "odd person in a new space." "It's helped me maybe have a bigger or a broader perspective on thinking through a strategic lens, thinking through the product lens, thinking through the customer lens," Ahmad said. By starting in academia and taking on roles in sales and finance prior to coming to Google, she said she was able to get a unique perspective. Ahmad said she now encourages those in the technology space to explore across industries by using those skills to unlock value. Google VP Mira Lane Google vice president of Tech and Society Mira Lane started her career as a software developer and went on to create an AI prototyping lab that explores the impact of tech innovation on society. Now she runs a team of professionals with backgrounds in filmmaking, product design, visual arts, philosophy, and science. "For people that are wanting to pivot, I would pivot with information," the vice president of Tech and Society and founder of Google's Envisioning Studio told Business Insider. That includes talking to other people in the industry, watching YouTube videos, and trying out internships, Lane said. Cisco EVP Liz Centoni Liz Centoni thought she would be at Cisco for three years max when she joined in 2000. Now she's tried about a dozen roles at the company. Centoni told Business Insider that she recommends job seekers lean into their network to find out more about what others do and broaden their view on the job market. "Take advantage of the network that you have around," Centoni said. "People who can connect you with different things, open up opportunities, mentors, sponsors." Centoni also suggests being open-minded with the search. She said the ability to be flexible and curious gave her more opportunities in her career and eventually allowed her to explore executive leadership. The Cisco executive also warns job seekers to brace for discomfort when trying out new roles. As someone who has juggled with a desire to learn new things and be confident in her work, she admitted that even after several months in a new position, she questioned her decision and felt more like an intern than an experienced professional. While uncomfortable at first, Centoni said those roles allowed her to keep learning, and her biggest career regret was not pivoting sooner. Salesforce EVP Patrick Stokes Patrick Stokes has been with Salesforce for over a decade — but he's had a number of roles during that time. The executive vice president of product and industries marketing told Business Insider he feels uncomfortable when he's not learning. When deciding on a career change, though, Stokes said he finds that often people "think too narrowly" about switching roles. For example, they may only want to change roles if they feel like they're moving up on the organization chart. "It's really hard to find that sometimes," Stokes said. Stokes said he likes to play chess, and there's a concept in the game called a "gambit," where you make what appears to be a bad move, but it's actually designed to get a reaction from an opponent. Stokes said that's how he likes to think about his career changes — seemingly risky in the moment, but strategic long term. "When I first went into marketing, a lot of my peers in product were like, 'Why are you going to marketing?' And I'm like, 'Just wait. It'll be fine. I'm gonna be great,'" Stokes said.
Economic Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Axiom Space expands partnership with India for future human spaceflights and space station development
Synopsis Axiom Space, having facilitated Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's ISS journey, aims to strengthen its Indian partnership through further human spaceflights and its space station program. CEO Tejpaul Bhatia emphasizes India's growing prominence in the global space sector, highlighting collaborative opportunities between US, India, NASA, ISRO, and Axiom. Agencies US-based Axiom Space, which recently sent Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to space as part of its Axiom-4 mission, plans to deepen its partnership with India, in human spaceflights and its space station programme, said its chief executive Tejpaul Bhatia. Speaking to ET's Kiran Rathee, Bhatia underlined India's growing importance in the global space ecosystem underscored by several endeavours in the past few years, including missions to the moon and the sun. Axiom is the first private company to develop a commercial space station, slated to start initial operations by 2027. Edited excerpts from an interview: What was the significance of the Axiom-4 mission? The mission has a lot of significance for Axiom, for the world, and for India. We are now the only company to have done any commercial astronauts' missions to the ISS (International Space Station). For India, Poland and Hungary, it's their first astronauts to the ISS. With the second astronaut ever and India as pilot, it is a very big signal to the world of India's space power position. Through the tieups between US, India, Nasa, Isro, and Axiom, we have created a new era of collaboration that has brought together multiple capabilities and opened up space for everyone. So, it's a kind of outsourcing wherein Isro has given the job to Axiom to send its astronaut to space? Correct, it would be no different in my opinion like Isro utilising Skyroot (Indian space startup for space launch services) to send cargo or payloads to space. Do you have more missions planned with Isro or the Indian government? The intention and the desire are much more than the Axiom-4 mission. I expect to see significant missions coming up in the future, from more human spaceflights to our space station programme, and to the spacesuit that Axiom is building. (Nasa's astronauts will use an Axiom spacesuit for the Artemis lunar mission). I think India has a very big responsibility now on the world stage to be a leader in the new space economy. Could we look forward to more human spaceflights in future with Indian astronauts? Yes. Axiom is also providing services to any private astronaut who wants to go to space. How does it work? With this opening up of access to space through Axiom, a private individual could also do this. Thcommitment here is no different than a nation or a professional astronaut, which is, eight months to a year of rigorous training. You can't just go to the ISS for fun. You have to know what you're doing, be very well prepared, very well-trained and certified to go up. So, anyone from India, with the means, could also do this. How much do you charge for sending an astronaut to ISS? I can't speak specifics of any particular contract but in general, a pilot seat is $70 million, and mission specialist seats are $65 million each. Every deal we do with every nation is different and many times, the relationships are much larger than just that one mission or flight. You have started work on the next mission. Have you finalised the astronauts? My team at any given point now is selling three years in advance. The future, thankfully to India, is very bright for all nations to have an opportunity to be up there. You are already booked for the next three missions. Do those missions have any Indian connection? I can't speak of the nature of the contract. Our relationship with India is extremely powerful and valuable. These government relationships for Axiom, particularly the one with India, is much larger than any one mission. In those future missions, there are some Indian connections, that's about the most I could possibly say there. But how these manifest over the next several years, I think, will also mirror what happens on the geopolitical stage for space. Many people are speaking of India as the fourth space superpower and they have proven it now over the last several years between the missions to the moon, the launches, the goals for station and mission to the sun but also with an Indian astronaut to the ISS. It's very much the time for India's leadership on the global stage. When will the Axiom space station be completed or attached to the ISS? For the attachment, we are targeting 2027 for the first module, to connect, and then about a module every year. The plan is that we disconnect and become an independent station well before ISS plans to deorbit (in 2031). What will be the station's capacity? The plan for the first five modules includes two habitats, so eight people living and working and it is designed to be modular and expandable.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
What next for Shukla, Ax-4 crew & Axiom Space
Photo/Agencies With over 20 days and more than 60 experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew, including Shubhanshu Shukla , which returned to Earth Tuesday, will enter a week-long rehabilitation programme. The crew, which has completed initial medical evaluations, will go through the extensive rehab programme, following which mission debriefs and other procedures will unfold. According to sources from Axiom Space , upon completion of the seven days, the crew is expected to get a week's break before the debriefing commences. Meanwhile, the more than 580 pounds of scientific samples and hardware from the 60+ scientific experiments covering life sciences, materials research, Earth observation, and technology demonstrations from 31 countries, will now be returned to respective agencies. Principal investigators of the experiments, including studies on microgravity, suit fabrics, muscle stimulation, micro‑algae systems, and environmental psychology, will analyse the samples and data in the coming weeks . Scientific publications are expected to take more time. Beyond science, the crew engaged in more than 20 outreach events, interacting with students, officials, and researchers worldwide. 'The Ax-4 mission is a powerful demonstration of what's possible through commercial space. By enabling astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary to carry out scientific research aboard the space station, we are supporting these nations in their contributions to human spaceflight . This mission reflects Axiom's vision of a thriving low-Earth orbit economy, where access to space is no longer limited to a few, but extends to all who seek to explore, discover, and innovate,' Axiom Space CEO Tejpaul Bhatia, said. Reiterating that for each of these countries, Ax-4 signalled a return to human spaceflight after over 40 years, Axiom Space said: 'It was also the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary conducted a mission on the ISS.' With Ax‑4 completed, Axiom Space's attention shifts to the Axiom-5 mission, currently targeted for no earlier than May 2026 — a 14‑to‑21‑day ISS mission that will carry a new crew.
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Axiom Space partners with Indian private company Skyroot for space exploration
On a historic day when the Axiom-4 mission, piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, lifted off from the US Wednesday, Axiom Space and India's Skyroot Aerospace inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on collaboration in furthering space exploration The Axiom-4 mission is a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). This is the first Indian company Axiom Space has partnered with. The MoU — signed by Tejpaul Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Axiom Space, and Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace — will explore opportunities to improve access to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). 'Enabling greater and equitable access to space, be it for research institutes, startups, or national agencies, is the guiding mantra at Skyroot. The partnership with Axiom Space builds an opportunity to explore integrated launch and orbital solutions that will shape humanity's future in space,' said Chandana. 'With our shared vision to transform access to space, we look forward to collaborating with Skyroot to serve the growing space ecosystem in India and globally,' Axiom CEO Bhatia said. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Axiom said it was planning to utilise Skyroot's capabilities for research payloads and orbital data centre nodes, among others. In 2022, Skyroot became the first Indian private company to successfully launch a sub-orbital class rocket (Vikram-S). Skyroot has developed the commercial rocket, Vikram, and is currently planning the launch of its orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1. This is a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) – a rocket category with lift-off mass up to 500 kg. Axiom has, so far, launched three commercial space missions and is one of the key partners with Nasa on expanding space exploration.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Axiom partners with India's skyroot to boost access to low-earth orbit
On the day its Ax-4 mission put India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla in space, Houston-based Axiom Space announced a partnership with Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace to jointly expand access to low-Earth orbit. Axiom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Skyroot, opening the door for deeper collaboration between the two private space firms. The agreement, signed by Axiom CEO Tejpaul Bhatia and Skyroot CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana will explore integrated launch and in-orbit solutions. 'This collaboration is rooted in our shared commitment to transform humanity's presence in space. Since my visit to Skyroot's facility two years ago, I've believed our companies were destined to work together. As Axiom builds the world's first commercial space station, partners like Skyroot will play a key role in serving not just the Indian space ecosystem, but global markets,' Bhatia said. Skyroot Aerospace is gearing up to debut its first orbital-class launch vehicle, Vikram-1. The company, which in 2022 launched the suborbital Vikram-S, has emerged as an important player in India's rapidly growing private space sector and was the first to sign a partnership agreement with Isro. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cuối cùng, chơi miễn phí game chiến thuật hay nhất 2025! Sea of Conquest Phát ngay Undo 'At Skyroot, our mission is to make space accessible, affordable and reliable. As we near the maiden orbital launch of Vikram-1, this partnership with Axiom Space allows us to explore integrated launch and in-orbit solutions, which will define the next era of space exploration and commercialisation,' Chandana said. Axiom Space, headquartered in Houston, is building Axiom Station — planned to be the world's first commercial space station. The company's latest crewed mission, Ax-4, features astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary and the US. The partnership outlines potential areas of cooperation including the launch of research payloads, orbital data centre modules, and future missions to Axiom Station. Both companies say they are excited to jointly serve India's burgeoning space industry and expand opportunities globally. It also signals deepening ties between US and Indian private space players, as the sector shifts towards a commercial, multipolar future in LEO and beyond
