About

About Vishnu

Coach, mentor and technology leader

I bring more than 36 years of experience across IT delivery, technology, data and analytics, and people leadership. I have worked across India, Singapore and the US, including my own startup journey, and most recently as Director - Consulting at Microsoft in the Data and AI COE.

My work is known for coaching talent, mentorship, building teams and helping people find practical next steps when their career feels stuck or unclear.

Most technical experts and founders want to move up the ladder, and are then left to figure it out alone. I focus on the exact gap between technical expertise and executive presence — the transition from strong individual contributor to strategic, high-impact leader, which is where most careers stall.

Highlights

  • Gold Club Winner at Microsoft
  • Leadership Award - Coach at Microsoft, twice in a row
  • Worked in Data and Analytics from 2002
  • Led large teams of 150+ people
  • Career coaching
  • Leadership development
  • Mentorship
  • People management
  • Data and AI consulting
  • Startup advisory
Vishnudas Prabhu Kunjibettu

Career Timeline

36+ years across IT delivery and leadership.

  1. 2026 - Present

    Advisor · OpenSource DB

    Advising the organization and individual contributors toward meaningful, lasting success.

  2. 2026 - Present

    Founder · withvishnu.in

    Started coaching and advising professionals and startups directly, sharing both the wins and the failures behind 36+ years in technology leadership.

  3. 2024 - 2026

    Director - Consulting, Data & AI COE · Microsoft

    Presented to CIOs on portfolio and capability, and coached the team to a 90+ Workgroup Health Index score — among the highest in the peer group.

  4. 2016 - 2024

    Technical Delivery Manager, Data & AI · Microsoft

    Led consulting teams delivering Azure, IoT, Mobility, Data and AI projects, and drove global initiatives in technical capability, reverse mentoring and people engagement.

  5. 2014 - 2016

    Senior Service Engineering Manager · Microsoft

    Owned a suite of OEM commerce applications end-to-end, leading Build/Deploy/Release for Agile releases with minimum issues post-release.

  6. 2012 - 2013

    Director · Consulting Startup

    Co-founded a strategic consulting venture in M2M solutions for hospitals, oil and gas, security and agriculture — my own startup journey.

  7. 2009 - 2012

    Global Infrastructure - India Lead · Monsanto

    Built a centrally managed, globally aligned infrastructure organization from the ground up, growing the India team from 14 to 100 people in two years.

  8. 2002 - 2008

    Program Manager / COE Leader · GE

    Led Business Intelligence programs across Finance, Supply Chain and CRM, then headed the COEs for Oracle Apps, Siebel and SAP — my first experience building and coaching high-performing teams.