Data to Passion

Raghav Sukumar is a Vice President at State Street leading the Product Management in EMEA for AlphaSM Data Services which is State Street’s ‘Data as a Service’ (DaaS) offering for institutional investors. He is responsible for solution architecture, managing product roadmap and providing consultancy for EMEA client implementations. Prior to joining State Street he consulted for the Financial Conduct Authority to implement their Market Data Platform for MiFID II regulation, and provided subject matter expertise to deliver data management and regulatory reporting solutions for a FTSE100 bank and large insurance firms.

Raghav holds a Master’s degree in Management from University of Wales, Swansea and a Bachelor’s degree in Information Science and Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University.

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Transcript

Hadley: [00:00:00] Welcome to the show Raghav. 

[00:00:03] Raghav: [00:00:03] Thanks for having me, Hadley. It's a pleasure, always pleasure to talk to you.

[00:00:05] Hadley: [00:00:05] So Raghav, as you know, you know, this is a show we want to focus on the trait of curiosity, uh, and, and the impact that it has had on your life and career as a data professional within that wider ecosystem.

[00:00:22] Raghav, imagine this right, we're sitting around a campfire starry night, me and you beer in hand. And you're about to take me on a journey through the life of Raghav. Where do we start? Go back to the beginning. Where were you born? Do you have siblings? Um, what was your early life like? 

[00:00:43] Raghav: [00:00:43] Yeah, Hadley. Uh, I was born in India in Bangalore.

[00:00:47] Um, uh, I have one sibling, an elder brother, uh, about six years older than me, uh, which kind of helps, uh, especially, uh, if one has a curious mind, the elder one is always doing something that you haven't seen before are a bit more advanced and so on. And so, uh, for me, I think w 

[00:01:05] Hadley: [00:01:05] w if you don't mind me asking, where is he now?

[00:01:08] Raghav: [00:01:08] My brother is now in Texas. Okay. Um, so he moved, um, probably three, four years ago. Um, but, um, but he's, uh, he's been, uh, quite a, uh, uh, an influence during my early ages. Uh, I would say. Hadley: Hmm, cool. And what does he do? Raghav: So he's, um, he's a computer engineer as well. Uh, so he's, uh, he's been within the software industry for a long time.

[00:01:33] And, um, when I was growing up, probably, you know, when I was seven or eight, it was, uh, he was, uh, clued up in computers that kind of, uh, played, uh, quite an important role. Um, my. My parents were entrepreneurs. So there was a computer at home, uh, basically back in, you know, uh, late eighties or early nineties, I would say,

[00:01:54] Hadley: [00:01:54] And did you get exposure to computers and how they work or what does he do exactly within computers now?

[00:02:03] Raghav: [00:02:03] Uh, no, he's, uh, he works for Dell. Uh he's um, he's leading a program management across a lot of the products globally. 

[00:02:11] Hadley: [00:02:11] That's fantastic. So, so back then he was already keen and kind of curious to see how these things work and taking it apart. 

[00:02:18] Raghav: [00:02:18] He was. He was, yes. And, uh, while he was, you know, uh, learning more about computers and, you know, um, he, he actually assembled the computer, our computer at home.

[00:02:29] And, uh, me, it was all for me, uh, you know, watching him do it and, uh, learning, uh, by, by seeing actually, uh, that's how I picked up things. And, uh, when he wasn't around, uh, I would open it up just to see and then put it back again. Um, but then it, 

[00:02:46] Hadley: [00:02:46] did he ever notice? Raghav: Uh, no, no, but then yeah, 

[00:02:51] Raghav: [00:02:51] the next step was, um, when, you know, uh, you know, obviously games were a big part computer games and, uh, back in the day, uh, you had, uh, floppy disks and, uh, used to go

[00:03:04] pick up one of the floppy disk, go to a friend's place, copy it. And then come back. And that's where kind of, for me in production of, you know, a command prompt and, you know, copy, command, simple commands to copy the game and then eventually, uh, to get the game and play them. So, uh, that's where I started, uh, you know, actually interaction with the, with the PC.

[00:03:22] Hadley: [00:03:22] And how old were you roundabout then? 

[00:03:26] Raghav: [00:03:26] I would say about eight years. 

[00:03:27] Hadley: [00:03:27] Oh, wow. So really early on, and this is you still in primary school getting phenomenal insight into, into, you know, what was then still very early days for computers, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Cool. And do you, would you say that this had a big impact on, on where you kind of went from there?

[00:03:47] Raghav: [00:03:47] I would say so, uh, I think, uh, to me, curiosity has a, a few facets, I would say, um, one is, uh, you know, uh, there's an exploration part to it, which kind of, you know, gives you, um, you know, there's a, there's an element of mental stimulation and, um, It, it kind of pushes you to the areas where you don't know and try to seek and fill that, uh, knowledge gap or information gap before if I were to put it that way.

[00:04:16] So, um, and anything that was new beat computers in, in this instance, it was something unknown to me. And what, what we could do with it. Um, and, uh, watching either my father work on it or my brother, uh, you know, learning something on it.

[00:04:32] Hadley: [00:04:32] So, so, so just a second. So your father was actually into computers as well?

[00:04:36] Raghav: [00:04:36] No. Well, when I say into computers, because he was running a business, so whether it was to do with, um, you know, moving from typewriters to computers or letters. 

[00:04:46] Hadley: [00:04:46] So in his case, it was the use of computers to run his business.               Raghav: Correct. Hadley: Okay. Okay. Okay, cool. Perfect. So, so, okay. So, so now we've got an eight year old Raghav, right?

[00:04:58] And an eight year old Raghav, with his brother on the one side, you know, taking these things apart and looking at what's on the inside of them. Um, and on the other, you have your dad entrepreneur create, you know, using software packages. I would imagine to run his business. And, and take me now kind of from an eight year old Raghav that has had this exposure and kind of now through out, you know, maybe high school heading towards university, what, what, what was that journey like?

[00:05:25] Raghav: [00:05:25] Yeah, but by the time I was in high school, you know, um, my, uh, brother was finishing college and, you know, we had this computer magazine subscriptions and CDs that are a new thing. Uh, I think that the PC, the other, for the first one we had didn’t have CD drives back then. Um, but we used to have the CD’s, so the first, uh, production was buying the CD drive and then opening it up.

[00:05:47] But there was, you know, installing it and then the next part was, uh, oh, we need more content, but we didn't have a CD writer. So, uh, eventually I started opening it up now, unplugging cables, uh, you know, borrowing, uh, CD writers from, you know, friends or people who had it and then putting it on our machine to install, softwares, et cetera.

[00:06:08] Uh, and then, um, No, that's that's, uh, that was pretty much, uh, high school to me. So evolving with the, uh, with the technology and computers. 

[00:06:19] Hadley: [00:06:19] Okay, perfect. And how do you think that experience then shaped what you kind of did at uni? 

[00:06:26] Raghav: [00:06:26] So, uh, this, this is, this was the foundation. So, um, you know, for me, uh, uni, I, uh, I was very much leaning towards the computer science.

[00:06:36] Um, but, um, there was, uh, another, uh, subject area. I would call information science and engineering. So instead of going, uh, into core computer science, I picked, uh, information science where there were a few modules on database housing, et cetera. So, um, That really pushed me, I would say the first step into the data world without actually knowing, you know, 10, 15 years down the line data was, you know, it would be a huge explosion and, you know, I would very well be part of the ethos.

[00:07:09] Hadley: [00:07:09] Okay. And why did you choose that over the engineering route again? 

[00:07:14] Raghav: [00:07:14] as I said, I mean, computer science, uh, you know, has been as a, as a subject or a degree was, uh, was there for a while. And I knew a lot of people were going down that road again, this element of, oh, this is new. It is related to computers, but there's something, or on top of that, Which not other people, uh, you know, are taking up.

[00:07:36] So that, that, that, that exploration again is, uh, is what pushed me into, um, into information science. 

[00:07:43] Hadley: [00:07:43] And do you think then that's kind of multifaceted, it was both the newness of it, but also the fact that it would then differentiate you from a lot of the people going down, the kind of computer science route.

[00:07:58] Raghav: Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. Hadley: Okay. Okay, perfect. So now, now we got uni Raghav. Yeah. And uni Raghav is not starting is, is, is, is differentiated course down this new path. What was the course? Like what was the experience like? And, and, you know, you you'd obviously be learning. Uh, different layers to what you know, but you will also be learning completely new things.

[00:08:22] How did that university experience impact you? Not just from the studies itself, but the people that you met, the professors, the students, you know, how did uni life and, and in the context of your course impact you at a later date? 

[00:08:38] Raghav: [00:08:38] Yeah, so, uh, for me, uni life is, uh, it's two parts. Uh, I did my graduation in Bangalore with the engineering degree and my second part was doing a master's here in the UK.

[00:08:50] Um, and, um, I chose completely, you know, Uh, very different subjects again, uh, only because I didn't, I didn't want to go, uh, you know, specialise in a particular area within what I had, uh, you know, uh, gone through with information science and engineering. Uh, to me once I kind of, uh, was exposed to a lot of, you know, operating systems, databases, structures, C programming, uh, I knew there was something more to

[00:09:22] technology. And, um, I've always been a people's person curious about, um, you know, how people react at times, uh, emotions and why, why somebody reacted that way when it wasn't a necessity. Right. And, um, that kind of pushed me into, uh, you know, uh, wanting to know more about, you know, um, people and management.

[00:09:45] Uh, so th th so this is why I picked a management degree to, um, as my post-graduation. 

[00:09:51] Hadley: [00:09:51] Gotcha. So before we get to the post-grads, so before we get to the, the, the masters, right, just up to the end of the course, what, what did that kind of look like? What did that thinking process look like? Um, for you.

[00:10:04] Choosing your post-grad and, and also choosing the UK. 

[00:10:08] Raghav: [00:10:08] So, uh, towards the end of it, um, towards the end of sharing, you know, uh, the last part is the, uh, the project. Uh, I, uh, did a project with the ministry of defence, um, in India. Hadley: Cool. Raghav: That was my project. Uh, we got an opportunity to work on, uh, the communication between transponder and the receiver was a nice.

[00:10:33] Yeah. So part of, uh, the project was, you know, without giving out too many details. Not that I can remember. 

[00:10:41] Hadley: [00:10:41] Yeah. You might just have a SWAT team come through your window any minute now. Uh, 

[00:10:47] Raghav: [00:10:47] so yeah, it was, it was working on a prototype and a mock radar and, you know, passing, you know, uh, information and data that has the location of a particular aircraft.

[00:11:00] What's the height and, you know, altitude and [indistinct] and all sorts of, uh, terminologies that I wasn't exposed before. It's kind of, you know, going into the library and understanding what that actually meant before you actually start analysing or coding it. Um, so yeah.

[00:11:15] Hadley: [00:11:15] Excellent. And was this your kind of first real foray into real world usage and, and working with data?

[00:11:23] Raghav: [00:11:23] Yeah, that, that, that was indeed my first one. Yeah. 

[00:11:26] Hadley: [00:11:26] What was your part, man? So, what did you actually do?

[00:11:29] Raghav: [00:11:29] So our part was, um, to the, uh, you know, uh, as part of the data communication, uh, you have to move the data from, uh, let's say a point a to point B, um, With, uh, you know, collecting information, uh, about, uh, the actual positioning, right?

[00:11:48] So you would have various parameters 

[00:11:50] Hadley: [00:11:50] of the airplane itself, 

[00:11:51] Raghav: [00:11:51] I guess. Yeah. So that, that would actually, uh, you know, uh, point a would actually give you the location and all the parameters and then pushing it back into a point B 

[00:12:03] Hadley: [00:12:03] at that point, it wasn't yet streaming technology. Was it kind of beacons? Or communication, uh, at certain intervals and then it would pick up.

[00:12:11] You know, communicated at one point and then point B communicate, point C communicate. 

[00:12:18] Raghav: [00:12:18] Yeah. So this was a, this was fairly, uh, you know, big project. Right. And we were a very, very, very small part of it.

[00:12:24] Hadley: [00:12:24] Still cool to be a part of it. 

[00:12:26] Raghav: [00:12:26] Right. Yeah. And we, weren't a part of the interfacing or the electronic side of things, but more to do with, uh, you know, uh, the, the software side, um, you know, moving the data, uh, from, uh, From the transponder on to the local, uh, um, setup

[00:12:42] Hadley: [00:12:42] in order for it to be analysed essentially.

[00:12:47] Raghav: Correct. Hadley: Okay, cool. And when you say we, this was the kind of team of students from your university? 

[00:12:53] Raghav: [00:12:53] Yeah. W so four of us, uh, from, uh, who were batchmates, uh, we, uh, decided to get in there. 

[00:13:01] Hadley: [00:13:01] Fantastic. And what was the selection criteria like? So how did you get in? 

[00:13:08] Raghav: [00:13:08] Oh, So, uh, w uh, how, how did we get in, uh, obviously every year, um, you know, uh, they do open up for students for, um, having this, you know, full month, uh, project experience and, um, Oh, we applied for it.

[00:13:25] We had to go through all sorts of security clearance, uh, you know, uh, so that, you know, you get your ID card and, uh, the campus was itself so huge. You had to, you know, parked outside and walk about two miles to get to the actual building. 

[00:13:41] Hadley: [00:13:41] So you got your exercise. 

[00:13:44] Raghav: [00:13:44] Oh yeah. Yeah. Going in and out was two miles. Yeah. 

[00:13:47] Hadley: [00:13:47] And that lasted for four months.

[00:13:48] You say. Raghav: Yeah, yeah. Hadley: Towards the end of your project, uh, or rather towards the, towards the end of your course? 

[00:13:56] Raghav: [00:13:56] it was towards the end of my course. Yeah, that's right.

[00:13:59] Hadley: [00:13:59] Okay. When did you decide what you want to do and how did you come to choose the UK? 

[00:14:07] Raghav: [00:14:07] I actually started while I was still, uh, while I was in my final year of engineering, uh, in my fourth year.

[00:14:15] Um, so I was, uh, my options were, uh, you know, us, uh, and UK. Um, so I was, while I was in my final year and doing this project, uh, I was taking, you know, uh, certifications for sitting the exam for TOEFL GRE because there were different criteria for an applying to various universities for us and UK. One of the decision points for me to pick UK over us was, um, uh, getting the degree in one year as opposed to two.

[00:14:47] Uh, and on top of that, I got a part scholarship, um, as well.

[00:14:51] Hadley: [00:14:51] So where in the UK did you go to?

[00:14:53] Raghav: [00:14:53] I went to university of Wales. 

[00:14:56] Hadley: [00:14:56] So you go from Bangalore, big city to Swansea. Right? How long, how long did that take between, uh, kind off finishing your university degree in Bangalore and starting your post-grad in Swansea?

[00:15:10] Raghav: [00:15:10] Uh, uh, I think it was about a year. I think I would say a year. Um, between, between the two. 

[00:15:17] Hadley: [00:15:17] Okay. So you had some time.

[00:15:18] Raghav: [00:15:18] I did have some time, although I started thinking about it, um, while, uh, you know, doing my engineering, uh, I kicked the process off quite early.

[00:15:29] Hadley: [00:15:29] Yeah. Okay. What would you say is kind of some of the most important things to consider when choosing that career?

[00:15:37] Or rather when choosing your degree, the course that you want to do, 

[00:15:42] Raghav: [00:15:42] I think the most, uh, important bits are, uh, I think, uh, the interest, uh, I think one, if you have interest or are passionate about a particular subject, I think, uh, that is more important than anything I would say. Um, because if you think about it, uh, It may not be necessarily that you may, uh, you would work in the same area or field, but generally at that point in life, um, I think that would be where you would see yourself saying, I want to study this.

[00:16:16] I want to do that. Whether it happens or not. I think at that point in time, the plan is. Is there. So I think, uh, if you follow that, I think, uh, one would have a bit more structured and, uh, apart into at least a vision into the, you know, the next few steps in the career. 

[00:16:35] Hadley: [00:16:35] Gotcha. So basically what you're saying is, you know what,

[00:16:37] at least do something that will make you want to get up in the morning and work at it. Uh, but that might not be where you end up. It simply means that for the next N number of years,...