Ishan Khurana

Engineering Leader - 12+ years

CTO/Co-founder - Stealth Mode startup · Stealth Mode startup

12+ years New mentor LeadershipLeadership & PeopleTechProduct Management

About the Mentor

I’m a software engineer and technical leader with around 12 years of experience building and scaling products. I started my career at IndiaMART, spent about 5 years at Intel, and the last 6 years at 6sense, working across backend engineering, architecture and technical leadership.

I’ve worked both as an IC and as a technical lead, managed and mentored teams, and built products from the ground up. In recent years, I’ve also been working extensively with AI/LLMs, including RAG, text-to-SQL, LLM-powered applications and multi-agent systems.

Outside of my regular engineering roles, I’ve mentored students and early-career professionals and enjoy helping people think through technical and career problems. I also recently took a shot at building a startup independently, taking a product from idea to MVP and beta with 100+ users. It didn’t ultimately make it to public launch, but the experience taught me a lot about product validation, talking to users and making difficult product decisions.

Core Industry Expertise

Software Engineering & Application Development

Developing and optimising software applications using Python, Flask, PHP, and related technologies

Enterprise Analytics & Business Intelligence

Building enterprise reporting solutions, KPI dashboards, OLAP models, and analytics platforms using Power BI, SSAS, MSSQL, and DAX.

Database Systems & Data Engineering

Experience with MSSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, MySQL, Redis, and ETL process automation.

Backend Systems & Architecture

Developing backend services, distributed application components, and scalable infrastructure solutions

Automation & Intelligent Applications

Working with Python-based automation, PowerShell, SSIS, text clustering, and recommender-system prototypes.

Technical Leadership & Team Development

Leading development teams, managing Agile delivery, mentoring junior engineers, participating in technical hiring, and driving continuous optimisation.

Mentorship Focus Areas

Software Engineering & Career Development:

Building technical capabilities, navigating software engineering roles, and planning career progression.

Backend Development & System Design

Understanding backend technologies, application architecture, scalability, and system design principles.

AI, LLMs & Emerging Technologies

Exploring RAG, text-to-SQL, LLM-powered applications, and multi-agent systems.

Data Engineering & Enterprise Analytics

Working with databases, data platforms, business intelligence, and analytics solutions.

Technical Leadership & Team Management

Developing leadership skills, mentoring engineers, and managing technical teams.

Product Development & Startup Journey

Understanding product ideation, MVP development, product validation, user feedback, and early-stage decision-making.

Problem-Solving & Technical Interviews

Strengthening analytical thinking, approaching technical challenges, and preparing for engineering interviews

Specializations

LeadershipLeadership & PeopleTechProduct ManagementData & AIData ScienceCareerBusiness & ConsultingEntrepreneurshipStartupsResume & Interview PrepCareer SwitchingWork-Life BalanceBusinessEntrepreneurshipStartupsLeadership & General ManagementEntrepreneurship & StartupsSoftware EngineeringBackendMachine Learning