I've been at Scale AI for 4 years now—the longest I've been at any job or school. During this time, I've grown more than I ever imagined—professionally, personally, and everything in between.
It's impossible to sum it all up, but here are 4 lessons that stand out.
Step Function Change Is Real
Over the past four years, the company's business has gone through significant shifts—from Autonomous Vehicle to e-Commerce Catalog to Generative AI. It's wild to think that at each stage, the majority of revenue came from a completely different product line. Each phase felt like a sprint while we were in it, and we pivoted often. But in hindsight, they were all leading up to something bigger—our own "ChatGPT moment."
I've experienced several promotions and role changes too—each one pushing me in new ways. Just like the company, my growth came in waves: slow build-up, then a leap.
Big changes—whether personal or company-wide—often come all at once.
Scale went through a significant change recently, a surprise to everyone. It felt sudden, but in hindsight, everything led up to this point. The intensity of the work, the pivots, the late nights—it all built toward a moment like this.
You can't always predict what's coming. So just keep doing the best work and eventually, it adds up.
Hard Work Has No Replacement
Before Scale, I didn't know what it meant to work this hard. Long hours, tight deadlines, high stakes—it wasn't easy. But those were the moments I grew the most.
Looking back, there are no real shortcuts. Sometimes the smartest and only thing you can do is show up and grind through it. Day after day. Week after week. That consistency is what compounds into growth.
Grit is underrated. Grit got me out of many dark moments, and grit gifted me the most long term growth and perspective that will benefit me for the rest of my career.
Zoom Out to the Business
As a data professional, I'm trained to dive deep: investigate a trend, analyze a drop, prove a causal relationship. But when you're in the weeds too long, it's easy to forget what we are really solving for.
Zooming out means understanding the company's strategy: What are we prioritizing - growth or margin? Revenue or bookings? New customers or retention? These aren't just finance questions—they shape the impact of our work.
I've learned to pay attention to top-line. A metric can look good in isolation, but if it's not aligned with how the company wins, it might be a distraction. The best work happens when the data helps clarify trade-offs—not just outcomes.
Some of the most valuable meetings I've been in weren't about dashboards—they were about alignment. Why are we doing this? What bets are we making? How do we measure success?
The clearer you are on the business strategy, the better decisions you can make. And that's where analytics has real leverage.
Have Principles
Startups move fast. Roles change. Teams grow. I became a people manager at Scale. And as a manager, I've seen good decisions, bad decisions, and some that I won’t understand until much later. I start to notice how people operate, and you learn from what resonates—and what doesn’t.
Becoming a manager means being responsible for the well-being of others. Managers are not just executing, but setting the tone. And that means choosing what kind of manager you want to be.
In those moments—when decisions are hard, priorities are messy, or under pressure—principles are what guide me. With principle, I can lead with clarity.
Some of mine are simple:
己所不欲 勿施于人 (Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire)
Treat others the way you want to be treated
Assume best intentions
These aren’t just nice ideas—they’ve helped me navigate real conflicts and make tough calls. When you act from principle, work feels more like myself. And the team feels it too.
This journey has been long—and I'm grateful. Grateful for the people, the challenges, and the chance to keep learning. Looking forward to what's next.