- Senior Software Engineer and Scrum Master, Tietoevry (Finland)
- Education: Masters of Computer Science, over 20 years of coding experience
Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do. Briefly describe the work that has earned you this nomination in the NWiTA category: Developer of the Year. What inspired you to pursue this field?
In 2002, with support from my teachers, a passion for games, and hands-on learning through short courses in MS-DOS and Windows, I discovered my interest in coding.
During 2003–2007, Computer Science studies in Punjab University college, the digital logic design became my favourite subject and gave me a solid grasp of hardware systems, which naturally led to a passion for data structures and algorithms, and object oriented programming. For me, software development is a mindset which is driven by curiosity, logic, and the joy of building smart systems. Picking up a new software framework was never a hurdle for me, it felt more like learning a new dialect of a language I already spoke. The syntax might shift, the patterns might change, but the essence remains the same, which is coding.
I developed many practical coding projects during my Bachelor's studies and learned many IDEs for coding. Each new framework brought its own rhythm and power, helping me build smarter and faster. That mindset carried me straight from graduation into the classroom, where I began teaching .NET framework in C# for Enterprise Development to graduate students at my alma mater.
I worked in multiple roles for four years in the college which included teaching, conducting research, working as a software engineer and publishing, which was both intensely rewarding and incredibly demanding. Each role fed a different part of my passion.
- Teaching as a lecturer sharpened my communication skills and deepened my understanding,
- Research fuelled my curiosity and innovation,
- Engineering brought ideas to life through real world applications, and
- Publishing helped me share knowledge and build credibility.
I mainly worked in Microsoft-based technology stack.
During 2010–2013, I authored and published various books, blogs, and world class Journal research papers in the field of Software development and Technology.
In 2012, my pursuit of world-class education, meaningful career opportunities, and a high quality of life brought me to Finland’s thriving, innovation-driven tech landscape. I took a four years family break and had two amazing kids. During break, I continued practicing coding and learning from home.
In 2016, I landed a job as Full Stack Software Engineer in Grano Digital, Finland's largest and most prominent printing company, where I worked with one of the finest teams and developed an in-house product – digital asset management solution for a large number of business customers in Finland. The solution helped customers to store all digital assets (image, documents, videos, product data) in one secure, cloud-based location, enabled easy access, smart data organization, and meta-data search, provided full access via web-browsers and mobile devices.
In 2019, I began my journey as a Senior Software Engineer at Tietoevry, one of Finland’s oldest IT firms and a leading tech company in the Nordics. Early on, I worked as a solution consultant on projects for Nordic business clients, with my first assignment involving a Norwegian industrial group in the energy sector. In my role, I led the front-end development of a customer web portal designed to empower energy sector users with a suite of digital tools and services. The solutions I coded, introduced innovation in customer experience, enabled smarter package optimization and boosted customer sales. One of the key features was reliable and real-time energy consumption monitoring, complete with interactive charts and capacity tracking, helping users visualize, understand, and take control of their energy usage.
Later as a consultant, I had the privilege to work in another major Finnish forest industry project which was the blend of nature, technology, and sustainability. My role as a full stack developer in this project was focused primarily on modernizing user interfaces, and migrating platforms from a monolithic to a microservices-based architecture. I contributed and drove innovation by automating and digitalized workflows for user's role-based access, real-time approvals, and event-driven notifications.
Working in Finland’s energy and forestry sectors offered me unique challenges and opportunities at the intersection of innovation and environmental stewardship, helping me develop a deep understanding of sustainable practices.
Currently at Tietoevry from the past 4 years, I have been working in the digital healthcare domain. My first project in healthcare was with a major Finnish healthcare university hospital provider responsible for delivering specialized medical care across the Uusimaa region which is the most populous area in Finland. My roles as a full stack developer included
- develop modern user interface for health-village website,
- implement microservices APIs in cloud-based architecture for health-village mobile app and web solution,
- utilize cloud development skills for automating continuous-integration and continuous-development workflows for the APIs in Microsoft Azure Cloud.
During my work in healthcare, I experienced a powerful realization that has stayed with me: patient lives truly matter, and with timely, accurate insights, clinical outcomes can be transformed and sometimes even reversed. That experience ignited a passion in me to contribute to something greater than just writing code and to be part of reimagining how healthcare is delivered. To gain a deeper understanding in the healthcare industry, I chose to focus on product development in Tietoevry Care for the past two years. I’m now part of the passionate team who is committed to transforming healthcare through collaboration, innovation, and heart. We are building a comprehensive, interoperable, data-driven, and patient-empowerment centric, health and social care software suite.
In my current project, I tackle complex and evolving challenges such as modernizing interconnected and legacy-heavy systems. This work demands a unique blend of skills, combining a deep understanding of clinical workflows with technical expertise. In my current role, I wear multiple hats as a Senior Software Engineer and Scrum Master.
Alongside frontend development, I guide healthcare product teams in applying Scrum effectively, foster cross-functional collaboration, ensure sprint events stay focused on delivering value, and uphold compliance and product quality in a highly regulated environment.
Driven by a continuous learning mindset, I’ve enrolled for my second Masters degree this year in a flexible-hours Master’s program in software product management and business. As a hobby, I’m exploring how AI is reshaping software development from design to maintenance, and have already begun this journey using AI assisted tools like GitHub Copilot.
Here's to shaping the future of care, one innovative solution at a time!
Have you found your work / being in the tech field to be equal and inclusive?
Working in tech in Finland has generally felt equal and inclusive, especially compared to many other countries. The work culture here values collaboration, and there’s a strong emphasis on fairness and respect.
That said, while progress has been made, there are still moments where gender bias has surfaced, especially in leadership roles or technical decision-making due to Finnish language restriction. I've learnt Finnish language but couldn't find time to practice in professional work because IT work is usually in English.
But overall, I’ve found the environment supportive, and there are growing efforts in Finland to promote diversity and inclusion in the industry.
How do you contribute to diversity and inclusion in tech?
I myself keep myself educated and spread awareness about unconscious bias, inclusive language and cultural competence. Truly believe in openness and transparency. Volunteer with organizations that support women, minorities, or youth in tech, one of the organizations I work with is Women in Tech, Finland.
I mentor youth regardless of their gender, and raise topics on social media platforms that highlight promoting fair hiring, accessible design, and diverse team building. I've arranged workshops in the past within my organizations on multiple tech topics and have a plan in future to organize community events focused on inclusion.