Distinguished Engineer Series: Himanshu Gahlot, VP Engineering, Data and Intelligence

Himanshu Gahlot, a VP Engineering at Apollo.io, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the tech domain. Currently overseeing data and machine learning initiatives, he leads a globally distributed team of 100+ individuals across various verticals. Most importantly, he’s also my boss, so I wanted to highlight his career through this new Distinguished Engineer series, so prospective Apollyons (not a word anyone else uses don’t worry) could understand the level of talent they’d be working with at Apollo. 

With a master's degree in Computational Data Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and an undergraduate degree from MNNIT, Himanshu's academic background aligns seamlessly with his career trajectory. Before his role at Apollo.io, Himanshu co-founded Storepath, an eCommerce growth platform acquired by Thrasio. As Chief Technology Officer, he drove the development of AI-powered tools, an on-demand marketplace, and innovative products, reshaping how eCommerce brands engage with freelancers. In his stint as the Director of Engineering at BloomTech, Himanshu implemented strategic initiatives that significantly impacted student admissions and learning. His focus on scaling up engineering teams and optimizing processes resulted in notable growth metrics.

Before that came the meat and potatoes of his career, his nearly 7 years at Amazon. He personally started and built out the Data Science platform at Amazon Music, then moved to running the entire Data & ML Platform. Leading a team responsible for processing billions of events daily, he played a crucial role in Amazon Music's data infrastructure, machine learning experimentation, and workflow orchestration. This would be a success he’d go on to repeat at Apollo! 

When Himanshu joined Apollo, we were a small company, maybe around 40 engineers. He took ownership of our fledgling Data team, and expanded it into an impressive org that currently boasts over 100 talented engineers across Machine Learning, Data Platform, Search & Discovery. Creating such a strong Something from Nothing was such a significant learning experience for me, and he’s created such a strong org that anyone would be lucky to join. 

Personally, Himanshu has been instrumental to my personal growth and success. He’s been my manager for over a year now, he leads with both empathy and excellence. His Career Growth Plans he writes for me are legendary and must take him hours, it’s inspired me into spending much more time on my engineer’s CGPs. He’s so plugged into the latest tech trends and sends my entire team relevant new articles and developments in the space constantly. He’s a real mentor with strong ownership who cares so much about everyone in his department, and is the type of leader that everyone should aspire to be.

If you’re still reading this, I hope you’re getting excited about the talent you’d be working with if you joined Apollo.io!

Hope to see you coming to join us and build great things soon!