In the Indo-American community, who doesn’t know Padmasree Warrior? Well at least in the silicon valley, her name is synonymous with womanpower.
For those who are from a different generation or my not be familiar, let’s give a brief introduction.
Padmasree Warrior is the Founder, President and CEO of Fable, a mobile-first company that brings stories for everyone, anywhere. Previously, Padma was the Chief Executive Officer of NIO U.S., Chief Development Officer and Board Member of NIO Inc., a manufacturer of smart, electric and autonomous vehicles. In this role she scaled the company from start-up to a successful IPO NYSE:NIO in 3 years.
Padmasree Warrior has been widely recognized for her creative, visionary leadership. Forbes has named her one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for three years running. In 2013, The International Alliance for Women gave her the World of Difference Award. In 2012, Business Insider called her one of the “25 Most Influential Women in Wireless”. The Wall Street Journal has called her one of “50 Women to Watch.” Fast Company included her among the “100 Most Creative People in Business.” The Economic Times listed her as “the 11th Most Influential Global Indian.”
Originally from south India, after graduating from IIT Delhi, she came to the US for her masters at Cornell. Padma has been a member of Microsoft’s board of directors since December 2015. She is also a board member at Spotify .She was a member of the Gap Inc. board from 2013 to 2016[23] and the Box board from 2014 to 2016.
Apart from numerous commercial accolades and those from ASEI, she was recognized by National Association of Asian American Professionals NAAAP with a Lifetime achievement award NAAAP100 in 2021
In our Engineering Tales Episode 7 last week, Padma spoke with ASEI members and complemented us on continuing to inspire the next generation of technologists amongst the indo-american diaspora. She thanked ASEI for her 2013 Engineer of the Year award. Then she shared pertinent learnings from her career especially embracing change:
“Throughout my career, I have journeyed as an engineer to a technology executive to a CEO, not only changing roles along the way, but also industries—from Motorola to Cisco to Nio, and now Fable.”
As she has embraced change herself along the way, she also observed an evolution of how people learn and interact with one another, which inspired her to think about how we 1) apply technology to bring humanity back to each of us, and 2) make mental wellness through reading a priority.
She further shared the inspiration behind her current venture, as the founder and CEO of Fable – a social reading app platform. She also added that Indian-American Titans of Industry—like Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo—curating book recommendations which you can find on Fable.
She invites all ASEI members to read along with her in her own club, or join one of the many other free clubs you can find in the Fable app.
Additionally, she mentioned that they have amazing Career Development Book Clubs, which are designed to help you get to the next professional level, and are reimbursable through your company. In these clubs, you’ll study must-read books, get coaching from world-renowned leaders and authors, and connect with like-minded professionals, all on your schedule. You can learn more about these clubs at fable.co/career-development
In closing, Padma left us with her top 3 pieces of advice to young students or budding engineers and the importance of building networks through organizations like ASEI:
Invest in upskilling and reskilling yourself – (eg making career coaching available through our Career Dev clubs)
- Seek new opportunities – don’t wait for the perfect job to land in your lap
- Growth mindset – be curious and expand your areas of expertise
We are thankful for Padmasree Warrior in continuing to be a friend of ASEI as much as being a role model for not only all women of color but all Asian American Professionals.
Join Padma in your reading journey with her featured club on Fable for free to learn about her career journey as well as leadership tips.
