No hype. Real signal.
AI-native engineering is the mandate everywhere right now.
Panel discussion
23
Sept 2026
6:30 PM
Radisson Blu, Marathahalli, Bangalore
What does that actually change about how you run your team?
A closed-door panel discussion for engineering leaders in Bangalore. By invitation only.
Request an invite On the panel
Karthik Ramachandra
Director of Engg. & Site Lead, Azure SQL India
Microsoft
Srivatsa Katta
CTO
Rapido
Ranjan Sakalley
Founder at base14; former CIO - Pinelabs & HoE - Vedantu
base14
Moderated by Krishnan, CEO of Geektrust
01
What this is
A closed panel discussion for engineering leaders in Bangalore, CTOs, VPs, and India MDs of GCCs, talking to each other about what's actually happening inside their teams.
Krishnan, CEO of Geektrust, moderates the discussion. It's a room of people solving the same problems, comparing notes.
Krishnan, CEO of Geektrust, moderates the discussion. It's a room of people solving the same problems, comparing notes.
02
Why we're doing this
We work with engineering teams for a living, and the same patterns show up everywhere, the same problems, the same half-solutions, company after company. Most leaders only get to compare notes with their own team, or with the handful of peers they already know well.
As part of our work, engineering leaders often ask us the same thing: how are other companies handling this? So instead of us relaying the answer secondhand, we decided to get everyone in a room instead. Engineering leadership gets stronger when people facing the same decisions can compare notes with each other directly. Ground Truth is us putting that room together.
As part of our work, engineering leaders often ask us the same thing: how are other companies handling this? So instead of us relaying the answer secondhand, we decided to get everyone in a room instead. Engineering leadership gets stronger when people facing the same decisions can compare notes with each other directly. Ground Truth is us putting that room together.
03
This edition's question
"AI-native engineering is the mandate everywhere right now. What does that actually change about how you run your team?"
We'll get into
We'll get into
01.
Writing code is a smaller part of the job now. So what are you actually hiring and promoting for?
02.
What do you expect from a senior engineer today, versus two years ago?
03.
Which processes still hold, and which ones quietly stopped making sense?
Who you'll hear from
Three engineering leaders running very different organisations, on a panel moderated by Krishnan, CEO of Geektrust.
Karthik Ramachandra
Director of Engg. & Site Lead, Azure SQL India
Microsoft
Srivatsa Katta
CTO
Rapido
Ranjan Sakalley
Founder
base14
05
Format
A panel discussion, seated lounge-style. The floor opens up for questions too, keeping it a live conversation throughout.
Dinner and networking follow, giving people room to keep talking one-on-one.
Dinner and networking follow, giving people room to keep talking one-on-one.
06
When and where
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026, 6:30 PM
Radisson Blu, Marathahalli, Bangalore
Radisson Blu, Marathahalli, Bangalore
07
A few things people ask
What is Ground Truth?
Ground Truth is a closed-door discussion series for engineering and technology leaders, hosted by Geektrust. Each edition tackles one real question senior engineering leaders are actually facing — no theory, no vendor slides.
This edition: AI-native engineering is the mandate everywhere right now. What does that actually change about how you run your team? We'll get into what changes in hiring, expectations, and process for engineering teams — not the "future of AI" version of this conversation, the "what do I actually do Monday morning" version.
Karthik Ramachandra (India Site Lead - Azure SQL at Microsoft), Srivatsa Katta (CTO, Rapido) and Ranjan Sakalley (Founder at base14; former CIO - Pinelabs & HoE - Vedantu)
This edition: AI-native engineering is the mandate everywhere right now. What does that actually change about how you run your team? We'll get into what changes in hiring, expectations, and process for engineering teams — not the "future of AI" version of this conversation, the "what do I actually do Monday morning" version.
Karthik Ramachandra (India Site Lead - Azure SQL at Microsoft), Srivatsa Katta (CTO, Rapido) and Ranjan Sakalley (Founder at base14; former CIO - Pinelabs & HoE - Vedantu)
Who is Geektrust?
Geektrust is an 11-year-old assessment and hiring platform, based out of Bangalore, founded by technologists from Thoughtworks and ESPN.
We've worked with 750+ companies — scale-ups like Zomato and Scripbox, and enterprises like Target and Siemens.
The problem we solve: engineering teams spend a lot of time in interviews that go nowhere. 90% of candidates your team interviews won't clear your bar. That's a phenomenal waste of senior engineering time.
We fix that by replicating your first-round tech interview using AI — we build custom AI agents that clone how your best interviewer actually evaluates, and hand you a detailed report. Only candidates who clear that AI first round ever get to meet your team. Right now, 1 in 3 candidates who reach that stage moves to an offer.
We've worked with 750+ companies — scale-ups like Zomato and Scripbox, and enterprises like Target and Siemens.
The problem we solve: engineering teams spend a lot of time in interviews that go nowhere. 90% of candidates your team interviews won't clear your bar. That's a phenomenal waste of senior engineering time.
We fix that by replicating your first-round tech interview using AI — we build custom AI agents that clone how your best interviewer actually evaluates, and hand you a detailed report. Only candidates who clear that AI first round ever get to meet your team. Right now, 1 in 3 candidates who reach that stage moves to an offer.
Who else is coming?
A mix of CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and India MDs from GCCs and product companies, roughly 50 to 75 people. We're keeping it small on purpose. You'll be in a room of peers dealing with the same decisions you are.
Senior engineering leaders from GCCs and product companies such as Service Now, Amadeus, Target, Microsoft, Akamai, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Goldman Sachs, Victoria Secret, NatWest have confirmed participation.
Senior engineering leaders from GCCs and product companies such as Service Now, Amadeus, Target, Microsoft, Akamai, British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Goldman Sachs, Victoria Secret, NatWest have confirmed participation.
Is there a cost to attend?
No. This is hosted by Geektrust, no charge to attend.
Can I bring someone from my team?
This edition is capped and invite only, so we're not able to accommodate plus ones or additional colleagues right now. If that changes for a future edition, we'll let you know.
What if I can't make it, can someone else from my company attend in my place?
Reach out to us directly if this comes up. Invites are tied to the individual, so check with us before assuming a substitution works.
Got questions
Reach us at events@geektrust.in