Saumya Dasari, Senior Software Engineer at ANZ, brings more than two decades of professional experience across software development, banking technology, sustainability, insurance, and enterprise technology. Her journey reflects the power of continuous learning, adaptability, and the courage to evolve beyond familiar roles. In this special Navratri episode of The Koffee Conversation Show – Stree Shakti, Saumya shares how her understanding of technology has grown from writing code and solving technical problems to understanding business priorities, managing risks, building stakeholder relationships, and leading teams through challenging situations. Her story is not just about a career in technology; it is about discovering one’s strengths, navigating transitions, and finding the courage to embrace the next chapter.

Saumya’s early career was shaped by her passion for problem-solving and root-cause analysis. One particularly challenging assignment required her to resolve a performance issue after a senior team member moved to another team, leaving her to investigate the problem independently. Finding the solution strengthened her confidence and helped her recognise her capabilities as an engineer. Another defining moment came when she returned to work after a two-year career break following the birth of her son. Rebuilding her technical confidence while balancing motherhood and professional responsibilities was not easy, but the support of her parents, husband, and family helped her move forward. Later, her experience in banking technology taught her that adopting the latest technology is not always the primary objective. In highly regulated environments, reliability, compliance, cost, risk, and business requirements often determine the right technological choices.

Over the years, Saumya has learned that successful technology delivery extends far beyond writing good code. Her experience improving release management through automation helped reduce deployment issues and improve team efficiency. She has also contributed to initiatives that delivered measurable business outcomes, including savings of more than AUD 300,000 through legacy-system decommissioning and accelerating delivery by 50%. For Saumya, these experiences reinforced the importance of looking beyond technical deliverables to understand the value created for the business. Her leadership philosophy evolved when she was entrusted with turning around an underperforming team. Instead of attempting to solve every problem herself, she listened to stakeholders, understood the team’s challenges, clarified business priorities, and allocated work realistically. This experience taught her that leadership does not begin with a title; it begins when someone takes responsibility, collaborates, and helps others move forward.

Beyond her technical achievements, Saumya is passionate about simplifying complex technology concepts, building professional relationships, and encouraging women to recognise their own capabilities. She believes technical expertise must be complemented by business understanding, genuine networking, and personal branding. Her advice is particularly relevant to professionals who hesitate to speak about their achievements or believe that career breaks diminish their potential. Through her volunteering with Smileys India and the Thunder inclusive dance festival, she discovered how dance could bring happiness to children with disabilities and children from underprivileged backgrounds. These experiences strengthened her appreciation for the small things people often overlook. Grounded by gratitude, spirituality, family support, and her love of dance and singing, Saumya reminds us that career growth is not always about climbing the next rung. Sometimes, it begins with pausing, reflecting, and asking whether the path we are following is truly the one we want. The next chapter begins when we find the courage to explore who we can become.

Key Highlights of the Koffee Conversation with Saumya Dasari

• Finding Confidence Through Problem-Solving: How an early technical challenge helped Saumya discover her strength in root-cause analysis.
• Returning After a Career Break: Her experience rebuilding professional confidence after two years away from work following motherhood.
• The Power of a Support System: How her parents and husband encouraged her through professional challenges and self-doubt.
• Technology Must Serve Business Needs: Why reliability, compliance, risk, and business priorities can matter more than adopting the latest technology.
• Learning Across Business Domains: How experience in sustainability, insurance, banking, and enterprise technology strengthened her adaptability.
• Measuring Technology by Business Impact: Why technical delivery should be evaluated by tangible outcomes, not simply completed tasks.
• Creating Value Through System Improvements: Her experience contributing to savings of more than AUD 300,000 through legacy-system decommissioning and accelerating delivery by 50%.
• Automation That Makes Work Better: How improving deployment processes reduced manual errors, stakeholder escalations, and operational inefficiencies.
• Root-Cause Analysis Over Temporary Fixes: Why understanding the underlying problem builds lasting solutions and stakeholder trust.
• Leadership Without a Title: How turning around an underperforming team changed her understanding of leadership and personal capability.
• Bridging Business and Technology: Why listening, transparent communication, realistic prioritisation, and understanding team capacity are essential to successful delivery.
• AI and the Importance of Fundamentals: Why technology professionals should understand core concepts and remain aware of AI developments rather than follow trends blindly.
• Personal Branding and Genuine Networking: Why professionals should build their identity beyond job titles and nurture relationships by contributing value.
• Dance as a Force for Inclusion: How volunteering at the Thunder inclusive dance festival combined Saumya’s love of dance with a cause supporting children with disabilities and underprivileged children.
• The Courage to Embrace the Next Chapter: Her message to women professionals to reflect on their ambitions, practise gratitude, trust their support systems, and remain open to new possibilities.

▶️ Watch the full episode on YouTube on The Koffee Conversation Show – The Stree Shakti Series and discover Saumya Dasari’s journey beyond software development, exploring technology leadership, business impact, career transitions, motherhood, and the courage to embrace the next chapter.

🎧 Listen to the complete podcast on Spotify: The Koffee Conversation Show – The Stree Shakti Series and explore Saumya’s perspectives on technology and AI, leadership without titles, automation, professional branding, genuine networking, inclusive volunteering, and finding the confidence to evolve at every stage of life.