How Anu Gali optimizes for growth

Anu Gali leads Uber’s Data Analytics Infrastructure and Platform Engineering team. Her career spans startups and large companies where she has steered projects in data, machine learning, web, e-commerce and mobile technologies. She has been named a Woman of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and Data Leader of the Year by the Women in IT Awards. She’s a strong believer in empowering women to follow their passions, grow their careers and make an impact in Engineering.

What’s your role at Uber?

“I lead a global team of Software and Data Engineers who build and run Uber’s data analytics infrastructure, security and compliance, and global data warehouse. We provide a scalable, resilient, secure, efficient and highly performant data platform and infrastructure for all of Uber’s business intelligence, analytics and machine learning applications.”

What excites you about the work you do?

“We support infrastructure and platforms that stream 3 trillion messages per day from 100M+ devices worldwide, 100M queries on our real-time analytics platforms, and 2M queries on our batch analytics platforms. Operating at this scale with 99.99% reliability has unique challenges that motivate us to innovate and optimize our platforms.

It’s also very important to me that I am able to make a wider impact across the company by driving inclusion, and Uber provides me the platform to follow my passions and make a difference. I co-chair the Women in Tech Employee Resource Group, driving many initiatives like our presence at technology conferences, defining our Engineering competencies, as well as supporting mentorship, sponsorship, and allyship to drive growth across the company.”

What has your career journey looked like? 

“My Engineering career spans 20 years across companies in multiple domains. I have always optimized for learning and development. A key change for me was moving into people management and evolving as a leader. I had to shift mindsets from being a great Engineer myself to building and growing people to be great Engineers themselves. I strive to build highly inclusive, innovative and performance-driven teams.”

What are the top 5 skills for success on your team?

“I believe that with a growth mindset and hard work, anything is possible. I look for people who have a passion for learning, aren’t afraid to try new things and fail fast, have strong grit and resilience, and most of all are team players. I strongly believe that’s how we go faster, farther, together.”

How do you enable your team to continue growing and developing?

“My main focus as a leader is on creating and reinforcing a culture of inclusion and empowering individuals who are continuously stretching and expanding their knowledge. I encourage my team not to be afraid to fail and the freedom to share their perspectives irrespective of hierarchy. I know everyone on a personal level, their aspirations and motivations, so I can effectively help them and provide resources needed to grow, even if it means moving to a different role on or outside my team.”

What would you tell someone interested in joining your team?

“The vision of our organization is to move the world with global data, local insights and intelligent decisions and our mission is to unlock data-driven business decisions across Uber by democratizing fast, efficient, and reliable data products. For anyone passionate about working on data challenges at scale, we’ll provide the opportunity to succeed with impactful experiences that will make your skills valuable in the information economy.”