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From Software Engineer to AI Engineer – with Janvi Kalra

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May 28, 2025

Guest

Janvi Kalra

Janvi Kalra, an AI Engineer at OpenAI with a rich background including roles at Google and Microsoft, shares her journey from software engineering to AI. She discusses the crucial skills needed to thrive in AI, her framework for evaluating AI startups, and how to approach tech internships effectively. Janvi highlights the importance of hands-on projects and hackathons in her self-learning path. She also emphasizes the role of safety in AI engineering and how OpenAI navigates the challenges of rapid technological advancements.

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Episode notes

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ADVICE

Criteria for Startup Selection

Look for startups with high revenue growth, large markets, loyal customers, and clear competitive advantages.
These factors indicate startups that will likely grow during your tenure.

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ADVICE

Do Due Diligence on Startups

Perform due diligence on startups by researching revenue, customers, and competition.
Talk to real users or clients to assess product loyalty and viability.

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ANECDOTE

Persistence Leads to AI Team Spot

Janvi asked to join Coda's new AI team and was initially rejected.
She self-studied AI fundamentals and built projects, eventually earning a spot on the team.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Navigating Competitive Internships in Tech

02:33 • 2min

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Transformative Insights on Coding Interviews and Tech Internships

04:18 • 5min

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Navigating Tech Careers: Insights from Internships to Startups

08:54 • 12min

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Journey from Software to AI Engineering

20:57 • 14min

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Navigating the Shift to AI Engineering

35:05 • 4min

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Navigating the AI Job Landscape

39:12 • 10min

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Evolving Engineering in the AI Era

49:02 • 20min

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The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

Naval Ravikant

Eric Jorgenson

Tim Ferriss

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a compilation of Naval's thoughts on fundamental principles for happiness, wealth creation, decision-making, and personal growth. The book distills his insights from the last ten years into practical advice, guiding readers on how to walk their own unique path toward a happier, wealthier life. It emphasizes the importance of compound interest, leveraging resources, and productizing oneself. The book also delves into key aspects of life, including relationships, health, and purpose, offering a holistic approach to wealth and happiness.

Software architecture

Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline

David Garlan

Mary Shaw

This book provides a comprehensive overview of software architecture, discussing its importance, design principles, and the methodologies involved. It is one of the first books to address software architecture as a distinct discipline and offers insights into the challenges and opportunities in this field.

Cracking the PM Interview

How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology

Gayle Laakmann McDowell

This book provides valuable insights, strategies, and practical tips to help candidates navigate the product management interview process. It covers various aspects such as the variation of the 'PM' role across companies, necessary experiences, how to translate existing experience, and how to master different types of interview questions including estimation, behavioral, case, product, technical questions, and the 'pitch'. The book is designed to help candidates prepare effectively for product management interviews in startups and larger tech companies.

Supported by Our Partners

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What does it take to land a job as an AI Engineer—and thrive in the role?

In this episode of Pragmatic Engineer, I’m joined by Janvi Kalra, currently an AI Engineer at OpenAI. Janvi shares how she broke into tech with internships at top companies, landed a full-time software engineering role at Coda, and later taught herself the skills to move into AI Engineering: by things like building projects in her free time, joining hackathons, and ultimately proving herself and earning a spot on Coda’s first AI Engineering team.

In our conversation, we dive into the world of AI Engineering and discuss three types of AI companies, how to assess them based on profitability and growth, and practical advice for landing your dream job in the field.

We also discuss the following:

• How Janvi landed internships at Google and Microsoft, and her tips for interview prepping

• A framework for evaluating AI startups

• An overview of what an AI Engineer does

• A mini curriculum for self-learning AI: practical tools that worked for Janvi

• The Coda project that impressed CEO Shishir Mehrotra and sparked Coda Brain

• Janvi’s role at OpenAI and how the safety team shapes responsible AI

• How OpenAI blends startup speed with big tech scale

• Why AI Engineers must be ready to scrap their work and start over

• Why today’s engineers need to be product-minded, design-aware, full-stack, and focused on driving business outcomes

• And much more!

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Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:31) How Janvi got her internships at Google and Microsoft

(03:35) How Janvi prepared for her coding interviews

(07:11) Janvi’s experience interning at Google

(08:59) What Janvi worked on at Microsoft

(11:35) Why Janvi chose to work for a startup after college

(15:00) How Janvi picked Coda

(16:58) Janvi’s criteria for picking a startup now

(18:20) How Janvi evaluates ‘customer obsession’

(19:12) Fast—an example of the downside of not doing due diligence

(21:38) How Janvi made the jump to Coda’s AI team

(25:48) What an AI Engineer does

(27:30) How Janvi developed her AI Engineering skills through hackathons

(30:34) Janvi’s favorite AI project at Coda: Workspace Q&A

(37:40) Learnings from interviewing at 46 companies

(40:44) Why Janvi decided to get experience working for a model company

(43:17) Questions Janvi asks to determine growth and profitability

(45:28) How Janvi got an offer at OpenAI, and an overview of the interview process

(49:08) What Janvi does at OpenAI

(51:01) What makes OpenAI unique

(52:30) The shipping process at OpenAI

(55:41) Surprising learnings from AI Engineering

(57:50) How AI might impact new graduates

(1:02:19) The impact of AI tools on coding—what is changing, and what remains the same

(1:07:51) Rapid fire round

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The Pragmatic Engineer deepdives relevant for this episode:

•⁠ AI Engineering in the real world

•⁠ The AI Engineering stack

•⁠ Building, launching, and scaling ChatGPT Images

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See the transcript and other references from the episode at ⁠⁠https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/podcast⁠⁠

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