Tech Unheard Jayshree Ullal: On People-Centered Leadership
Nov 20, 2025
Jayshree Ullal, President and CEO of Arista Networks, has had a remarkable journey from engineering roles at Fairchild and AMD to leading a major networking company. She delves into her early programming experiences and the challenges of integrating acquisitions at Cisco. Ullal reveals insights into her decision to join Arista when it was a small team, focusing on niche markets and innovative growth. She also discusses the significant implications of AI on infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and resilience in leadership.
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From London To Delhi: Early Formation
- Jayshree Ullal grew up in London then New Delhi and attended an all-girls Catholic school that shaped her secular upbringing.
- Her early school choice funneled her toward science because she excelled at math and physics, leading her eventual path to engineering.
Punch Cards And Early Programming
- Jayshree recalls programming on Z80 and x86 and using Fortran batch cards during university.
- She remembers the pain of dropping punch cards and having to reprogram everything by hand.
From Fairchild To AMD: Early Career Moves
- Her first job was at Fairchild Semiconductor doing product engineering on 4K SRAMs using bipolar ECL technology.
- She later joined AMD, transitioning into product planning and networking chips like FDDI.