Sai finds himself someway at the intersection of technology and social change in the bubbling tech hub of Bangalore, channeling his love for learning into concrete impact. His path, however, lied somewhere about finally becoming a product manager at Rocket Learning. It was a curious blend of very different life experiences and a profound desire to make a difference.
We caught up with Sai this month and asked him about his consequentially adventurous life, being exceptionally prolific in every aspect; not only about that but also his work at Rocket Learning and how that was rewriting early childhood education across India.
Q:Tell us about your upbringing and how you got that transition at Rocket Learning.
I am from Chennai, and my journey at Rocket Learning has taken an unconventional path.
It started with my engineering degree; I realized that I really wanted to work on things that would have a real, lasting and significant impact on people’s lives. So, I kind of went very deep into the social impact sector. I started doing internships with organizations and NGOs-like startups and in places like the Centre for Policy Research and the Lok Sabha. These things helped me open my eyes and really discover how policies are made and implemented. I got more and more driven toward creating good positive change. So, eventually I joined a fellowship at the Piramal Foundation, where I worked on somany parts of ECE (Early Childhood Education) and everything, and that’s when I came to know Rocket Learning-where education and technology converge to give the young learner its deserved leverage against the coming adversaries. It became a spot for applying my passion for social impact.
Q: What was your transition from a policy intern to joining the product team like?
Making the jump from policy to product management was a big shift! My background in social impact gave me strong critical thinking and analytical skills, which helped a lot when I moved into the product team. At Rocket Learning, I got to explore the world of product development, learning new technical skills and collaborating with a team that’s as passionate about making a difference as I am.
Q: How was the experience of launching a new product at Rocket Learning?
Launching a product at Rocket Learning was a truly eye-opening experience. While I wasn’t directly involved in launching our Anganwadi Worker Upskilling product, I played a key role in the research phase. We did interviews and had conversations with Anganwadi workers, and learned a lot about their lives. These women worsened under the impact of the new set of rules and WhatsApp groups, which caused them to be overwhelmed. In light of this, we changed our strategy in that we created more local and personalized networks in order to make our activities more manageable and more interesting.
Q: What distinguishes Rocket Learning in serving low-income communities?
What really sets Rocket Learning apart is how we focus on the unique needs of the communities we serve.For example, we initially had a giraffe mascot, but when we tested it with children from rural areas, they thought it was a goat! So, we switched to Apu the elephant, which had 100% recall with kids. This was just one example of how deeply we listen to our users and adapt based on their feedback to create a truly engaging experience.
Q: Can you share some key learnings from the field that led to rapid product iterations?
Being on the ground is incredibly valuable, and it’s where I’ve learned the most. We don’t just rely on big tests with thousands of users; we spend time in the communities, talking directly to the parents and teachers. For example, we once discovered that parents weren’t clicking on the links we sent via WhatsApp. It wasn’t until I visited the field that I realized they were hesitant because the links didn’t have thumbnails. Once we added eye-catching thumbnails to the links, engagement skyrocketed. We also realized that parents have limited data and storage on their phones, so we now keep our videos and audio files under 5MB to make sure they’re accessible to everyone.
Q: What’s a typical day like for you in your role?
Every day is different! In my role, I oversee user acquisition and activation, and that changes dramatically during the day from guiding the onboarding process to analyzing the data on how users engage with the product and working across the company with all of our teams to make our product just the way it has to be. It’s always something new but that’s what makes the role so thrilling for me!
Q: Any advice you want to give to budding product managers, especially in the context of the ‘social-impact’ domain?
The biggest advice I can give is to be in and around the community that you want to serve. It’s very important for you to hang out with the people whom you are building for. Otherwise, you get stuck within your bubble and you lose touch with what they actually need. One of my favorite things to do is visit the field, even if it’s been years; every such trip brings me something new to absorb. Besides the pace of change, especially in India, accessing the user changes in behavior within the communities we work was that of excellent changes. What worked this year won’t work next year because user behavior is changing rapidly there, so one has to stay connected and be adaptable.
Q: What does the future of Rocket Learning look like for you within five years?
I see Rocket Learning hitting the leading edge of early childhood education using technology and venturing to create new possibilities for all those communities that have been underserved. We are focusing on conquering education divides within India; we even have much more that we have already mapped down to train Anganwadi workers all across the country by 2030 and to reach out to 50 million children. An exciting journey is coming up, and I am looking forward to how our minds —such as AI-driven solutions- will be transformed in terms of better education.