Early Internet Pioneer to Product & Tech Leadership at Imperial College London with Kavita Kapoor

Kavita Kapoor joins On the Pulse to share her non-linear journey from building one of the earliest web pages in the mid-’90s and working in Silicon Valley to leading product and technology across organizations including the BBC, Channel 4, Just Eat, micro:bit, and now Imperial College London. She discusses early experiences with bro culture and being told how to dress, the persistence that landed her a life-changing role at London 2012, and how securing a product manager title helped propel her into senior leadership. Kavita reflects on developing an authentic, compassionate leadership style, the challenges of fundraising as a female founder, and choosing values-driven work in higher education. She explains adapting product models to university governance, prioritizing cybersecurity, and her view of LLMs versus “true” AI, ending with advice on growth mindset, mentors, and continually challenging yourself.00:00 Life Changing Call00:50 Meet Kavita Kapoor02:47 First Computers Spark03:50 First Website Era04:42 Seeing Internet Future06:05 Silicon Valley Reality07:22 Bro Culture Lessons09:56 BBC Early Product Work11:56 Breaking Into Olympics15:07 Becoming Product Leader16:26 Leadership Growing Pains20:28 Finding Authentic Style22:42 Comfort In C Suite23:01 Microbit Global Scale24:16 Side Hustles And Martial Arts25:02 Funding Bias And Asia Network25:56 Leaving Profit Driven Cultures26:50 Choosing Imperial For Purpose29:15 Elevation Over Transformation32:02 Product Mindset In Universities36:08 Governance Boards And Workstreams39:28 Prioritising Value And Cybersecurity41:26 AI Reality Check And Future Tech47:20 How AI Changes Product Management51:34 Leadership Advice And Mentors53:27 Closing Thanks And Contact