90,000 Hours (Private)

Over the last few years, something has shifted.Run clubs. Triathlons.  Marathons. Hybrid races. Ordinary professionals are training like athletes, travelling across the country to compete, and building entire social lives around endurance sport. Somewhere along the way, being an athlete became a badge of honour.Founders started rewarding it. Networks are forged around it. In this episode, we unpack the rise of what we are calling the “fitness warrior”. This is a new professional archetype where work follows the same logic as sport: optimise, train, perform.You will hear from:Adnan Adeeb, who built Devil's Circuit, India’s first obstacle race and later launched the Yodha raceDeepak Raj, who brought Ironman 70.3 and Hyrox to IndiaArjun Vaidya, founder and investor Diksha Dwivedi, who runs Mumbai’s Founder’s Run ClubAnd employees and operators who are living this shift in real timeWe look at what’s driving this obsession with endurance and what it says about how India’s startup workplaces now hire, network, and define success, in a world where careers feel increasingly uncertain.Tune in. - *Zerodha’s perennial fund Rainmatter Capital is an investor in The Ken.Thank you for listening to 90,000 Hours. This is the final episode of this podcast. Please feel free to reach out to the hosts Rahel Philipose ([email protected]) and Vidhatri Rao ([email protected]) with your thoughts and feedback. 

Being an employee in corporate urban India is living in a perpetual state of frustration. Long hours, followed by longer commutes. Add infrastructural issues to the mix. It is a nightmare. But people stay on for opportunities and growth. That script is now flipping. Smaller cities in India are attracting talent, GCCs, and investments. In this episode, we tell you the stories of three cities: Mangalore, Vizag and Nagpur.  In Mangalore, we talk to a founder looking to make the region the “silicon beach of India”. An incubation centre head from Vizag tells us about the “speed of doing business” in Vizag.  A former IT services veteran tells us what it takes to start from scratch in your hometown and what it means to take a long-term bet in a city full of promise. Have thoughts about the episode? Write to me at [email protected] or reach out to me on Linkedin at Vidhatri Rao. Credits: Written and produced by Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CN

“What would make you quit this job a year from now?”“If you were an animal, what animal would you be?”“How do you spend your weekends?”Every founder and hiring manager has a set of off-script interview questions like these, the ones you don’t really prepare for.Today, these questions matter more than ever. In a hiring process where CVs can be polished and prep can be automated, they are one of the few ways left to see how someone actually thinks, learns, and deals with uncertainty.So what do founders really ask when they are trying to understand the person behind the CV? What does Vineeta Singh at SUGAR Cosmetics look for? Or Arjun Vaidya at Dr Vaidya’s?In this episode of 90,000 Hours, we go inside the interview room to break down the questions founders actually care about right now and what they are listening for when you answer.

There is a new kind of race within AI startups and companies to hire for an old role that lends itself perfectly to selling products powered by technology that is changing as we speak. We are talking of the Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE). The techie, consultant and product person all rolled into one. Open AI created its FDE team early last year and Anthropic is rapidly growing its applied AI team, which includes FDEs and product engineers.VC firm A16z calls its the “hottest” job in tech right now, while Salesforce says the role can make or break your AI agent launch. The hiring spree shows in the numbers. Job search platform indeed estimates that monthly job listings for FDEs increased more than 800 per cent between January and September last year.In India too, the race is on. Startups have started hiring FDEs and are doubling down. In this episode, we explore the history of the FDE role, the function it solves for AI startups as they compete to sell their products, and answer how you become one. We feature: Prakash Balasubramanian, Executive VP of Engineering, AscendionMaitreya Wagh, Founder of Bolna, a voice AI company part of the 2025 Fall YC batch Manvi Jaju, an FDE at BolnaNaman Jain, an FDE at Sarvam A quick question before you head off: Are you a founder or hiring manager? We want to hear your best curveball interview questions. Take our survey.Credits: Written and produced by Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CN 

We started 90,000 Hours because we believe careers are at an inflection point. Nothing seems to be certain anymore as old rules are actively being thrown out of the window. As we wrap up five months of this podcast, our reporting and stories reflected just that.  We have covered everything from how the American dream has shifted to how traditional networking has upended. Across all these episodes, some themes showed up time and again. And before heading into 2026, we ask: — What will replace the pyramid structure in organisations? — What will the assessment of AI-led productivity look like? — How to get hired when hiring is broken?Have thoughts on the episode? You can take this short survey or write to us at [email protected] and [email protected]. Credits: Written and produced by Rahel Philipose, Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CN  

Generative AI has made it easy to churn out decent design, copy, code in seconds. But in this flood of outputs, who decides what’s actually good?This episode looks at taste. Not the elite kind shaped in galleries or runway shows, but the kind that helps you make better calls at work. The kind that separates polished from passable, thoughtful from just fine.You will hear from:Professor Bernd Schmitt, who teaches marketing at Columbia and has spent years studying brand experience and aesthetics.Sunit Singh, co-founder of Design Capital, on how designers build creative judgment and why tools haven’t really changed the fundamentals.Prateek Jogani, CTO at Qoala, on what taste looks like in code, and how engineers can sharpen theirs.If you have ever looked at something AI-generated and thought, “It’s... okay, I guess,” this one’s for you.As promised, check out the Museum of Bad Art 

Every generation has a way of thinking their problems are unique and that they have somehow been handed the wrong end of the stick. Most times, it is a cliche. But sometimes, it captures a rare moment that we are only beginning to understand.Ask a young software engineer at an IT services firm today, this reality hits deep. The thing is there is a general sense of dread in the air. Only compounded by the constant noise about automation and AI taking away entry-level jobs. Add tariff uncertainties and clients tightening budgets... You get an industry under pressure from every direction.Today, you enter an organisation with expectations and land up in a reality you didn’t sign up for. No incentives. No challenges. You don’t know if you stand out, or if your work matters. Forget a plan for life. You don't know what’s going to happen in the next six months.We are giving this feeling a name: The ‘Hope Gap’. When this gap arises, people complain about not feeling ambitious or motivated. And the worst part is that nobody is telling them what to do to regain that hope again. What’s the solution? An IT services veteran and two open source contributors tell us. Their approaches are different but have takeaways for all.Tune in! Have thoughts about this episode? We would love to hear from you! Write to Rahel ([email protected]) or Vidhatri ([email protected]).Credits:Written and produced by Rahel Philipose, Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CNP.s Tell us about your best AI prompts 

We ran a survey last month asking professionals whether AI tools had saved them time at work. About 200 of you wrote in. We heard from consultants, lawyers, product managers, software developers — even a yoga instructor. There were early-career professionals, mid-level managers, and senior leaders.Almost all of them said AI had saved them time — meaning it had managed to reduce the amount of time they would otherwise spend doing certain tasks at work. Most also saw an increase in productivity. They were getting more work done.In this episode, we tell you the story of AI adoption from the bottom up. This is the quiet change underway at work right now. Of individual tinkerers in their quest for productivity while enterprises try and figure out their AI strategies.Have thoughts about this episode? Write to Rahel ([email protected]) or Vidhatri ([email protected]).Credits:Written and produced by Rahel Philipose, Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CN

We have all heard the founder's story. The kind they make movies about. The kind of founders who see unimaginable success and build massive brands that the whole world knows about.Or the other kind of founder story. The founder whose startup fails. Who loses the company, the money, and sometimes even themselves along the way.But there’s another version of the founder story. What happens when the startup ends… but the founder doesn’t start again? What if instead, they take their entrepreneurial skills and instincts to another organisation as an employee?In this episode, we talk to Printo’s co-founder Lalana Zaveri and Leap.Club’s co-founder Anand Sinha to unpack what it means to think like a founder even when you are not one anymore. It’s got lessons for everyone on ownership and finding the rhythm amidst ambiguity and chaos.Have thoughts about this episode? Write to Rahel ([email protected]) or Vidhatri ([email protected]).Here is the link to our survey on AI and productivity: https://theken.typeform.com/to/yQTIGKihCredits:Written and produced by Rahel Philipose, Vidhatri RaoEdited by Rajiv CN

It started with a satellite dish arriving on a bullock cart. Back in 1985, that scene outside Texas Instruments’ new Bengaluru office quietly marked the birth of India’s first multinational R&D centre and opened the doors for hundreds more to follow. They were all looking for a slice of India’s vast, educated, English speaking, and most importantly, affordable, talent pool. GE. CitiGroup. JP Morgan. Motorola. Just like that, India’s back office revolution began. These centres weren’t the sleek innovation hubs we know today. Not yet. They were built for efficiency, process, and most importantly, output. Imagine rows of cubicles, long hours and precise deliverables. Four decades later, those once-humble “back offices” employ millions and look nothing like they used to. Today, there are nearly 2,000 GCCs across India. They employ over 2 million professionals and generate more than $40 billion in annual revenue. The kind of work they do has also completely transformed. Few things capture that shift as vividly as the physical workplaces they now inhabit.Think yoga studios, digital twins of storefronts, and world-class design. In the latest episode of 90,000 Hours, we explore how India’s GCC workplaces tell the story of their post-Covid glow-up. Tune in. Have thoughts about this episode? Write to Rahel ([email protected]) Credits: Written and produced by Rahel PhiliposeEdited by Rajiv CN 

Do you remember the first job you ever applied for? Maybe it was during your college placement cycle. Or perhaps it was a frantic search on Naukri.com or LinkedIn right after graduation. However you did it, and whatever role it was for, the struggle was more or less the same. You probably spent hours tweaking your résumé, asking a friend to review your cover letter, even rehearsing answers in front of a mirror for that dreaded interview round. That was the old way of applying. It was slow, deliberate, and more often than not, exhausting. Fast forward to today, and that old slog feels almost quaint. Today, a founder posts one role and wakes up to hundreds, sometimes thousands of applications.  Most look perfect: tailored résumés, keyword-rich cover letters. But half were evidently written or polished by AI. By the first screen no one’s sure who actually did the work. Recruiters don’t trust résumés. Candidates don’t trust filters. Which is why, some employers are starting to rewrite the hiring funnel. In this episode of 90,000 Hours, we explore how. Featuring insights from:- Manav Garg, Founding Partner, Together Fund- Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, Scaler- Sanam Rawal, Founding Partner, MetamorphListen in to understand the new rules of getting hired and how to stand out in an age when everyone looks perfect on paper.Write to Rahel with your thoughts on the episode or something you have noticed at work that you would like her to explore next: [email protected]

In this week’s 90,000 Hours, Rahel Philipose speaks to Kirthiga Reddy, Meta India’s first hire, SoftBank’s first woman investing partner, and now founder of blockchain-powered credentialing platform, Verix.From taking a 40% pay cut after Stanford to steering an all-women SPAC through a turbulent market, she shares lessons on risk, reinvention, and building culture.This episode is also a first for us: a full-length conversation instead of our usual narrative. We would love to know what you think and who you would like to hear from next. Write to Rahel at [email protected] This episode was edited by our wonderful in-house sound engineer, Rajiv CN. Tune in. P.S. Are you a manager, recruiter or founder who has been part of a hiring process in the last year? I want to hear from you. Take our survey. 

India’s $283 billion IT industry is in the middle of a perfect storm: AI is rewriting old playbooks, GCCs are pulling away top talent, and clients are tightening budgets. But this isn’t the first time the sector has had to recalibrate.In the latest episode of 90,000 Hours, we explore what’s next for Indian IT with:Krishnakumar Natarajan – Co-founder of Mindtree, Managing Partner at Mela VenturesAakash Dharmadhikari – Co-founder of Realfast, an AI-first IT services firmNitish Mittal – Partner, Technology at Everest GroupAbhijit Bhaduri – Talent expert and former Partner and Global Head of L&D at Microsoft Vikram Ahuja – Co-founder of ANSR and CEO of Talent 500Plus, insights from hundreds of IT professionals who shared their experiences in our exclusive survey. Tune in. Write to me with your feedback at [email protected] Check out this episode of Two By Two, where my colleagues Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan talk about the impact of the GCC boom on India's IT sector.

For decades, studying in the US was seen as a golden ticket: a degree that promised not just world-class education, but a clear path to jobs, visas, and a better life abroad.But in 2025, that promise looks very different. We surveyed 50 Indian students and recent graduates in the US. Almost half told us they’ve either already moved back to India or are planning to.In this episode of 90,000 Hours, we follow the journeys of Indian students who chased the American dream and discovered the reality was far more complicated. From shrinking job markets and tougher visa lotteries to the hard decision of whether to stay or return home.The American Dream isn’t gone. But for Indian students, it has shifted from a one-way ticket to something far less certain.Tune in.Do you work in IT? Take our surveyWant to join The Ken's team? Apply here

What happens when AI at work isn't optional anymore? Across the board, companies are investing in AI tools for their teams. But with that access comes a new kind of pressure to work smarter, move faster, and think more creatively. So what does that actually look like in practice? And how does it feel on the ground? In the latest episode of 90,000 Hours, Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur, The Ken's Deputy Editor Arundhati Ramanathan, and others break it down.Tune in. 

For decades, networking was about being seen: showing up in the right rooms, handing out the right cards, and saying the right things.Today, a new generation of founders and VCs is rewriting that script with sweat, sneakers, and a shared goal to win the next point.In this debut episode of 90,000 Hours, host Rahel Philipose heads to a pickleball court in Bengaluru to explore how the startup world is quietly staging a revolt against traditional networking.You’ll hear from:🎾 Arjun Vaidya – Founder of Dr Vaidya’s and now an investor at V3 Ventures. He’s launched Pickle & Pitch, a new way for founders to raise capital on the court, not in a conference room.🎾 Vaniya Dangwal – Former professional tennis player and founder of Courtside Club. She’s bringing startup folks together through curated sports mixers, where the serve matters more than the sales pitch.🎾 Piyush Jain and Pravruth BH – Founders of Sprentzo, a platform building grassroots sports communities across India. Their fastest-growing sport? Pickleball.Why are people trading name tags for paddles?What happens when connection becomes the goal and not the card you walk away with?And what does it say about the future of work?This episode is about something deeper than just a game. It’s about belonging, access, and how we build relationships that actually matter over our 90,000 hours.Tune in. 🎓 Are you an Indian student in the US or recently graduated? Tell us what your journey’s been like: Take the survey

You’ll spend 90,000 hours at work in your lifetime. How do you make that time count?90,000 Hours is a weekly podcast from the newsroom of The Ken that helps you navigate today’s changing world of work, where the traditional 40-year career is gone, entry-level jobs are being replaced by artificial intelligence, and staying relevant means constantly reinventing yourself.Hosted by Rahel Philipose, the show features conversations with the people creating, breaking, and rewriting the way we work.