The promo that keeps slipping. Run it like a project.

I was a data engineer at Meta, established but ready for the next step, when Abhishek started mentoring me. He had me apply real software engineering skills to build an agent for the data engineering function itself. That hands-on work was pivotal to my career trajectory at Meta, eventually landing me as Member of Technical Staff role at OpenAI. He didn't just help me climb one rung. He changed my trajectory entirely.

When Abhishek became my manager, I was ambitious and eager to do more but I lacked a clear direction to grow toward. He pushed me deep into AI strategy for the org, coached me on stakeholder communication and managing up, gave me wide latitude to operate, and stretched me well past where I'd have aimed on my own.

Even after he left Google, I kept going back to him because his guidance remains extremely valuable to me. He is my most trusted mentor, guiding me to a VP role at Tempus AI. He helps me see when I'm operating from fear rather than clarity, recognizes what I'm capable of before I can, and has the conviction to push me toward it. I still go to him today for the big questions.

I first worked with Abhishek at Azure, and years later, our paths crossed again at Meta. By then, he was a highly respected senior leader in our organization. What impressed me most wasn't just his deep leadership experience, but his remarkable foresight; he was thinking strategically about the trajectory of AI years before its impact became obvious to the wider industry. His advice was always direct, practical, and grounded in real-world experience, playing a significant role in helping me find my footing and confidence in my new role.

Abhishek is one of the most empathetic mentors I've worked with, and the person who introduced me to the world of AI. He kept sharing relevant research papers and new developments. Somewhere in that process, I went from just doing the work to genuinely loving the field. I started reading papers on my own and got deep into evals. He kept mentoring me even after I moved to an entirely different org and then to a different company. His highly personalized mentoring changed the trajectory of my career.

I reached out to Abhishek in 2020 because I felt I had more potential than I was able to realize on my own. Based on his guidance, I moved to a new team where I had the full support of my manager, and I developed a much stronger sense of ownership and agency in shaping my own career. Those changes have had a lasting impact, and I've since grown into a VP role. I had written a recommendation for him years earlier about his persistence and how deeply he invests in helping people grow. A decade later, I'm living proof of exactly that.