Murali Vajjiravel
Chief Technology Officer at Octane
New York City Metropolitan Area, United States
About Murali Vajjiravel
Murali Vajjiravel is Chief Technology Officer at Octane. Location: New York City Metropolitan Area, United States.
At Octane, I lead technology for a fintech where we took annual originations from $380M to $2.1B and valuation from $350M to $1.4B. I scaled engineering from about 40 to 150 at peak, turned a single-vertical stack into a broader lending platform, and we put AI to work where it earns its keep — customer payments and contact-center operations (+43% in-call efficiency, 84% less wrap-up time). I started as an engineer. I still think like one. What I build now is different: AI-native platforms, teams, and the capacity a company needs when technology has to drive the business, not sit in the back office. It’s also changing how we build: AI drafts the first pass of most features under senior review, so smaller teams ship what used to take many more people. Before that I ran GEP’s 1,100-person global software organization, led engineering at Amazon across Alexa Smart Home and AWS Marketing, and spent 12 years at Microsoft — including helping build adCenter’s delivery engine from zero to one. I care about the product, the architecture, the team, and the hard choices that decide whether technology becomes leverage or drag. Technology has to create leverage, not drag. Same for process. Same for every layer we add as companies grow. I’m at my best when the problem is large and the work is real — in big, complex companies and in ambitious growth ones. I like startup urgency. I also respect the restraint that keeps a company standing. Named on nine granted U.S. patents.
Skills
Additional experience
Head Of Engineering
GEP Worldwide
May 2020 – June 2021
Education
- Bachelor Of Science, Christ University, Bangalore
- APGDCA, Swathy Institute of Technology