UWyo MagazineInternational Tech Leader

May 2016 | Vol. 17, No. 3

Inernational Tech Leader - Punit Soni

credit: Weinberg-Clark Photography


With a solid engineering foundation from UW, Punit Soni went on to hold positions at some of the world’s leading technology companies.

By Andy Chapman

Punit Soni came to the United States to pursue his dreams of making a splash in the fast-paced world of technology. After an amazingly successful career in America, he turned his attention to an even more promising opportunity back in his native India.

An impressive resume: Soni, who graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming in 2000, took over duties as chief product officer with India’s leading online shopping company, Flipkart, in February 2015.

“I worked with some of the best professors in the trade and learned a lot of the basics of electrical engineering from them,” Soni says. “It’s what got me my first break. If not for (my education at) Wyoming, I would not be doing the kind of work I get to do today.”

Previously, Soni spent eight years with global commerce giant Google as a product manager and mobile app developer. Before that, he held positions at Cadence Design Systems and Intel Capital and, eventually, he moved on to Motorola Mobility as a vice president of product management. His leadership helped launch the Moto E, G and X smartphones.

Now at Flipkart, his responsibilities include all aspects of product development, including crafting strategy, building teams and executing to go to market.

“I enjoy the ability to touch millions of lives through my products,” Soni says. “I used to lead the Mobile Apps group at Google. This means that the first or second version of everything from Gmail, Chat, YouTube, Calendar, Search and Maps came from my team. The phones we built at Motorola are huge successes across the world and jump-started the low-cost Android device revolution.

Changing lives: “Flipkart has reinvented the commerce infrastructure and is changing the lives of 20 percent of the world's population. If India rises, so does the rest of the world,” Soni says.

While Soni has relocated to another continent, he hopes to establish a visible presence in the tech cradle of the United States: Silicon Valley in California.

“Over time, we will build programs to attract the best talent to Bangalore and also establish a significant presence back home in the Valley,” he says.

His ties to the United States won’t end there, either. “I think after this gig in the country where I was born, I would like to dedicate some time to my adopted country—the United States—and work on something that fundamentally betters the lives of people there,” Soni says. “This might involve a new startup of my own or some pro-bono work at a governmental organization.

“I feel privileged to have gotten all these opportunities, but none of this was possible if I had not gotten an education at Wyoming.”

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