How I got here.

Everything started at Kristu Jyoti College. Back then, I was just a regular student going through the motions, with no grand master plan or childhood dream of tech leadership.

The turning point was a classmate who practically forced me to enter Inovus Labs IEDC for an event. I resisted at first, but once I walked through that door, something clicked. Afterwards, showing up became a daily habit.

As I spent more time at Inovus Labs, I joined as an intern helping the team organize campus events. Around this time, I was pushed to learn UI design using Figma.

I gave it a solid try, but as time went on, I came to an honest realization: visual design wasn't my strong suit. Instead of forcing something that wasn't landing, I stopped designing and shifted my energy toward code.

Web development felt right immediately. Armed with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, I started making small things. Nothing massive — just small scripts and simple web pages — but making a browser respond to code was addictive.

Building for the web gave me a sandbox where feedback was instantaneous and the possibilities kept expanding.

By 2023, as I got comfortable on the web, I wanted a new challenge. That's when I started tinkering with IoT and hardware microcontrollers.

Making code interact with sensors, LEDs, and physical components taught me patience. Hardware is unforgiving: there is no hot-reloading when a circuit is wired wrong.

Transitioning from 2023 into 2024, my role inside Inovus Labs evolved rapidly. I started in the extended team, took charge as Stock Manager managing inventory and lab resources, and eventually became CEO.

Every single role forced me to learn new skills — from logistics and resource management to leading technical hackathons and international events under the Kerala Startup Mission.

In 2024, my web-focused journey went into overdrive with open-source contributions and real projects. I was deeply shaped by mentors like Arjun Krishna (decoded_cipher), Sane Sunil, and Nikhil T Das.

My role model became Badhusha Shaji. I tried hard to replicate how he approached problems — and flopped many times along the way. But failing repeatedly was the fastest teacher, forcing me to refine my craft and make myself better every day.

As my experience grew, I expanded beyond campus into statewide communities, eventually joining the μLearn Foundation.

Starting as a frontend intern building reusable component libraries across μLearn platforms, I eventually rose to Junior Associate — serving as a technical point of contact and mentoring students before eventually stepping out to take on new horizons.

Alongside community roles, I served as a Campus Ambassador for Google (Gemini program), leading AI-focused workshops and campus-wide technical engagement.

Teaching others how to leverage LLMs and modern AI tools deepened my own understanding of where software is heading.

Today, I'm building Shop Minis and Shopify App Store applications at FinalApps — shipping full-stack e-commerce software for merchants worldwide.

Looking back at the student who had to be forced into his first event, the through-line is clear: curiosity, resilience through failure, and great mentors.

More products, built in the open. More open-source contributions, and more honest writing about the messy process of building.

This story isn't finished — it's just the foundation for whatever comes next.