Navigating Career Transitions: From Academia to Product Management
Principal Product Manager and Senior Team Lead, MathWorks
About this episode
This podcast episode features Sohini Sarkar, Principal Product Manager and Senior Team Lead at MathWorks, discussing her career journey and offering advice to listeners. The conversation explores her transition from academia to the corporate world, her passion for product management, and her approach to balancing technical expertise with leadership responsibilities. Sohini’s career path highlights the importance of self-discovery and the willingness to deviate from predetermined expectations.
Highlights
- Time at Mathworks (17:27)
- Being a team leader (18:52)
- Staying in touch with the technical side (20:04)
- Advice (27:07)
About the Guest
Sohini Sarkar is a Principal Product Manager and a Senior Team Lead at MathWorks. Her career started with earning a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and then working on DOE and EPA projects as a postdoctoral researcher. She has held various positions at Dassault Systèmes, ranging from a solution consultant to a market and competitive intelligence analyst, concurrently earning her MBA. Currently at MathWorks, Sohini focuses on established areas such as Math, Statistics, Optimization, and Machine Learning, to more emerging technologies such as Quantum Computing, Large Language Modeling and Generative AI, as well as Scientific Machine Learning.
About the Host
Chisoo Lyons
New co-host and the WiDS Chief of Programs, Chisoo Lyons spent years in consulting services, working with clients including leading banks and financial services organizations worldwide. She held several leadership positions in consulting, research, solution development, and business-line management. She kick-started her career as a data analyst at FICO. Today, at WiDS, she remains dedicated to supporting and empowering women in data science.
Connect with Chisoo Lyons on LinkedIn.