Continuing our series on the people behind Sogolytics, today we bring you a conversation with Director of Product Management Dhananjay Dheru. We asked him, among many other things, about what drives him at work.
“My job is interesting,” he shared. “Every day there’s a new problem to solve. This allows me to work with almost everyone in the company as well as the many customers that use our products. I find that the challenges drive me to do more.”
A developed connection
A competitive and motivated athlete in school, Dhananjay played national-level basketball and ran track before focusing on engineering and computer science in college. “I enjoy a good challenge and solving it, and that didn’t stop when I went into my career,” he added. After graduating, he worked in customer support, then joined Sogolytics as a software tester in 2012, and grew from there into his current role.
Passionate about machine learning and AI, Dhananjay is excited about the rapid expansion of the realm of possibility. As technology evolves to greater heights—from augmented reality and NFTs to the metaverse and blockchain — innovation is always his focus in evolving the Sogolytics platform.
Dhananjay’s favorite product features are those related to automation. For example, Rules & Alerts, because it helps people to effortlessly stay in the know about what’s going on, and Text Analysis, because it allows users to interpret what people really mean without spending hours manually reviewing the free form feedback. “I’m looking forward to where we can go next, especially focusing on ‘tell analysis’, which would tell you what to do after you get results and look at your reports,” he added. With features like Key Driver Analysis and Predictive Analysis already rolled out, the forward-looking future looks bright!
The paradigm shift
Of course, when Dhananjay first began with Sogolytics, the platform was not what it is today. In 2015, a major revamp to our user interface completely changed the look and feel of the product. During that time, although a significant number of new features were added, usability became the core development focus. “What started as a simple feedback collecting tool with simple reporting is so much more than that today. We’ve built a true experience management platform with advanced survey, CX, and EX modules, and I’m proud to say every module has gone through a thoughtful customer-centric evolution.”
Since in our customer stories we hear a lot about great analytics, the easy-to-use intuitive interface, and robust reports, we asked which feedback makes him the proudest. Instead, his answer was characteristically modest. “I am happy to hear such feedback from our clients and partners, but at the same time I’m always critical so we can get even better and continue adding to the analytical and reporting capabilities of our platform. If that’s something that sets us apart today, it will need to become better and stronger tomorrow. But I do love hearing it’s intuitive to use because usability is what matters to every user and it’s very important to me.”
Leading with empathy
How does Dhananjay handle remotely managing a team in today’s post-pandemic, multi-time zone, and multi-office environment? “It’s about communication and support for the team, just like with our customers. I focus on keeping everyone in the loop.” He added that he prioritizes empathy and tact, and this helps him to encourage the best in his team members. “I have a good team that quickly adapted to remote work, and we’ve seen our productivity go up.”
Dhananjay Dheru in the hot seat
As Sogolytics’s team continues to invite great talent to the organization, here’s a closer look at the man behind our evolving technology.
When it comes to food, do you like it spicy or mild?
Spicy, for sure.
Work from home or back to the office?
Hybrid! I like being able to work from home and I don’t feel distracted. But in a perfect world I’d like to be hybrid so I can also have the human interaction.
What’s the best advice you were ever given and who gave it to you?
It came from my father, and he told me if you can’t help yourself, you can’t help anybody else.
If you could choose any superpower, what would you choose?
Teleportation. Definitely teleportation.
What’s more important – creativity or logic?
Logic. You can be more creative if you’re logical.
Powered by people
Sogolytics is a platform driven by the innovation and passion of the people behind the brand, offering clients an intuitive solution to gain actionable feedback and analytics without the need to be an analyst. Keep up with the people behind the brand with a look back at CEO Hamid Farooqui’s take on tackling the new year with excitement, and understand what really defines success with VP of Success Melissa Krut.
About Sogolytics
If you’re just getting to know Sogolytics…
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, Sogolytics is an award-winning experience management and survey technology provider. Organizations like Uber, Walmart, UNICEF, 3M, and Citibank as well as hospital systems, financial services companies, and government institutions use Sogolytics to securely gather business intelligence and create exceptional experiences for their customers and employees.
Want to know more about what we do? Connect with our team today!
