// technology leadership · ai · digital transformation

RAHUL

HIVLEKAR

Technology Leader · AI Practitioner · SaaS Builder

I architect enterprise AI transformations and build AI-native products from scratch. Strategy without engineering depth is just a slide deck.

AI & ML Digital Strategy Enterprise Tech SaaS Data & Analytics

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about

Technology Leader.
AI Practitioner.

I've spent 18+ years at the intersection of technology leadership and enterprise delivery — but what defines my career isn't the scale of the programs. It's that I understand the technology deeply enough to build it myself.

AI isn't a buzzword I use in boardroom decks. It's something I implement — from leading firm-wide AI and analytics adoption at Director level to building AI-native SaaS products with LLM integration, RAG pipelines, and semantic vector search. I work with AI as a practitioner: hands-on, opinionated, and focused on outcomes that actually move the needle.

That engineering depth — full-stack development, API design, DevOps, automated QA — makes me a different kind of technology leader. I define the strategy, architect the solution, and I've shipped production code to back it up. I founded SwatiLabs to prove exactly that.

18+ Years of Experience

$20M+ Programs Led

40+ Global Team Size

6 Industry Verticals

skills

What I Do Well

AI & Technology Leadership

🤖

AI Strategy & Implementation

Defining and executing enterprise AI adoption — from firm-wide analytics and automation rollouts to building AI-native products. I evaluate, architect, and deliver AI solutions that create real operational value, not just proof-of-concepts.

LLMsRAG AI AgentsML Ops

🎯

Technology Leadership & Digital Strategy

Building and leading technology functions — defining multi-year digital roadmaps, aligning technology investment to business outcomes, and translating complex technical decisions into boardroom language that gets things approved and funded.

📊

Data, Analytics & Intelligence

From enterprise BI platforms to semantic vector search in production — I design data architectures that go beyond dashboards into actionable intelligence. Both the strategy layer and the implementation layer.

Power BIMS Fabric Azurepgvector

🏗️

Enterprise Technology Architecture

Designing the technology ecosystem for large organisations — ERP, CRM, integration layers, data platforms, and cloud infrastructure — with a bias toward systems that scale without becoming a maintenance nightmare.

D365Salesforce SAPRPA

Engineering & Delivery

🧠

LLM & AI Product Engineering

Building production AI products — not wrappers. LLM integration with context management, RAG pipelines with vector stores, semantic search, and multi-step AI agents. Shipped and running, not just experimented with.

Claude APIpgvector EmbeddingsPrompt Eng.

⚡

Full-Stack SaaS Engineering

End-to-end product engineering — React/Next.js frontends, FastAPI backends, PostgreSQL data models, Docker deployments, CI pipelines, and automated test suites. I own the full stack, not just one layer of it.

Next.jsFastAPI PostgreSQLDocker

📋

Global Program Leadership

Delivering $5M–$20M programs across multiple continents with teams of 40+. The governance, the stakeholder management, the risk calls — and enough technical fluency to spot delivery risk before it shows up on the RAG report.

AgilePrince2 ScrumKanban

🐳

DevOps & Platform Engineering

Infrastructure that doesn't become a liability — Docker Compose stacks, Nginx reverse proxies, automated SSL, Makefile-driven deployment pipelines, and QA automation with Playwright and Pytest. Boring and reliable by design.

experience

Where I've Done It

Founder & Chief Product Manager

CURRENT 2025 – Present

SwatiLabs · swatilabs.in

Designing and shipping AI-native SaaS products end-to-end — architecture, engineering, deployment, and QA
Building LLM-powered features into production: RAG pipelines, vector semantic search, AI agents, and intelligent automation
Proving that technology leadership and hands-on product engineering are not mutually exclusive

Director, Digital Office

Oct 2023 – Oct 2025

BDO India LLP

Built and led the Digital Office — the firm's central technology leadership function — from the ground up
Defined the multi-year digital strategy and AI adoption roadmap; drove firm-wide implementation of AI, analytics, and automation
Translated complex technology decisions into C-suite strategies that secured funding and organisational buy-in
Delivered measurable efficiency gains through data governance, process re-engineering, and intelligent automation

Sr. Project Manager / Delivery Manager

Jun 2022 – Jul 2023

Sonata Software

Owned delivery of multiple MS Dynamics 365 F&O programs at $5M+ scale — technically complex, multi-region, heavily customised
Set the delivery standard: resourcing decisions, technical governance, quality gates, and stakeholder trust

Senior Project Manager

Mar 2019 – May 2022

A5E Consulting

CXO-level technology partner to specialty lending clients — shaping IT strategy, not just executing it
Delivered multi-platform transformation programs across Salesforce, D365, RPA, and bespoke solutions in complex regulatory environments
Ran offshore development centre operations — technical oversight, hiring, and delivery governance

Independent Consultant

2017 – 2018

Self-employed

Odoo implementation for a KSA-based real estate firm
Project management for Salesforce implementation at ExtremeNetworks

Project Manager

Jan 2015 – Nov 2016

Trafigura

Co-led a $20M multimodal transport program integrating rail, road, and port logistics across Americas, EU, and Asia
Owned the product for an in-house logistics platform — wrote the roadmap, ran the backlog, shipped the releases
First real taste of sitting at the intersection of business strategy and technology delivery at global scale

ERP Manager

Oct 2007 – Oct 2014

The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.

Led end-to-end SAP Finance module implementation across the organisation
Managed post go-live support, vendor contracts, and financial modelling for cost optimisation

beyond work

The Person Behind the Code

📚

Avid Reader

Books are where I do my best thinking. From technology and strategy to philosophy and fiction — reading is how I stay sharp, stay curious, and stay honest about what I don't yet know.

⚗️

Cutting-Edge Tech Enthusiast

I follow the frontier of AI, systems, and software as a hobby, not just a job requirement. If there's a new model, a new architecture, or a new paradigm worth understanding — I want to understand it properly, not just read the headline.

🥾

Hiking & Nature

Some of my best ideas have arrived on a trail, not at a desk. There's something about moving through open country — the quiet, the perspective, the rhythm of it — that clears the mind in ways that nothing else quite matches.

🌿

Solitude & Reflection

I value time alone — not as isolation, but as the space where clarity lives. Most of the things I'm proud of professionally started with a quiet hour and an honest question.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧

Family First

Everything I build, I build alongside my wife Swati and our daughters. They are the reason the work has meaning — and the reason I try to build things that actually matter, not just things that look good on paper.

RAHUL

HIVLEKAR

Technology Leader.AI Practitioner.

What I Do Well

Where I've Done It

The Person Behind the Code

Certifications & Education

Get in Touch

Technology Leader.
AI Practitioner.