This Senior Member Solves Complex Product Lifecycle Challenges

What do an instinct to fix things and the 1999 global panic over whether computers would survive the date change to 2000, known as the Y2K bug, have in common? Both helped shape IEEE Senior Member Ajay Prasad’s career. Prasad is an industry process director at Dassault Systèmes in Detroit. His focus is global oversight of industry process experts specializing in Enovia, a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution and one of the company’s flagship products. Ajay Prasad Employer Dassault Systèmes in Detroit Title Industry process director Member grade Senior member Alma maters Bangalore University, in Bengaluru, India; and the University of Birmingham, England As a child growing up in Bangalore, India, his curiosity to build real-world solutions was ignited by his father, a mechanical engineer. Prasad’s father often fixed things around the house, including cars and bicycles. His ability to take something broken and return it to working order laid the groundwork for his son’s career in engineering. Prasad was in his final year of undergraduate studies when the Y2K panic hit its peak. “Nobody knew what would happen when the year turned to 2000,” he says, “and it was almost projected like the end of the world was coming.” The phenomenon left him with the desire to fix computer problems, but he wasn’t sure how he would go about it, as he had no background in computer science. As it turned out, computer systems didn’t crash when the 1900s ended. The world did not end on Jan. 1, 2000, and neither did his interest in how computers worked. The consulting pivot that changed his career Prasad graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and management from the RV College of Engineering, in Bengaluru. It was at a time when tech companies were heavily recruiting engineers, regardless of their specialization. “They were mainly looking for problem-solving skills,” Prasad says. His parents expected him to immediately enroll in a master’s degree program, he says, but a job offer from Tata Consultancy Services in Bengaluru to work as an assistant systems engineer trainee changed that plan. “My dad was actually out of town for work when the job offer came in,” he says. “I knew he wanted me to stay in school, but honestly, I was done studying for a while. I wanted to get some work experience.” He accepted the offer, then broke the news to his father. His parents were supportive of his decision, but his dad offered one piece of advice: Keep the idea of an advanced degree in the back of his mind. Several months of working on mainframes helped him understand algorithms and how to code to achieve outcomes, he says, and the more he learned about computer systems, the more he wanted to pursue a computer science career. With a solid engineering foundation, he says, he knew the pivot made sense. But he also wanted the academic credentials to back up his tech skills. Heeding his father’s advice, he paused his career at Tata and enrolled in the master’s degree program in computer science at the University of Birmingham in England. At the time, it was one of the few schools offering the program to students who had no undergraduate computer science degree. When he graduated in 2002, he briefly considered pursuing a Ph.D., but he returned to India and a new role at Tata. Building a global perspective As a systems engineer, he worked on the MatrixOne platform, a PLM software solution that helped manufacturers oversee products from design to launch. He spent a lot of time customizing the MatrixOne software to meet customer needs. The experience gave him insights into the pain points that different users of the platform faced, such as managing complex product data across large teams and keeping track of complicated supply chains. In 2004 Tata transferred him to Minneapolis, where he continued working on the MatrixOne platform. During that time, Dassault acquired MatrixOne and folded it into its existing Enovia product line. He remained involved with the product until he left Tata in 2008. To scratch an entrepreneurial itch, he became a consultant for the product, helping customize the platform for U.S. clients. The move also forced him to make a decision: He needed to choose between settling in the United States or returning to India. Inclement weather made up his mind, he says. “I was heading to my next project across the country, and it was winter,” he says. “During the entire drive, I was trying, unsuccessfully, to outrun a massive snowstorm. I was young, and it was an adventure, but it helped clarify where I wanted to be at that point in my life.” He returned to India in 2010, armed with a more global perspective and expertise with Enovia. As he looked for a job, he focused on a role with the company that owned the platform he’d worked on for years. “Dassault Systèmes has continuously pioneered new technologies and concepts and set benchmarks in the PLM space,” he says. “When an opportunity opened up there f

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