The talk discusses technology and business tends and a framework and strategy to identify, evaluate and decide which are the most fruitful problems to work on. This enables an engineer’s technology contributions to be multiplied manifold.

1. How
to
Mul)ply
Your
Technology
Contribu)on
by
Developing
Business
Acumen
Anurag
Gupta
Director
and
Chief
Architect
Paypal

2. Trends
• Cloud
– Reduc)on
in
data
center
power
footprint
– Data
growth
– Security
– Automa)on
– Virtualiza)on
• Mobile
/
User
experience
• Social
• Video
• Long
tail
• Emerging
markets
• Internet
of
Things
Iden)fy
and
understand
evolving
trends

3. Trends:
VMware
Amazon
AWS
Apple
Google
Cloud
Mobile
Social
Facebook
Video
Youtube
Paypal
Intel
MicrosoO
Inmobi
Alibaba
Long
Tail
Beneficiaries
of
Trends
Ensure
you
work
in
an
area
that
benefits
from
the
trends

4. Long
Tail
and
Power
Law
'Picture
by
Hay
Kranen
/
PD'
• Varia)on
is
large
• Fueled
by
• cheap
hardware
• ubiquitous
broadband
• match
filters:
search,
blogs
that
match
demand
and
supply
Ensure
you
build
and
operate
systems
that
serve
the
long
tail

5. Focus
on
Long
Tail
Creates
Disruptors
Innovator’s
Dilemma
Sustaining
technologies
improve
exis)ng
products
for
exis)ng
users
Work
on
good
enough
technologies
that
can
penetrate
the
high
end

6. Disrup)ons
ShiO
Balance
of
Power
in
Adjacent
Industries
Open
source:
Internet
industry
Shrink
wrap
soOware
industry
Mobile
internet:
Drivers
Cab
owners
E-­‐commerce:
Logis)cs
Retail
Posi)on
yourself
in
an
industry
that
benefits
from
disrup)on

7. Summary
• Iden)fy
and
understand
evolving
trends
• Ensure
you
work
in
an
area
that
benefits
from
the
trends
• Ensure
you
build
and
operate
systems
that
serve
the
long
tail
• Work
on
cheap,
good
enough
technologies
that
can
penetrate
the
high
end
• Posi)on
yourself
in
an
industry
that
benefits
from
disrup)on
Mul)ply
your
technology
contribu)on
by
developing
business
acumen