Jayeeta Putatunda – If you believe you can do it, the whole world will believe

Jayeeta has taken a love for statistics and turned it into a successful career spanning the globe and working as a data scientist for one of the big four billion-dollar media companies in NYC. During this journey she had to overcome her fears about moving to another continent to work in a competitive industry, while also developing the networking skills to achieve her goals. Jayeeta currently is in a great position doing what she loves while also giving back to the community.

Name, Location, Current Role

Jayeeta Putatunda, NYC, New York, Data Scientist

Share the story of your career

Coming from a middle-class Indian household, my focus was to get a job and be independent. The typical successful route is engineering but I wanted to be a path-breaker so I pursued a BS, majoring in economics and statistics. My love for statistics started from there; I went to complete my MBA and started my first job with Deloitte. That role gave me a lot of exposure in teaching and working with metric analysis.  My role was focused on the analysis phase and working on new methods to improve the KPIs. But what always intrigued me was how those KPIs were measured and the hidden formulas.  Everything was statistics and that’s when I decided that I wanted to get to the root of it. I moved to NYC and started my MS degree at Baruch College specializing in Quantitative Methods and Modeling (QMM). It was a tough couple of years learning a whole new paradigm of science, mastering coding, and working full-time as a data science intern while also going back home to take care of my family. I graduated and started as a data scientist in one of the big four billion-dollar media companies in the city, but that was just the beginning! 

Biggest challenges

Changing your domain and jumping ship was the scariest. The move from India to NYC gave me sleepless nights thinking over what if I fail or what if I am not good enough? The subject matter wasn’t too difficult but the most challenging was networking; having to reach out to people and talk about my work and myself. My mentors at school told me networking is a key trait to become successful. So I spent nights rehearsing how to present myself, perfecting my elevator pitch and working on my face muscles so that no one knew how nervous I was. 

How did you overcome failure?

Growing up both my parents worked full-time which meant I grew up pretty independently. But the constant support that I received from my parents who believed in me was invaluable. Even now, I fall back on my spouse to discuss issues, open myself up to feedback and look for new ways to achieve what I want. I am often scared, but that isn’t going to stop me from becoming who I want to be. You can’t predict or prevent failure, you can only prepare yourself better.

What are you passionate about?

I am really into coding - it makes me feel strong! My specialized domain as a data scientist is in Natural Language Processing. I keep working on all the amazing new technologies that are getting published and I play with a lot of Kaggle Datasets. In my spare time, I am preparing myself for talks and presentations that I am planning to participate in. 

Advice for women in tech? 

Be yourself every day and listen to your gut. All the confidence comes from within. If you believe you can do it, the whole world will believe it. Also, always be kind and a champion of women every day. We have come a long way but still have a long road ahead. There are so many great organizations working towards the goal of championing women in tech like Women Who Code. I usually try to attend one big conference every quarter and the amount of exposure, in terms of new learnings and connections you make, is phenomenal. It also helps build your long-term vision because you hear from women leaders across all industries, which is inspiring and very crucial to fulfilling all the aspirations. Hustle on! 

Today Jayeeta works as a data scientist at Indellent Inc. where she specializes in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning solutions. A leader and a role model in the tech industry, she is passionate about child education, welfare-related social causes, and supporting other women working in the field. Through her hard work, fearlessness, and passion for learning, she has become a career success, achieved her dreams, and truly proven:

“All the confidence comes from within. If you believe you can do it, the whole world will believe it.”

- Jayeeta Putatunda