Sanjay Nayar

What's your Decision Lens Origin Story?

Ive had two different careers that sort of culminated with my joining Decision Lens.  Part one of my career was in management consulting with KPMG and Booz Allen where did Economic and Business analyses including things like Capital Planning.  I then had a major career shift where I went into Product Management and worked at AOL for a number of years as the director of the cornerstone AOL.com site.  Coming from two extremely large companies, Decision Lens provided a home to be able to somewhat perfectly combine the experience of past and present lives in a smaller startup-esque environment.

How has your role evolved over time since you’ve been here?

The role has evolved quite a bit over the years which makes 11 years not at all feel like Groundhog Day. Over the years we’ve evolved a ton in every way in terms of the development team processes, product market fit and the markets themselves.   With the relaunch of the Decision Lens Accelerate application (in the unfortunate timing of also welcoming Covid in March of 2020) it was a massive change. It was a huge endeavor to essentially rebuild the plane while we were flying it but it presented new challenges and opportunities that sometimes felt/feels like a new job every month.

What are you most proud of in your career so far?

 Working in product management, the pride comes from seeing people using the product you are building and getting joy or utility.  I remember during my AOL.com days being out in public and seeing people on the site was always exciting and pride inducing.  Similarly at Decision Lens, I love to be able to talk with our customers and see first hand how the product has become part of their daily routines and something that they cant live without. 

It’s the really fun part about being a Product Manager seeing ideas and concepts go from our heads to live working features!

What is the most interesting project you've worked on here?

Working with the algorithms is one of the most interesting parts of the job and the product. I think back to when we built the Bottleneck Analysis and the difficult problem we were trying to solve.  We were calling it the “10⁶⁰⁰“ problem where for one of our customers that was the amount of possible permutations we essentially working through to try and debottleneck a portfolio.  Its awesome to work on features that really highlights where technology can be used to solve problems that humans either aren’t able or didn’t know was possible.  Im lucky to work with a really talented team who were able to build the algorithms and the front end to be able to make it a reality.  I specifically remember the excitement of first seeing it in action and the amazement it brought of what I could do so quickly. 

What is one thing that you wish people knew about your job?

The role of a Product Manager is a funny one because its hard to describe to people what you do. 

Oh so you write the code?

No we have Engineers that do that

Ah ok so you design it?

Well no we have a design team that works on the UX

So that means you market it or sell it?

We have Marketing and Sales team that focus on that

Sooo, what exactly do you do?

We're the glue that tries to hold it all together (or at least we try to be) marrying the business needs with the technical delivery making sure we are building the right things for our customers.  Its not always easy as we, like many of our customers, have way more things we want to build and enhance and conceptualize than we have capacity for.  I wish people realized that we’d love to say yes to everything that’s asked but that simply isn’t possible.   

What do you enjoy most about working at Decision Lens?

Has to be the people.  Within the development organization at Decision Lens, we have an almost unheard of tenure of our team.  As mentioned, I’ve been with the company almost 11 years and Im somewhere in the low/middle for the team in terms of seniority!  In this current environment where highly skilled IT professionals are coveted everywhere, it speaks volumes that we have the longevity and tenure that we have.  People don’t stay in jobs where they aren’t challenged, happy and appreciated.  We have a team that knows and trusts each other and is incredibly high performing.  And we have fun while doing.  As cliché as it sounds, it really is a family that makes coming to work something to look forward to every day.   

What about the Decision Lens mission appeals most to you?

 Being a tax-payer myself, its great to work on a product that will help guide organizations to make the most of those resources.  While that sounds like an obvious endeavor, having a framework and tool to help so many different kinds of DOD, Civilian, State and Local and even commercial organizations is something that I’m proud to be a part of.  I also very much appreciate our leaderships commitment try and make our software available to such noble causes as the Carnegie Heroes Program.

What are you currently binge-watching or reading or listening to?

I’m actually not a big binger and Im that guy that has never seen the amazing shows that everyone talks about. Not that Im so high brow or cerebral to not watch TV I just can never get myself to commit to the hours and hours and seasons and seasons.  

I guess I would answer this question a little differently and talk about my “daily binges” and routines that I have somehow fallen into.  I have certain things that I do every single day that have become part of the daily routines that I enjoy.  Every day I do Duolingo (learning Romanian and I have a daily streak of not missing a day in over 6 years!), the NYT crossword and Spelling Bee, as well as Wordle which my family and I all share as a fun way to stay connected.  Its my daily binge and yes its bordering on OCD.

What is the best place you’ve ever visited? 

This is a tough one.  As someone who really loves to travel, its tough to pick a single place but one that stood out was visiting Ethiopia.  Its an off the beaten path destination but with just an amazing mix of nature, history, and delicious food!