Episode Details

When Aakansha Priya was working on her computer science degree, she wasn't even sure she wanted to be in tech. She craved human interaction, and thought that a career in tech couldn't give her that. She soon discovered that that was not the case, and was able to find was to thrive in tech. Learn about Aakansha's career journey, from front-end developer, to DevRel, to Solutions Architect, and how her determination to get into the observability world won over her current employer.

About Aakansha Priya:

Aakansha Priya is a Solution Architect at Dash0 and a CNCF Ambassador. With a journey from frontend developer to DevRel to solution architect, she brings both engineering depth and a strong customer advocate perspective. She loves championing her customers and serving as a bridge between them and engineering, ensuring technology delivers real value. Aakansha has spoken at conferences on DevOps and the human side of tech, and is passionate about helping teams unlock the value of observability with OpenTelemetry. Beyond work, she enjoys painting, singing, reading, and spontaneous travel and you'll often find her at meetups and conferences.

Key takeaways:

• Being unafraid to approach strangers leads to wonderful connections.
• Don't be afraid to learn in public.
• Aakansha challenges herself by working her comfort zone of public speaking, and as a result, she is more comfortable on stage.
• Many conferences support first-time speakers
• Men in tech come from a position of privilege and it's important for them to use that privilege to help underrepresented groups.
• Don't be afraid to show up for a conference and bringing your true style, whether it's super dressy, super funky, or super dressed down. The Cloud Native space gives us a safe space to do that.
• Conferences provide a great networking opportunity, and could lead you to your next job!
• Nobody talks about the stress of the job hunt, but it doesn't mean that it isn't there.
• There are many other communities outside the CNCF that are also welcoming, such Commit Your Code.
• People don't really understand what networking really means and they forget the human aspect of it.
• There is a lack of women in Solutions Architecture roles.
• It pays off to prepare well for an interview.

Find Aakansha on:

• LinkedIn
• Github
• Twitter

Find us on:

• All of our social channels are on bio.site/geekingout
• All of Adriana's social channels are on adrianavillela.com/socials

Links:

• Aakansha & Adriana at NDC London 2026
• Marino Wijay on Geeking Out
• Tim Banks on Geeking Out Part 1 and Tim Banks on Geeking Out Part 2
• Hazel Weakly on Geeking Out
• Commit Your Code conference (Danny Thompson)
• Cortney Nickerson on Geeking Out talking about making the most of your conference connections<