As Indiana’s tech community continues to grow and mature, it’s getting harder and harder to narrow down the winners for our annual Tech 25 Awards program. There is a wealth of tech talent in the Hoosier state, and they are making incredible moves. Join us in celebrating the Tech 25 class of 2021 through this profile series and learn a bit more about each winner.

Amrutha Pulikottil is currently, as she proudly states, an #IndianInIndianapolis. She has lived in nine cities across three continents, and her nomadic childhood is the reason she’s grown to be so curious, resilient, and constantly seeking challenges. 

As a data scientist, she has helped forecast the impact of policy decisions on COVID-19 hospitalizations, monitored vaccine demand and supply to aid vaccination programs, and complemented clinical data with social determinant data to identify patients at risk of adverse health outcomes. When she steps away from her computer screen, she loves to travel, cook, write, and raise her two-year-old toddler, Mico.

What led you to the tech industry and this occupation? What was your first job in tech?

After teaching statistics to undergraduate students at Ball State as a teaching assistant, I realized I love crunching numbers and identifying patterns in data. Turning data into insight for clients who have a meaningful impact on their communities is fulfilling. I started my career as a statistician for a market research company in Indiana.

When you think of a day in your life, what are the main work activities you do or responsibilities you have?

Clients usually come to us with a topic of interest or business question. We take their concern and translate it into a testable hypothesis, identifying the data points we need to complete our analysis. We also visualize the current state of affairs to help clients digest their data easily and identify areas of improvement. 

I also manage a team of 6 early-to-mid-level data scientists. I strongly believe that people flourish in environments where there is high psychological safety, technical support, and growth opportunities. My team is full of smart, ambitious, and humble data scientists who truly love putting the client first and solving complex challenges regularly.

Whatich resources, people, books, websites, etc., would you recommend to those who want to learn more or advance their skills in this occupation?

I’d recommend the following books: 

And the following podcasts:

Amrutha Pulikottil is a Tech 25 winner who is helping to grow and improve the tech landscape of Indiana. She was nominated by her Data Science Manager, Sandip Biswas. 

Visit the Indianapolis Business Journal website to see the full listing and celebration of the 2021 Tech 25 honorees in the joint CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards supplement. You can also watch a video of the livestream from the CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards virtual event.

Read more coverage of the Tech 25 in this Index Feature Story and view and tag the gallery of photos from the event on Facebook.