Professional Portfolio

A Career in Technology Leadership and Innovation

With a distinguished two-decade career in information technology, including over 15 years as a consultant, I specialize in architecting transformative solutions using Artificial Intelligence and Microsoft Azure. My journey has positioned me as a trusted advisor to a diverse range of global industry leaders, including several US-based financial giants, as well as technology pioneers.

Recognized for six consecutive years with the Microsoft MVP award, my work is driven by a commitment to technical excellence, community leadership, and a passion for mentoring the next generation of technology professionals. This portfolio provides a curated selection of my contributions that demonstrate this journey.

Technical Leadership & Community Influence

My philosophy is that expertise is most valuable when shared. I am dedicated to empowering the global developer community by demystifying complex technologies and fostering a collaborative learning environment. The Microsoft MVP Award in AI Platform and Azure serves as a consistent validation of this commitment to community leadership.

Current Leadership Role | Principal Engineer & Product Owner, US-based leading Brokerage firm

As Principal Engineer and Product Owner for the Azure Cloud Platform, I lead the strategy and engineering of the foundational infrastructure that enables application teams to innovate and drive business value. My dual role focuses on delivering a secure, scalable, and well-governed Azure ecosystem that accelerates key business initiatives.

Key Accomplishments

  • Enabled a Generative AI Revolution: I led the platform engineering for a transformative Gen AI tool that empowers financial advisors. Leveraging Azure OpenAI, the solution reduced information retrieval times from minutes to under 30 seconds. My work included pioneering the use of Provisioned Throughput Units (PTUs), which delivered significant cost savings on AI model consumption.
  • Modernized the Digital Workplace: I directed the development of the firm’s Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) platform, modernizing secure remote access for a user base of nearly 10,000 employees and vendors. This has directly improved workforce productivity, enhanced security, and strengthened business continuity.

As Product Owner, I define the platform’s strategic roadmap and governance. This is achieved by developing reusable Infrastructure as Code (IaC) modules, such as Terraform, and establishing clear service patterns for the organization. My role in the Architecture Review Board (ARB) ensures all new deployments are secure, scalable, and strategically aligned.

Senior Consultancy & Strategic Advisory

For more than 15 years, I have provided strategic counsel to organizations navigating high-stakes technology transformations. My work focuses on designing secure, scalable, and compliant solutions, particularly within the heavily regulated Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sectors.

Experience Highlights:

  • Client Portfolio: My consultancy career has included strategic engagements with global leaders from various sectors, including banking, financial services, insurance, construction, healthcare, and technology.
  • Core Competencies: Enterprise Cloud Architecture, AI Strategy, Security & Compliance (NIST, PCI-DSS), FinTech Product Development, and Application Modernization.

Key Engagements

My consultancy career has focused on solving complex challenges at the intersection of technology, finance, and security. The following engagements highlight my role as a trusted advisor and technical leader.

Strategic Security Advisory | US-based Bank

  • Challenge: The bank needed to validate its complex cloud security architecture against stringent federal standards (NIST, PCI-DSS) before a critical, large-scale application migration. Failure to comply would halt the project and pose a significant risk to regulatory compliance.
  • Action: As the lead consultant, I dedicated over 2,000 hours, embedding with their senior security and architecture teams. I led a meticulous review of their cloud control matrix, identified critical gaps, and provided direct, actionable recommendations to their lead architect. I also intervened to resolve technical roadblocks faced by the migration teams.
  • Outcome: The bank successfully remediated all identified gaps, significantly hardening its cloud security posture. This work ensured they could proceed with their migration timeline with full regulatory confidence, and my role as a trusted advisor was validated by becoming one of the highest-billed architects on the engagement.

Cloud Modernization Strategy | Leading US-based Insurance Provider

  • Challenge: The client was struggling with a slow, error-prone manual process for assessing their vast North American application portfolio for cloud migration, which was delaying their transformation initiatives.
  • Action: I served as the definitive Azure Subject Matter Expert, conducting a thorough assessment of their Target Operating Model. I architected and championed a new strategy, moving them from manual assessments to a more efficient, tool-driven approach. I then designed and delivered a key workshop to train their teams on this new methodology.
  • Outcome: The adoption of the tool-driven assessment model significantly accelerated their ability to strategically plan their cloud journey, reducing errors and providing a clear, scalable path forward for their modernization program.

Product Architecture & Development | US-based FinTech provider

  • Challenge: This leading FinTech provider needed to develop a sophisticated, cloud-native application Suite on Microsoft Azure to provide advanced analytics, pricing, and forecasting tools to their financial institution clients.
  • Action: I was engaged as a consultant embedded within their senior development team for the full software lifecycle. I architected and co-developed core components, including the complex Pricing and ETL modules. Following the successful launch, I led the post-release support team to ensure platform stability and client satisfaction.
  • Outcome: The new suite became a key differentiator in their product portfolio, enhancing their competitive market position. The modules I helped build provided their clients with powerful new tools to optimize profitability and manage risk.

Commercial Leadership & Innovation | Capgemini

  • Challenge: As a leader in the Financial Services Microsoft Cloud Center of Excellence, the goal was to drive new business growth and enhance Capgemini’s competitive advantage in a crowded market.
  • Action: I served as the go-to Azure architect for our most critical Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. I crafted compelling, technically sound solutions that formed the core of our proposals. I also developed reusable intellectual property, such as Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) accelerators, to standardize and accelerate delivery.
  • Outcome: My technical leadership on proposals was a direct contributor to securing several multi-year deals, with individual contracts reaching multi-million-dollar annual revenue. The reusable IP I created enhanced service delivery efficiency and competitive differentiation for the entire practice.

Publications

A Framework Using Feature Maps Improving Speech

Proposal and Implementation of Neural Network-Based Approach for Secure Speaker Recognition Using Spectrograms

Unlock Serverless Azure Functions – Code Magazine

AI Agents: The Transformative Architects Of The Digital Age

Building Resilient AI Systems In The Cloud: Lessons From Real-World Deployments

Optimizing Cloud Resource Allocation: Integrating Recurrent Neural Networks with Fuzzy Logic Systems

Medium Blog

Expert Exchange Blog

Speaking Engagements

Sharing knowledge and empowering the tech community is a passion of mine. Since 2017, I have had the privilege of speaking at numerous events on topics in AI and Microsoft Azure. Please review my speaker profile on Sessionize here, or explore a comprehensive history of my talks here.

Professional Mentorship & Talent Development

I believe that true leadership involves investing in others. A core part of my professional identity is mentoring and coaching colleagues and community members to help them achieve their career goals. This has taken the form of formal advisory roles and direct, on-the-job coaching.

Mentorship in Practice:

  • Formal Career Advisor (at a leading IT consulting firm): I was directly responsible for the long-term career progression of 10 professional advisees, guiding them toward their development goals.
  • Center of Excellence Leader (at a leading IT consulting firm): I coached junior staff to help them learn cloud technologies and successfully earn valuable industry certifications.
  • On-the-Job Coaching (Current Employer): I have actively mentored colleagues in cross-platform technology transitions (e.g., GCP to Azure), resulting in promotions and increased team capability.

Local Community Leadership | Omaha Azure User Group 🤝

Beyond my global community involvement, I am deeply committed to fostering the local tech scene in Omaha. Since November 2019, I have served as a leader and co-organizer of the Omaha Azure User Group.

In this role, I have actively organized events, presented on technical topics, and coached a diverse audience—from students to seasoned professionals from various backgrounds—helping them learn the fundamentals and advanced concepts of Microsoft Azure. This grassroots effort is a practical application of my belief in making cutting-edge technology accessible to everyone in our community.

One of my core professional values is investing in the next generation of technology leaders. If you are passionate about growing your career in Microsoft Azure, AI, or cloud architecture and are seeking guidance, I welcome you to get in touch. While my availability may be limited, I am always open to connecting with and helping aspiring professionals.

Please feel free to reach out via my Contact Form.

Social Media

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaibhavgujral/

x (Formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/vaibhavgujral_
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