Ajay Murali: Podcast Interview with Amish Munshi

In this episode of The Mainstreet Minds Podcast with Amish Munshi, we sit down with Ajay Murali—a data science leader whose journey spans roles at Meta, Atlassian, and several other industries including healthcare, startups, and government consulting. Ajay shares how his passion for mathematics and early exposure to data infrastructure set the foundation for a career that now blends storytelling, technical skill, and strategic thinking.

Ajay opens up about the evolution of tools in the data space—from SQL Server and Hadoop to SparkQL and Databricks—and how each phase helped shape his approach to scalable, impactful analytics. He offers a clear roadmap for aspiring data scientists, emphasizing not just tools and platforms, but also the value of understanding business context, asking the right questions, and communicating insights effectively.

He also shares advice on:

• Making the shift from technical roles to leadership

• Why knowledge graphs and agentic AI excite him about the future

• How to navigate the overwhelming number of tools and technologies in the industry

• Building a data culture that empowers teams to self-serve and innovate

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