1 Congratulations on your achievement in the Noble Business Awards! Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your role, as well as your business or organization?

I'm Sasibhushan Rao Chanthati, currently serving as a Senior Software Engineer and Assistant Vice President at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., a global investment management firm. My professional focus lies at the intersection of enterprise software innovation, AI-driven automation, and cloud engineering particularly in developing scalable solutions that enhance financial systems, cybersecurity, and operational resilience. In my role, I work on complex application deployment of several transformative technologies, enterprise-level financial workflow automation tools built on ServiceNow Instance. These initiatives have not only improved internal productivity and compliance but have also influenced broader industry practices. Beyond my organizational work, I’m actively involved in the global tech community as a peer reviewer, invited speaker, and contributor to thought leadership platforms. I’ve published several peer-reviewed research papers and presented at international conferences focused on AI, data science, and emerging technologies. Receiving the Noble Business Awards in Information Technology – Outstanding IT Software Professional is both an honor and a validation of the impactful work my team and I continue to pursue in shaping the future of intelligent enterprise systems.

2 Winning such a prestigious award is a milestone for many. How did you feel when you first learned about your win, and what does this recognition mean to you personally or professionally?

When I first received the news about winning the Noble Business Awards in Information Technology – Outstanding IT Software Professional, I was genuinely humbled and deeply honored. It felt like a defining moment not just for me personally, but for the years of dedication, innovation, and collaborative effort that have gone into building solutions with real-world impact. Professionally, this recognition reinforces the value of the work we do in advancing enterprise technology through intelligent automation, AI, and resilient cloud systems. It validates the forward-thinking mindset we’ve brought to solving complex challenges in finance and IT, especially during a time when organizations are undergoing rapid digital transformation. On a personal level, it’s incredibly rewarding. As someone who has always been passionate about pushing the boundaries of what's possible with technology, this award is both a milestone and a motivator. It encourages me to keep exploring new frontiers, mentoring others in the tech community, and contributing to a more secure, intelligent, and ethical digital future.

3 What inspired you to submit your entry for this competition, and what aspects of your submission made you feel confident it could stand out?

What inspired me to submit my entry for the Noble Business Awards was the alignment between the award’s core values innovation, excellence, and societal impact and the work I’ve been leading in enterprise technology. Over the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to architect AI-powered platforms and enterprise systems that not only solve immediate technical problems but also promote long-term human and organizational well-being, such as burnout mitigation in IT teams and zero-trust security implementations. What gave me confidence in my submission was the originality and measurable impact of my work. I presented a portfolio of projects that combined deep technical innovation such as large language models (LLMs), vector-based search embeddings, and real-time analytics with real deployment results across a Fortune 500 organization. Additionally, the submission highlighted my leadership in peer-reviewed research, my role as a judge and reviewer in global tech forums, and the recognition these efforts have received from both industry and academia. I believed the holistic nature of my contributions—spanning innovation, thought leadership, and ethical technology design would resonate strongly with the judges, especially as these areas are critical in today’s evolving IT landscape.

4 Is there a particular moment in your career or business journey that you consider a turning point? How did it shape your path to this achievement?

Yes, a significant turning point in my career came in 2019 when I initiated the development of an AI-powered burnout detection and prevention platform tailored for high-stress IT environments. At the time, employee well-being was often treated reactively, and I saw an opportunity to merge empathetic leadership with advanced AI technologies particularly using large language models, vector-based embeddings, and real-time behavioral analytics. This project was more than a technical challenge; it was a mission to address a deeply human issue through innovative means. Successfully deploying the first version of the platform within my organization and later evolving it through multiple generations validated that AI could be used not just for automation and efficiency but for empowering and protecting people. The impact of this work led to industry recognition, invitations to speak at conferences, peer-reviewed publications, and deeper involvement in tech governance initiatives. It also sharpened my vision for how intelligent, ethical technology can drive both business success and societal value. That initiative fundamentally redefined my path. It shifted my focus from being solely a solution architect to becoming a thought leader and advocate for responsible innovation paving the way for recognitions like the Noble Business Awards.

5 Were there significant obstacles you faced along the way, and how did you or your team overcome them to reach this success?

Absolutely, there were several significant obstacles along the way when I was developing software interfaces for my research, using anonymized behavioral embeddings and transparent consent protocols. This collaborative approach helped build trust and demonstrated that innovation can align with ethics and compliance. Another hurdle was technical scalability. Integrating real-time analytics, large language models, and MongoDB Atlas for behavioral tracking meant handling high data velocity and complexity, especially in a production environment. I overcame this by leveraging modular architecture, cloud-native deployments on AWS, and continuous iteration based on user feedback. I also conducted rigorous testing and phased rollouts to ensure reliability. Perhaps the most persistent challenge, though, was balancing innovation with resilience. In enterprise environments, moving fast must be matched with risk mitigation. It required a cultural shift from just delivering features to architecting long-term, adaptive solutions. I mentored team members to adopt this mindset, fostering a culture of continuous learning, ethical design, and system-wide thinking. In hindsight, these obstacles were essential. They shaped a more thoughtful, scalable, and impactful path to success, and they reinforced the importance of empathy, cross-functional collaboration, and leadership in delivering breakthrough innovation.

6 Winning is often just the beginning. How do you plan to leverage this recognition to further your business goals or inspire others in your industry?

You're absolutely right winning the Noble Business Awards is not the finish line, but a springboard for broader impact. I plan to leverage this recognition in three key ways: 1. Amplifying Ethical Innovation in Enterprise Tech: This award validates the real-world impact of AI and cloud-powered enterprise solutions I’ve helped create. I intend to use this platform to advocate more strongly for responsible, human-centered technology—especially in areas like employee well-being, zero-trust cybersecurity, and sustainable automation. By sharing lessons learned and frameworks through speaking engagements, white papers, and forums like ISACA and IEEE, I hope to influence how organizations adopt transformative technologies ethically and at scale. 2. Expanding Mentorship and Thought Leadership: Awards like this open doors not just for visibility but for mentorship. I plan to mentor emerging technologists through structured programs and industry communities, particularly underrepresented voices in AI and software engineering. By sharing my journey challenges, breakthroughs, and setbacks—I aim to inspire others to lead with both technical excellence and purpose. 3. Strengthening Strategic Partnerships: This recognition also enhances credibility when exploring collaborations with academic institutions, research labs, and global tech forums. I see it as an opportunity to co-develop solutions, contribute to policy discussions on AI governance, and help shape the next wave of enterprise systems that balance innovation with accountability. In short, this award is not just a personal milestone, it’s a responsibility. I intend to use it to catalyze growth, spark conversation, and continue delivering solutions that matter.

7 Participating in awards can be a learning experience. What do you think is the greatest benefit of entering competitions like this?

Participating in awards like the Noble Business Awards is indeed a profound learning experience, one that goes far beyond recognition. The greatest benefit, in my view, is the opportunity for reflection and strategic alignment. Preparing an award submission forces you to step back from day-to-day operations and look at your work through a broader, more holistic lens. You begin to evaluate not just what you’ve built, but why it matters, how it contributes to innovation, solves real-world problems, and aligns with broader organizational or societal goals. It also encourages clarity in communication. You learn to distill complex projects and achievements into compelling narratives that resonate with both technical and non-technical audiences. That skill is invaluable not only for awards but for leadership, investor relations, stakeholder engagement, and even mentoring. Another major advantage is the exposure to excellence across the industry. When you compete among leading professionals and organizations, you gain insight into emerging trends, groundbreaking use cases, and evolving benchmarks for innovation. It’s humbling and inspiring, and it fosters a mindset of continuous improvement. Lastly, competitions like this offer a credible platform to inspire and be inspired. Whether through networking, thought leadership, or future collaborations, these experiences connect you to a global community of innovators who are not just shaping technologies but transforming industries.

8 Is there someone in your team or organization whose efforts played a significant role in this achievement that you'd like to acknowledge?

Absolutely, while I’m honored to receive the Noble Business Awards individually, this achievement is deeply rooted in the collective effort of a talented and dedicated team. I’d especially like to acknowledge the cross-functional collaboration between our engineering, cybersecurity, HR, and cloud architecture teams. Their openness to innovative ideas and commitment to responsible technology adoption were critical to the successful deployment of complex platforms like the AI-powered burnout detection system and enterprise financial workflow automation. In particular, my ServiceNow and cloud engineering colleagues played a pivotal role in building resilient, scalable infrastructures that supported real-time analytics and AI model deployment. Their technical rigor ensured that our solutions were not only cutting-edge but also enterprise-grade and compliant with industry standards. I’m also grateful to the mentors and senior leadership within the organization who trusted me to lead strategic initiatives and champion emerging technologies. Their guidance and belief in the mission gave me the latitude to experiment, learn, and deliver at scale. Lastly, I’d like to thank the broader tech community and peer collaborators who provided invaluable feedback on our published research and platforms. Their insights helped shape the innovations into solutions with real-world impact. This award is a shared accomplishment, a testament to what’s possible when people across disciplines come together with a shared vision for building smarter, more ethical, and more resilient technology.

9 The business landscape is ever-changing. What trends or developments do you see shaping the future of your industry, and how are you or your business preparing to adapt?

The business and technology landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven by convergence across AI, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and data ethics. Several key trends are shaping the future of our industry, and we’re proactively preparing to align and lead in these areas: Generally Speaking I am not by representing any company. 1. Generative AI and Responsible Automation: AI is moving from task-based automation to decision-making and strategic augmentation. Large Language Models (LLMs) and multi-modal AI are transforming how enterprises approach customer experience, operations, and software development. 2. Cybersecurity by Design – Especially for AI Systems: As systems grow more intelligent, they also become more vulnerable. Prompt injection, data poisoning, and model leakage are emerging threats specific to AI. We’re investing in zero-trust architectures, secure MLOps pipelines, and adversarial testing strategies to protect both AI-driven applications and traditional infrastructure. 3. Hybrid Cloud and Edge Intelligence: With increasing data gravity and compliance demands, there’s a shift toward hybrid cloud models and edge computing. Our team is actively enhancing cloud-native capabilities while ensuring interoperability across AWS, on-prem environments, and service platforms like ServiceNow. This ensures scalability without compromising governance. 4. Human-Centered Technology and Well-Being Analytics: The next wave of transformation will focus not just on systems but on people. We’re continuing to advance AI-powered well-being platforms and digital resilience tools that track behavioral patterns, promote mental health, and enable proactive interventions especially for high-performance tech teams. 5. Regulatory-Ready Innovation: Global regulations around AI, data usage, and ESG metrics are tightening. We’re embedding compliance into the innovation process, using AI audit trails, consent-aware data handling, and standards like NIST and ISO frameworks. In short, we’re not just reacting to trends, we’re anticipating them, shaping them, and building technology that is not only cutting-edge, but also responsible, resilient, and ready for tomorrow.

10 Looking back at your journey, is there any advice you would give your younger self or someone just starting out in your industry?

Looking back, one piece of advice I’d give my younger self or anyone just starting out in this industry is: don't chase trends; chase purpose, and the trends will follow. It’s easy early on to get caught up in learning every hot new tool or framework. While technical skills are essential, what truly sets a career apart is the ability to solve meaningful problems. Focus on why you’re building something, not just how. Understand the business context, the human impact, and the long-term value your work can deliver. I’d also stress the importance of resilience and curiosity. The tech world changes fast. Some of the skills I mastered early in my career became obsolete, but the mindset of learning, adapting, and questioning never goes out of date. Treat every challenge as a chance to grow, and every failure as feedback. Another key lesson: build relationships, not just resumes. Success in tech isn’t a solo sport. Collaborate, share, mentor, and be mentored. The people you meet will open doors, sharpen your ideas, and inspire you in ways books and code never can. And finally, make space for ethical reflection. As our technologies gain power, so does our responsibility. Think about how your work affects privacy, mental health, fairness, and the environment. Leadership today is not just about innovation; it’s about intentional, responsible innovation. If you stay grounded in purpose and guided by curiosity, your career won’t just evolve, it will leave a lasting mark.

11 For those who are considering to enter, what advice would you share about crafting a strong submission or maximizing their chances of success?

For anyone considering entering a competition like the Noble Business Awards, my strongest advice is: tell a compelling story, not just a list of accomplishments. Award judges read hundreds of submissions, what makes yours memorable is how clearly and authentically you connect your work to real-world outcomes. Here’s how to maximize your chances: 1. Start with Impact, Not Just Innovation: Focus on why your project or achievement matters. What problem did it solve? Who benefited? Quantify results wherever possible whether it’s performance improvement, cost reduction, user engagement, or social good. 2. Craft a Narrative, Not a Resume: Weave your milestones into a story of vision, challenge, action, and outcome. Describe the obstacles you faced and how you overcame them. This makes your submission relatable, human, and inspiring. 3. Align with the Award’s Values: Every award has underlying themes of innovation, leadership, ethics, and community impact. Study them carefully and tailor your entry to align. Demonstrate not only technical skill, but character and contribution. 4. Showcase Differentiators: What makes your work or journey different? Is it the scale, the interdisciplinary nature, the novelty, or the people-first approach? Emphasize what sets you apart, not just what you did well. 5. Don’t Skip Supporting Evidence: Include links to publications, product screenshots, testimonials, or press coverage. Make it easy for judges to verify and appreciate the depth of your achievements. 6. Be Authentic and Reflective: Honesty resonates more than perfection. Own your journey—highlight what you’ve learned, what you’d do differently, and how you plan to grow from here. Remember, a strong submission isn’t just about proving you deserve the award—it’s about showing how your work contributes to something larger than yourself.

12 What’s next for you or your business after this recognition? Are there any exciting projects, collaborations, or goals that you would like to share?

Following this recognition with the Noble Business Awards in Information Technology, I’m more energized than ever to scale the impact of the innovations we've built and pursue new frontiers in AI-driven enterprise solutions. What’s next? A few exciting directions are already in motion: 1. Expanding Our AI-Powered Workplace Well-Being Platform: We’re advancing the third-generation of our burnout prediction and mitigation system to include predictive mental health indicators, personalized interventions, and multilingual support. This will make the platform more inclusive and adaptable for global deployment across high-stress industries like tech, healthcare, and finance. 2. Collaborating on Ethical AI and Governance Frameworks: I’m currently in discussions with academic partners, industry councils, and standards bodies (including ISACA and IEEE) to co-develop responsible AI governance toolkits. These will help organizations adopt AI in a way that’s ethical, auditable, and regulation-ready, a growing necessity in today’s rapidly shifting landscape. 3. Thought Leadership & Industry Education: I'm scheduled to speak at the Data Science Salon NYC, and will be publishing a new research-backed article on AI in financial compliance automation in a peer-reviewed journal. I’m also contributing to ISACA’s Emerging Tech forum to inspire the next wave of technologists and compliance leaders. 4. Publishing and Media Outreach: Building on the award momentum, I’m preparing a series of in-depth technical posts and case studies focusing on cloud-native AI deployments, ServiceNow integrations, and real-time vector search use cases. These will be aimed at both practitioners and decision-makers. 5. Exploring Strategic Partnerships: We’re exploring opportunities with startups and enterprise partners to integrate some of our internal tools into broader platforms, particularly in the fintech and cloud services space. This recognition isn’t an endpoint, it’s a launchpad for broader impact. I’m excited to continue blending cutting-edge technology with purpose-driven leadership, and I welcome new collaborations that share that vision.

13 Lastly, is there anything you’d like to share with us or the business community? Perhaps a final reflection, message, or insight?

Absolutely, if there’s one message I’d like to leave with the business community, it’s this: Innovation without intention is just noise. In today’s fast-moving, hyperconnected world, we’re surrounded by powerful technologies: AI, cloud computing, automation, and data science. But the true mark of leadership is not how fast you adopt them, but how thoughtfully you use them. Technology should never be about complexity for its own sake; it should serve people, solve real problems, and create value that lasts. As leaders, builders, and changemakers, we have a responsibility to ask ourselves not just if we can, but should we, and how can we do it better? Whether you're a startup founder, an enterprise executive, or an early-career developer, your decisions have ripple effects. Embrace that responsibility. Build with empathy. Lead with ethics. Scale with sustainability in mind. And most of all, stay curious, stay humble, and keep learning. Awards like these are not a finish line; they’re a checkpoint on a lifelong journey of growth and contribution. To the business community: collaborate more, compete less, and let’s continue shaping a future where innovation uplifts everyone.

Winning Entry

2025
Information Technology

Entrant Company

T. Rowe Price

Category

Information Technology - Outstanding IT Software Professional