Satyen Sangani, CEO and co-founder, Alation

I started my career as an analyst at Morgan Stanley and Texas Pacific Group and was academically trained in economics, which is about as analytical a discipline as they come. Being an analyst, I built and tested models and frameworks. In these roles, I became fascinated by data analytics and understanding its power. What I found lacking in these jobs is that I was observing the world more than I was driving it forward.   

So, I tried my hand in the technology industry, working for a friend’s startup in business development. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but luckily neither did anyone else at the time. The experience helped me get my feet wet in tech. After that, I decided to work for Oracle, which gave me incredible exposure to the tech industry with one of the world’s preeminent tech firms. Over time, I ran the financial services warehousing and performance management business, helping banks and other financial institutions get insights from their data.  

I’ve been an analyst and built products for companies trying to drive analytics. Each experience led to my founding Alation, where our vision is to empower a curious and rational world. Being a founder and CEO is an incredibly rewarding journey. It’s hard work, but you’re constantly learning and being challenged. I love this work because science and reason are the primary change agents that propel humanity forward; I’m glad to be accelerating that trend however I can.