When I started working with Shikha Gupta, I was doing well as a Procurement Agent, managing contracts, negotiations, and deliveries. But I wasn't sure what it would take to grow to the next level. What made Shikha's guidance so valuable was the timing. Boeing was going through major organizational changes, restructurings, leadership shifts, and realignments across supply chain. Job security felt uncertain, and my instinct was to keep my head down. Shikha challenged that. She encouraged me to step forward instead of retreating. She helped me realize that visibility during change isn't self promotion. It's about making sure the right people know what you're delivering and why it matters. She guided me to document my contributions more intentionally, whether it was a cost saving negotiation, a delivery risk I caught early, or a sourcing initiative I led across teams. Before her, I'd finish a project and move on. She taught me to close the loop with leadership, tie results to program goals, and make sure my impact was recognized. She also pushed me to build relationships outside procurement, showing up in cross functional reviews with quality, program management, and finance. Not just to listen, but to contribute. She helped me shift from reacting to problems to anticipating them and coming to leadership with clear options. Over time, this added up. I took on more complex supplier portfolios and led improvement efforts with confidence. When the promotion came, I was ready. More importantly, the right people had seen the work and could speak to it. That wouldn't have happened without Shikha. Shikha's advice always felt real and grounded, coming from her own experience in high stakes environments. She helped me rethink how I approach my career during uncertain times. I'd recommend her to anyone who wants to grow from someone who delivers well into someone who leads well and gets recognized for it.

I started working with Shikha when I was feeling stuck as an IC. I knew the basics of distributed systems and cloud security, but I lacked the confidence to pass senior-level design loops. Shikha completely changed that.She doesn't just dump theory or documentation on you. Instead, we looked at my actual projects. She quickly found the gaps in my thinking and helped me fix them. Our sessions felt like collaborating with an incredibly smart senior colleague who just happens to have all the answers. At one point, I showed her a service I built. Instead of just saying "looks good," she gently pointed out three massive failure scenarios I completely missed—like race conditions and bad permission boundaries. It was a reality check, but she delivered it with so much encouragement that it felt like a massive win rather than a critique. If you're an IC wanting to level up your architecture and security skills, work with Shikha. You'll leave every single session with absolute clarity and a solid action plan.