Vivek Khimani

I came to computer science from mathematics. I liked the point where an abstract idea stops being an idea and starts doing something in the real world. I spent a few years working on privacy-preserving machine learning, then joined Semgrep, a company I had first encountered in college while using it to grade data structures assignments. I liked the product enough to eventually join the company.

At Semgrep, I got to start products from scratch and see them make their way into the hands of customers. I also learned a lot outside of engineering: how customers make decisions, how products get sold and supported, and how all the different parts of a company fit together. It made me want to build something of my own.

I grew up watching my dad run a small agricultural business. It was a good business, but the economics were straightforward: more people, more land, more resources, more output. I've always been interested in the contrast with software, where something you build once can be used by thousands or millions of people. I'm particularly drawn to applying that kind of leverage to physical industries, where better software can have a very tangible effect on how people work.

I've also been an athlete for most of my life. Squash was the serious one growing up, and I still play, along with tennis and running. What I like about sport is the repetition. You break something down, practice it over and over, pay attention to what's slightly off, and eventually it becomes natural. I like that process of getting a little better at something through focus and repetition. Running is also still one of the easiest ways for me to clear my head.

Outside of work and sport, I like traveling on my own, reading, cooking, and playing guitar. I like being somewhere unfamiliar and figuring things out as I go. I also like having a few things in my life that don't need to lead anywhere.