Dipti Vachani fell in love with technology during her high school years when the idea of being able to write code and magically make something do what she wanted, amazed her. Her programming skills, typing speed, and…...running ability?...helped her win computer science contests around the nation. This was just the beginning of a remarkable career that is still going strong.

ARM processors are powering advances in automotive applications. Image used courtesy of Arm

After graduating from Texas A&M with a BS in Computer Engineering where she was the only woman in her graduating class, Dipti spent 17 years at Texas Instruments (TI). During her time at TI, she worked on numerous projects including automotive audio systems and low-power digital signal processors. As she worked her way up to a Vice President role, Dipti also led the creation of TI’s Sitara brand of Arm microprocessors.

In this podcast, Dipti reflects fondly on that early work:

“It was fun and no day was the same. You came in and you took technology to solve problems for your customers…and when you figured it out and they were happy, it felt like joy, like you accomplished something.” 

Now, in her current role at Arm, Dipti is helping bring the automotive and IoT worlds together as they both begin “to look like a network of networks.” With IoT, Arm is looking to transform every industry including industrial, retail, home, cars, and agriculture. 

While Dipti is active in mentoring younger women in engineering, in this interview she provides important guidance for all engineers about setting boundaries in their careers and knowing when it might be time to move on to another position.

Other highlights from this lively episode include:

• How corporate “frenemies” must come together to grow markets
• The important distinction between mentorship and advocacy, particularly as it relates to women in engineering
• Why Arm is the place for Vachani as she looks to leave a legacy
• The “junk in the trunk” of automotive compute applications

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Meet Dipti Vachani

Dipti Vachani is a Senior Vice President & General Manager at Arm where she oversees the Automotive and IoT Business Lines. Her organization strives to bring innovative Arm-based solutions to solve the new and unique challenges of these rapidly growing markets. Before joining Arm over three years ago, Dipti served in Intel’s IoT Group as Vice President and General Manager of Product Management and Customer Enablement. Dipti has also held multiple leadership positions at Texas Instruments where, among many accomplishments, she led the creation of their Sitara brand of Arm MPUs.

Dipti is on the Women’s Leadership Council for the Global Semiconductor Association. She received her BS in Computer Engineering from Texas A&M, an Executive MBA from the University of Texas, and has graduated from Executive Education programs at Stanford, Harvard, and Cambridge business schools.