Jay Mishra is Taking the Code Out of Data Management at Astera
I had the pleasure of interviewing Jay Mishra, the COO of Astera, who has dedicated over two decades to excellence in data architecture and data-centric software solutions. Throughout his career, he has partnered with prestigious companies like Wells Fargo, Raymond James, and Farmers Mutual, creating end-to-end solutions that tackle complex data challenges and deliver outstanding results.
With a passion for leveraging his technical expertise and strategic vision, Jay aims to help organizations maximize their data architecture potential and achieve financial success.
Can you tell us about your backstory and what led you to this specific career path?
I’ve always had a deep-rooted passion for mathematics, and my journey into computer science was a natural extension of that. My undergraduate education was in Mathematics and Computer Science, and it was the logical progression from the world of math to the realm of computer science that fascinated me. What particularly caught my attention were the intricate workings of algorithms and advanced algorithmic processes, which led me to pursue a specialization in algorithms during my Master’s in Computer Science. Since then, my connection with computer science has remained strong, and I continually strive to stay on top of the latest developments in the field.
What led you to Astera, and what has your journey been like so far with the company?
I’ve been with Astera since the beginning. I started as a Software Engineer but gradually took on more responsibility and eventually stepped in as COO. When we started out in the data management field, we didn’t know how far we could go. The first three versions of our product were just enough to keep us afloat. Then the fourth version was reasonably successful and gave us the confidence to stay in the business. We have always believed in working very closely with the customers and taking their feedback seriously. A lot of ideas in our product came from our customers. It’s been an exciting journey.
What is it that excites you about what you’re building?
Our products lower the barrier of entry for non-technical users working in data analytics. These kinds of tools used to be purely accessible to coders, but they’re now more available to users with little or no coding background. We continue to make our products more and more user-friendly. It’s satisfying to see data analysts being able to work with more complex data management tasks.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing the company?
As we add new features to our products, we are able to cater to a wider range of use cases. But with the complexity of the use cases we target, it’s been exponentially more challenging to find that audience. When you have a product like this, you want it to reach the right people. You want them to know that we’re here and we’re ready to help. So the biggest challenge has been building the right messaging and taking it to the right people.
Where do you see the company going in the next five years?
Our mission is to build a user-friendly, no-code data platform for managing an organization’s entire lifecycle of data. We plan to continue using AI to achieve a higher level of usability and automation in our products. We want to see our product as a one-stop shop for all the data management needs of our customers.
If you had to share “words of wisdom” with a Founder who’s about to start their own tech startup/company, what would they be?
Start small and focused. You don’t want to release a product that you can’t stand behind. So really take the time to create a solution that users love. And listen to your users. We got to where we are at Astera because we listened to customer feedback and adapted accordingly. We still do. So I would urge anyone to listen to their user feedback closely and grow from there.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can follow me on LinkedIn at Jay Mishra, or follow Astera here.
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
