We are excited that Dr. Manish Kothari has joined Silicon Labs as Vice President of Silicon Labs India. In this role, Manish will grow our company's wireless engineering talent, build scalable infrastructure, and foster local partnerships in Hyderabad, Silicon Labs' newest and fastest-growing wireless development center.

Manish brings more than 20 years of technology management experience, most recently serving as head of wireless software product development at Qualcomm Hyderabad. He has built and managed teams of more than 1,000 wireless developers, holds more than 100 patents, graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and received his MS and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Manish as he steps into this new and important role for the company.

MS: Could you share your high-level vision for our Hyderabad development center? 

MK: The Hyderabad development center is Silicon Labs’ fastest-growing site, playing an important and strategic role in helping the company as a whole scale to meet the huge demand for Silicon Labs’ solutions.  

My vision is to build a world-class development center here that embodies Silicon Labs’ culture and engineering best practices, with a highly motivated and talented team that has a passion for execution, innovation, collaboration, integrity, and fun. We will also remain very customer-focused and strive for continuous improvement. Another key goal is to become an industry-leading technology center of excellence for Wi-Fi, including Wi-Fi 6. Silicon Labs’ 2020 acquisition of Redpine Signals’ Wi-Fi and Bluetooth businesses included a very strong IP portfolio that expanded and accelerated the company’s ability to be a true leader in low power, secure Wi-Fi solutions.

MS: What is your management style and philosophy? 

MK: My management philosophy is grounded in humility (I know that I don’t know everything and there’s something to learn from everyone), reliability, accountability, integrity, a thirst for learning, and respect for everyone. The technology industry can be a very intense environment, so I seek to inspire, empower and motivate teams by setting the same standards for myself as I do for my teams and work with a sincere focus to help ensure successful outcomes. Work-life balance starts with all of us enjoying the work we do, and I am always mindful about making the office a fun place to be.

MS: From your point of view, what are the most exciting things happening in IoT? 

MK: The IoT is already improving productivity and quality of life in a variety of consumer and commercial settings. In my humble opinion, the most exciting things in IoT are still to come and perhaps not yet even imagined. Here’s an example of one such possibility: the creation of powerful, decentralized AIoT (artificial intelligence IoT) networks with ubiquitous wireless end nodes. In this scenario reliability, privacy, and security improvements promise to be huge, much like the key underpinnings of Satoshi-San’s bitcoin, because there won’t be a single point of failure anymore. This scenario also shifts power away from centralized ecosystem/cloud and opens new possibilities and the benefits that come with a decentralized system. 

Silicon Labs is uniquely positioned to disrupt the industry as these “not so simple” wireless end nodes leverage AI and machine learning to become more intelligent (and powerful) over time. And history is on our side. After all, technology disruptions typically occur from the bottom up, as detailed in the famous book Innovator’s Dilemma. We are only limited by our imaginations, as the saying goes, and I consider myself fortunate to be part of this incredible journey of disruption where Silicon Labs is right at the forefront.

MS: What do you like to do outside of work?

MK: I love spending time with my family, especially my two boys, and participating in their various activities like losing badly in NBA 2K/FIFA on PlayStation. I have always been an “outdoor” person and love to travel. Both my wife and son are certified yoga instructors, so I am a (sometimes forced) fitness freak. Sports is a big deal in our family, and almost every major sport is a topic of discussion during dinner time. I love traditional dance, called “Bhangra,” and I used to teach it to school kids when my boys were younger. For me, dancing is my go-to stress buster!

MS: Thank you, Manish, and best of luck to you!

Silicon Labs’ Hyderabad site headcount has grown approximately 30% since the Redpine Signals acquisition. The company continues to hire hardware and software engineers in Hyderabad, and candidates may review and apply for open positions here.