Born into a family where financial constraints were an unwavering companion, Rakesh’s childhood was a tapestry of challenges that could have easily quelled his dreams. However, his unwavering determination and insatiable curiosity propelled him along a trajectory that would indelibly mark the realm of technology.

From a tender age, it was evident that Rakesh was destined for greatness. His academic brilliance radiated, consistently securing top ranks in both school and college. Scholarships and accolades from esteemed institutions such as the Ramakrishna Mission Education Fund and Udaan Charitable Society punctuated his journey, a testament to his unrelenting pursuit of knowledge. Despite facing numerous hardships, Rakesh’s dedication to his studies remained unwavering, illuminating even the darkest moments. His passion for network security started during this tender age, when he invented a partial image encryption algorithm collaborating with Indian Statistical Institute.

After completing his engineering degree from the prestigious RCC IIT Kolkata, Rakesh’s talent caught the attention of tech giants. He joined CISCO, a powerhouse in the world of networking and technology, where he honed his skills and solidified his reputation as an exceptional software engineer. During his tenure at CISCO, Rakesh conceptualized several groundbreaking ideas, including name-based dialing. The software products he developed in CISCO, are used by billions of people all around the world. He was one of the few Indians who was awarded the prestigious Facebook Whitehat Hall of Fame, for saving billions of dollars by proactively finding and rectifying the security vulnerabilities in their product.

However, Rakesh’s ambitions didn’t stop there. After a tremendous academic and professional journey in India, Rakesh pursued a Master’s degree at San Jose State University (SJSU). At SJSU, Rakesh’s brilliance continued to shine.He received the prestigious Davidson Student Scholarship for his path breaking research work namely P4Guard, which has over 40 citations. His research was sponsored by the prestigious National Science Foundation(NSF).

Completing his degree, Rakesh joined Viasat, driving network observability for Viasat 2’s triumphant satellite launch. Today, a venerated Senior Technical Leader at Microsoft, his sought-after security expertise influences global giants like Facebook and others. Invitations to elite conferences as a speaker, including LinuxFest NorthWest and DeveloperWeek, underscore his thought leadership. He’s a discerning judge for esteemed international awards, molding Microsoft’s cybersecurity landscape.

Rakesh Datta’s journey inspires dreamers, defying backgrounds and circumstances. His story reaffirms that unwavering determination, boundless pursuit of knowledge, and resolute commitment forge a path from humble beginnings to technical eminence. As the sun sets over Silicon Valley, it radiates warmth on Rakesh’s remarkable journey—an India-born beacon of hope for global technologists.