Quality-first: How Preethi drives innovation in engineering

Preethi Nunes’ commitment to quality drives her at work—where she ensures Freshworks products meet the highest standards and exceed customer expectations.

Customers today are looking for more value for the [same] price. From a quality assurance perspective, it means shipping innovative products by developing and implementing quality control procedures, conducting tests, analyzing data, and making recommendations for continuous improvement. From a broader engineering perspective, it includes planning, scheduling, and documenting my team’s work to execute our projects successfully. Basically, it’s all about being responsible for delivering world-class products at a good price.

When Preethi joined Freshworks in 2014 as a software quality assurance engineer, she was “naturally drawn to finding and fixing bugs because it allowed me the satisfaction of watching a product improve with each iteration.”

And just like every iteration made the product better, Preethi found herself growing too. In March 2021, she was promoted to engineering manager—a role where she ensures “my squads are delivering on the items on our roadmap while learning new ideas and having fun working.”

Enriching quality, empowering people

What sets Preethi apart is her dedication to leading with empathy and empowering peers to grow in their careers.

I have been blessed with mentors who gave me many opportunities to prove myself and molded me into who I am today. As a manager, I do the same for my team now.

Preethi believes that simply delegating tasks without guiding employees sets them up to fail. That’s why she works hard to “bring alignment and purpose” to her team and makes sure “everyone is excited and committed to what they do.”

AFL Preethi Nunes quote. She says my job as a manager is to ensure that my team has all the context, tools, support, and guidance to do their work and deliver what’s expected. I also make sure that I continuously refine our processes and guidelines to make each day a better day for my team.

Thriving together

One of the biggest challenges Preethi faced being a “hands-on” teammate was trying to do everything independently. “With experience, I understood I didn’t have to do everything in my team. I just had to ensure everything was taken care of. And that meant asking for help when required.”

Being able to ask for help gave her perspective. “Now I start my day listing things I want to be done and then asking myself where I need support.” In terms of guidance, Preethi says, “the quarterly planning meetings align the whole team and empower everyone to rally together to the finish line.” 

It’s not only guidance and support but also opportunities that help one grow.

At Freshworks, I can take my idea to anyone and have it heard and adopted if it adds value to the business.

Talking about her inspirations at work, Preethi opens her palms and smiles. “Look around,” she says. “Everyone inspires me. Everyone does their job with enthusiasm and positivity, from the support staff serving us tea to upper management who recently danced for us too! The fact that we are one big family drives me to make an impact,” she beams.AFL infographic Preethi Nunes. She explains why she chose Freshworks and offers advice for newbies. Her mantra for success is people, quality, and predictibility.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *