This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/engineering-manager-by-day-solo-innovator-by-night-why-this-is-the-best-time-to-build.
Engineering Manager & Top ML Writer shares his journey from destroying radios to pioneering SmartScreen 9 years before Google's Android 15 feature.
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Ravitez Dondeti, Engineering Manager and Top Writer on HackerNoon in Machine Learning, Programming, and Security, shares his unconventional journey into tech from dismantling his grandma's radio as a kid to nearly failing his first software training, then becoming a recognized innovator. His 2015 SmartScreen app pioneered intelligent screen timeout nine years before Google implemented similar functionality in Android 15. Now, he builds AI-powered mobile apps, contributes critical security fixes to open-source projects like OpenSIPS, and writes about the reality behind AI hype. In this interview, he discusses why this is the best time to be a builder, his vision for AI on edge devices, and why knowledge not just tools will always be yours.