'I Failed IIT Twice': Microsoft Leader's 25-Year Journey From Setbacks To Tech Leadership Goes Viral

(MENAFN- Live Mint) A senior director at Microsoft has struck a chord on social media after sharing a deeply personal account of her unconventional journey-one marked by repeated setbacks, financial stress and self-doubt-before eventually rising to leadership roles at some of the world's biggest technology companies.

In a candid post, Priyanka Vergadia revealed that she failed to crack the IIT entrance exam not once, but twice-an experience she described as devastating at the time. Determined to become an engineer, the tech leader eventually enrolled in a non-IIT engineering college, even as peers moved ahead on more traditional paths.

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Her challenges did not end there. After graduating in 2009, she moved to the United States for graduate studies, juggling student loans and the pressure of starting over in a new country. While many of her friends secured internships with ease, she struggled to find opportunities, eventually landing an internship-and later a full-time role-at a small startup.

She began her career as a quality assurance engineer, a role she says came with its own share of self-doubt.“I questioned whether I even belonged in tech,” she noted, recalling a phase when career growth felt slow compared to those around her. A turning point came when she shifted into customer-facing engineering roles, where she found purpose in solving real-world business problems using technology.

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Over the years, that shift opened new doors. In 2017, she was hired by Google, and later went on to lead developer advocacy for North America at Google Cloud. Along the way, she discovered a passion for what she described as“learning out loud”-a journey that saw her author best-selling books, launch new products and step onto the TED stage.

In 2024, she joined Microsoft to lead developer strategy for go-to-market initiatives. A year later, she added another milestone to her résumé by completing an MBA from Wharton School, even as she continued to build and lead teams with multi-billion-dollar impact.

Reflecting on her 25-year journey, the executive emphasised that her success was not rooted in being“the smartest person in the room”, but in persistence and self-belief.“Failing IIT twice felt like the end of the world,” she wrote.“But it wasn't my destination-it was just the beginning.”

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Her message resonated widely, especially among young professionals navigating delayed timelines or non-linear careers.“Your timeline is your own,” she wrote, urging readers not to let fear or failure dictate their choices.“Dream big. You can only achieve what you can imagine.”

The post has since been widely shared as a reminder that career success-particularly in competitive fields like technology-rarely follows a straight line, and that resilience often matters more than early wins.

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