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Lesson from my journey
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Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan
Science and technology are most powerful when they are in service of people, when the breakthroughs in a laboratory translate into opportunity for a student, a business, or a community that could not have imagined them before. Throughout my career, I have been guided by the belief that innovation should be accessible everywhere, to everyone, not concentrated in a few institutions or geographies. Building knowledge enterprises that serve that vision, whether in a university or in a federal agency, has been the common thread across everything I have done.
From 2020 to 2025, I served as the 15th Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation, a $9.06 billion independent federal agency, where I established the first new directorate in 31 years - the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, aimed at accelerating the translation of science for economic progress, national security, and societal impact. I currently serve as University Professor of Technology and Innovation and Foundation Chair in Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University, where I have held a faculty appointment since 1997. Under my leadership, ASU grew its research performance fivefold and was recognised as the most innovative research university in the United States. In 2025, I was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in recognition of my contributions to science.
As an Advisor to Kalaari Capital, I bring a perspective shaped by leadership at the intersection of research, higher education, federal science policy, and technology translation. I am particularly engaged by the opportunities at the frontier of AI, computing, and the systems that connect scientific discovery to real-world deployment.
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