Putting customers first: SSIE alumna finds success at Cisco

Lavanya Gopalakrishnan, MS ’98, is a senior director of customer experience at Cisco. She earned her industrial engineering degree from the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, and reflects on how Binghamton University has helped shape her career.

Question: How did you decide on Binghamton University?

Answer: I grew up in West Africa and then moved to India for high school and my undergrad. During my undergrad, I realized that I needed to focus on what I would do next. I knew students who had gone to Binghamton and talked to them about the program. They seemed to have a clear focus in terms of how they could find jobs in their fields of study. It wasn’t easy finding a role connected to the field you were studying in, so Binghamton seemed like a place that had that opportunity.

Q: Why engineering?

A: My parents had expected me to become either a doctor or an engineer, so that’s where it started. But then over the years, I realized that I really liked engineering, especially in terms of the level of structure and clarity it provides.

Q: Is there a Binghamton experience that has stuck with you?

A: I did a modeling and simulation class with Don Gause, and I was told it was a tough class that nobody ever got an A in. But I had this drive of, “I have to be able to do this.” Getting an A in that class is one of the biggest things I remember about Binghamton. I think, ultimately, what I learned through that is nothing’s too difficult if you can put in the effort to go get it done. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know it before. Everybody else didn’t know it before, either.

Q: Have you carried this mindset of “nothing is too difficult” with you throughout your career?

A: Absolutely. My approach to every problem is “nobody was born knowing this, but I have to learn it at some point, and this is my moment.” I don’t anticipate that I’m the best at it, but I know that I will learn enough to be able to provide value.

When I tell my teams, “This is not rocket science,” I never mean to take away from the complexity of the work. What I’m telling them is, “I believe that you’re smart enough, and you’re sharp enough to be able to get it done.”

Q: What is the key to managing a successful team?

A: I believe that we all spend so much time at work. Life is too short to be doing something that you don’t have fun doing. Work has to be fun, and so I’m always thinking about what it takes to make work fun for others.

I also want my teams to realize that my focus is getting it done as a team, not as individuals succeeding. There is no one person who is smart enough to know it all. We have to trust each other in order to work together.

Q: What is the most common misconception about customers?

A: People underestimate the fact that you are there because of the customer.

If you didn’t have those customers, then you would not exist. Whether you are a big company, a school or a mom-and-pop shop, you are there to provide an experience for customers. If it is not good, then they are going to find a different way to go get the experience that they want.

People think of customer experience as an organization, or a person or a particular, one-time slogan, but it is the most relevant focus for every single person in a company every single day.

Q: If you were teaching a class at Binghamton, what would your main takeaway for students be?

A: Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. So dream big.

Q: What or who inspires you?

A: On a personal level, it’s my grandmother. She was a strong woman who paved the way for the next generation of women in my family, and then for me to get the education and exposure to get me to where I’m at today. It’s only because she was as strong as she was, in thatsociety and that setting.

On a professional level, I personally believe that I learn from not only the leaders I work with, but the team members that I work with as well. I look at each person and think, “What can I learn from that person?” That is what motivates me every single day.