In late 2020, I was just a curious college student with a thirst for knowledge about cloud technologies and artificial intelligence. My journey began with a decision that many would call impulsive but turned out to be life-changing. I traveled over 500 kilometers just to attend a Microsoft Azure event. That one step of courage and curiosity marked the beginning of an extraordinary adventure.
🚀 The First Leap of Faith
I still remember the excitement mixed with nervousness as I entered the event venue. I knew no one there, but the warmth of the Azure Developer Community made me feel at home. I met developers, architects, and enthusiasts who were more than happy to share their knowledge. It was this openness that fueled my passion for cloud technologies.
🌱 Community: The Catalyst for Growth
The Azure Developer Community officially began in late 2020 and quickly became my launchpad for growth. It didn't just teach me technical skills; it taught me the essence of collaboration and continuous learning. I actively sought mentorship, participated in discussions, and never hesitated to ask questions. Over time, my efforts bore fruit. I was invited to speak at small meetups, and soon, these meetups turned into large-scale events and conferences.
Fast forward to today: I've spoken, hosted, or organized more than 300 events across the globe. These events range from intimate bootcamps to large-scale conferences with thousands of attendees. I even had the privilege of winning the AI ODC Challenge in both 2024 and 2025, which opened doors to new opportunities and collaborations.
🤝 Meeting the Visionary: Satya Nadella
One of the most surreal moments of my journey was meeting Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, not once but twice. The moment I shook hands with him, I felt the weight of years of learning and hard work crystallizing into a single, unforgettable experience. Getting photographed with him was a dream come true, and the picture was later featured in Pune Chaak's keynote session during the Microsoft AI Tour 2024 — a moment of recognition that made me realize the impact of my work and the power of community-driven growth.
❤️ Giving Back to the Community
The community that once nurtured me is now the one I contribute to passionately. I’ve mentored aspiring developers, organized countless bootcamps, and supported the growth of the Azure Developer Community in Tamil Nadu, which has now grown to over 5,000 members in record time.
🗣️ Talks and Sessions: A Chronicle of Knowledge Sharing
Throughout my journey, I've delivered numerous talks and conducted hands-on sessions. Here are some notable ones related to Azure and the Azure Developer Community:
-
Image Data Analytics using Python – Mepco Schlenk Engineering College
-
Deep Dive into Microsoft Azure Automated Machine Learning – Global Azure Datafest 2020
-
Machine Learning Pipelines in AzureML – Azure Developer Community Tamil Nadu
-
Demo on Azure Cognitive Services – Azure ML Series
-
Training & Deploying ML Models in Azure – Azure Developer Community Mumbai
-
Exploring Azure Cognitive Services – Azure Developer Community Raipur
-
Getting started with Azure AutoML – Azure Developer Community Chandigarh
-
Deploying Python Apps to AKS – Azure Developer Community Tamil Nadu
🎥 Video Sessions:
- Getting Started with Azure Machine Learning: A Beginner's Guide | Season of AI | Vivek Raja P S
- Tech Podcast Series | Vivek Raja P S
- A glimpse into our startup's challenges & success with Azure | #ScaleUpThursday
- Vivek Raja P S | 30 day 30 experts | Episode - 2
- Getting Started with Containers in Azure | Vivek Raja P S | Azure Developer Community - Chennai
- Exploring AWS AI/ML: Beyond the GenAI Hype Train with Vivek Raja
- #JavaOnAzure: Deploying a Spring Boot app to Azure by Vivek Sridhar | Azure Developer Community TN
- Whizlabs Webinar | Training & Deploying ML Models in AzureML | Vivek Raja
- Azure Machine Learning Bootcamp - Day 1 | Vivek Raja | Tamil Nadu Azure Dev Community
- A glimpse into our startup's challenges & success with Azure | #ScaleUpThursday
- AI India Tour 3
- Vivek Raja P S: Detecting and Visualizing COVID-19 Sentiment using AWS Comprehend and QuickSight
- Azure Purview: (Kick) Start your data governance journey
- Learnathon - Azure Static Web Apps | #LearnAtReactor (In-person)
- Demo on Azure cognitive services - Text Analytics by Navaneethan Gopal | Azure ML Series
- Hosting Python Packages in Azure DevOps
- Designing & Deploying COVID-19 Forecast App using Machine Learning Techniques
- #AzureML: Deployment and ML Model Monitoring in AzureML #MachineLearning #Azure
- Episode-1: Getting started with Azure Machine Learning
- Machine Learning Pipelines in AzureML | AzureML Series | DP-100 Study Jam
- HacktoberFest : Intro to Open Source 2021
- Literature Text Translation and Audio Synthesis using AI Services
- Introduction to Docker
- Zero to HERO: Image Processing Techniques - Part 2
- Zero to HERO: Image Processing Techniques - Part 1
📝 Blog Posts on Dev.to
- Attendance System with Face Mask Detection using Azure Face API (Published: Feb 15, 2024)
- Predict NYC Taxi Fares | End-to-end Azure MLOps with GitHub Actions (Published: Feb 14, 2024)
- Build a Production LLM-Powered QC Visual Inspection System Using Azure AI Foundry (Published: Feb 13, 2024)
- Analyse Customer Sentiment using Azure Data Factory pipeline (Published: Feb 12, 2024)
- Electronics-Datasheet-GPT: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Own Datasheet Q&A AI Agent (Published: Feb 11, 2024)
- Experimenting with DeepSeek-R1 Model in VS Code Hosted via GitHub Models (Published: Feb 10, 2024)
- How AWS GenAI boosted my day-to-day Productivity (Published: May 31, 2024) (AWS Heroes)
- What If Amazon Prime A/B Tests IPL Broadcasting? (Published: Feb 21, 2024)
- Speed-Dataing for hackers! (Published: Jan 6, 2024)
- Transforming Madurai | Tech, Community and more... (Published: Apr 17, 2023)
- AWS Community Day Hyderabad 2023 | Experience with Vivek (Published: Mar 25, 2023) (AWS Heroes)
- Blur Personal Identifiable Information (PII) in Text, Images and Videos (Published: Jun 10, 2022) (AWS Heroes)
- Adding Chaos to ML Compute Targets (Published: Feb 15, 2022) (Azure Architecture Series)
- Introducing Chaos Engineering to Machine Learning deployments (Published: Feb 12, 2022) (Azure Architecture Series)
- How FORMULA 1 insights are powered by AWS (Published: Oct 20, 2021) (AWS Community Builders)
- Hosting Python Packages in Azure DevOps (Published: Aug 31, 2021)
- Training Machine Learning models in AzureML (Published: Aug 22, 2021) (Azure Machine Learning Series)
- Getting started with Azure Machine Learning (Published: Aug 20, 2021) (Azure Machine Learning Series)
- Introduction to Machine Learning (Published: Aug 19, 2021) (Azure Machine Learning Series)
- Fine-tuning the performance of the DeepRacer model (Published: Jul 31, 2021) (AWS Community Builders - DeepRacer)
- Create, Train, Race your first AWS DeepRacer Model (Published: Jul 24, 2021) (AWS Community Builders - DeepRacer)
- Detecting and Visualizing Twitter Sentiment during COVID-19 Pandemic using AWS Comprehend and Quicksight (Published: Jul 19, 2021) (AWS Community Builders)
- Creating COVID19 stats newsletter using Azure Function Apps (Published: Apr 14, 2021)
- Literature Text Translation & Audio Synthesis using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services
Platform: All posts are published on dev.to.
🎓 Certifications: The Foundation of My Technical Knowledge
My passion for continuous learning is reflected in the certifications I've earned:
Microsoft Azure:
- Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)
- Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate (DP-100)
- Microsoft Certified Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-100)
- Microsoft Certified Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-200 & DP-201)
- Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
🌐 VickyBytes: A New Chapter
As I reflect on this journey, I’m thrilled to share that I'm working closely with Microsoft's leadership to build a new platform called VickyBytes. This initiative aims to provide developers with curated, high-quality content to stay ahead in the ever-evolving tech landscape. The idea is simple yet powerful: leverage the strength of community to empower developers worldwide.
👨💼 My Professional Journey: A Snapshot
- VP of Product at Nexstem (YourStory Tech30 startup winner; Raised $3.5M!)
- AWS ML Hero (Youngest ever!), AWS Hero of the Year (APJ 2024)
- Invent & Simplify Award recipient at AWS Community Leaders Summit 2022
- Founder & Lead: Azure Developer Community TN (Since 2021!)
- Founder & Lead: AWS User Group Madurai (Nominated as Best UG 2022, 2023 & 2024)
- Guinness World Record Holder (Thanks to AWS!)
- Published Researcher: Recent paper at IIM-B & holder of 2 AI patents
- 80+ Hackathon Wins; Participant & Jury
- Mentor | Blogger | Content Creator
- Movie Buff | Go-Kart Racer | Guitar Enthusiast | Professional Reels Sender
🌟 Lessons from the Journey
- Community is Everything: Growth accelerates when like-minded people collaborate.
- Consistency Pays Off: Showing up consistently to learn, share, and contribute can open unimaginable doors.
- Give More Than You Take: The more you give to the community, the more you grow.
🙏 A Heartfelt Thank You
I owe my success to the Azure Developer Community and the incredible people who believed in me when I was just a student with dreams. To every mentor, attendee, and fellow enthusiast: thank you for being part of my story.
Photo Gallery (Random moments clicked!)
This journey from being a curious student to becoming one of India's recognized AI figures has been nothing short of magical. And if there's one message I'd like to share, it’s this: take that first step, no matter how uncertain it seems. The community will catch you, guide you, and help you soar.
#AzureCommunity #AIInnovation #CommunityFirst #VickyBytes
Top comments (1)
What an amazing and inspiring journey. Wishing you the best!