From Small Town to SmartThings: Finding Your Passion at Work

“I’ve received many good offers since joining Samsung 15+ years ago, but not once have I been tempted to leave. There is just no excitement to be found outside.”

Hailing from a small town in Andhra Pradesh, Hariprasad Taduru, Department Head of the SmartThings - Services Team at Samsung R&D Institute India – Bangalore (SRI-B), was not among those who had their career path mapped out for themselves. In fact, while completing his degree at a local engineering college, far from dreaming of a corporate career, he had little knowledge of the kind of jobs available in the market.

Moving to a fast-paced city like Bangalore, where English – a language he was not comfortable with at the time – came naturally to most, he felt like a fish out of water. However, while the environment and crowds seemed intimidating, there was one thing he was absolutely confident about: Coding. And that confidence led to his first IT job at a now-renowned consumer electronics firm, where he gained experience, confidence and learning, working chiefly on Linux OS.

Moving to SRI-B – the fourth company that he would work at – in 2004 proved to be a life-changing experience. As his previous company announced a shutdown, opportunities from other MNCs were shared, among which Samsung stood out as being the hardest to crack. While his interview lasted almost three hours, what worried Hari was something he noticed after his interaction: the bikes that were parked in the campus while he came in were still there, post 10pm. “…Hard work or passion?”, he quietly wondered. Deciding to take a leap of faith, he signed on.

After seven years of working on the server-side in previous companies, Hari now found himself operating on the client-side – a shift that came both with challenges and learning. But things were soon about to change. As SRI-B’s IoT Team (Now: SmartThings) took form, need arose for engineers with experience on the server-side. And soon enough, Hari moved from a ‘member in training’ to a trainer, helping upskill an entire team to take on a new portfolio, along with a handful of other colleagues with similar career experience. Not only did this lead to a deep bonding with his team members, but also the development of a new skill that he would never have otherwise explored – blogging.

Thrilled to be of help to his team, Hari began sharing his knowledge and learnings of C++ and Linux through blogs that he would publish on the company’s intranet. He built a habit of documenting every new learning so that his team members could benefit from them – a kind and nurturing nature that he seems to inherently possess. His efforts even won him his first award in Samsung, in recognition of his efforts in shaping up the team.

“Time would fly by so quickly that I never knew when I’d logged in and out of office”, he shared, smiling.

With the learnings they had gained from dedicated training programs sponsored by Samsung, the team began to build their own IoT stacks, for both the server and client-side, using Open-Source technology, and even presented demos using real devices. Eventually, Hari was travelling to South Korea and other Samsung subsidiaries to present their work and also collaborate with global colleagues.

In 2014, as Samsung acquired SmartThings, the team at SRI-B became the first to build a rule engine, once again opening the doors for global collaboration. Over time, their work expanded from only managing the GDPR microservice for SmartThings initially, to 48 services today, entirely out of SRI-B.

“At SRI-B, a core philosophy that leaders live by is that it is their responsibility to build the best teams. When a person joins SRI-B, if they aren’t the strongest, we make them strong – even if they decide to move on, they leave as the best in their field. That’s the kind of ecosystem we have here, where you can keeping growing,” he shares.

Today, the SmartThings team at SRI-B boasts an impressive portfolio with 100+ members. Their efforts towards enabling the security of platform users also contributed to SmartThings earning the ISO 27001 certificate in 2024, given to Cloud platforms that maintain the safety and security of users and their data.

“The biggest advantage we have at Samsung is the easy access we have to all kinds of technology, resources and learning any time. For developers, we don’t need anything else. Even for freshers, I would say this is pure heaven. I have been here for more than 15 years, but I still feel like I have joined a start-up.”

Another aspect of SRI-B that Hari truly cherishes is the care and acknowledgement extended to employees’ family members. When he was promoted to the senior level, his family received hand-written message from the Managing Director, acknowledging and thanking them for being the silent pillars of the organization. “That was a special thing for me. SRI-B has a culture that supports and cares for your family too. I remember even during the Covid era, the support given to all of us, from the organization, our managers and our leaders, felt really good, like we aren’t just a corporate company…”

He especially treasures the team he works with, crediting them for being his constant support, source of inspiration and learning, and his steady support. And the initial fears that grasped him surrounding life at SRI-B? “A busted myth”, he shares.

If you wish to be part of an organization that encourages you to grow, learn and discover your own path, please visit:
https://sec.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Samsung_Careers