Let me begin by saying that my entry into the corporate world was more by accident than by intent. I had been a hardcore academic pursuing post-graduation in computer science, looking forward to a career involving research, innovation and sweat – not necessarily in that order. A campus hiring event landed me my first job, and after nine months, I found myself moving to Hyderabad as an Application Engineer in Oracle more than two decades ago. Little did I know that those aspirations of mine – namely, research, innovation and sweat would still be realized. Just not in the way I had imagined, rather through my career that was shaped little by little in this organization over the years. They say love is never lost. It always returns – just not in the way you expect it to (smiles).
My career in Oracle has been centered around process automation. I started in the Application Technology Group as part of Oracle Workflow – an E-Business Suite offering. I have been fortunate to witness and contribute to Oracle’s Process Automation journey – from SOA Suite and BPEL, to BPM On Prem, followed by Process Cloud Service and OPA (Oracle Process Automation) so much so that workflow and process automation became synonymous with my professional identity. So, after roughly 17 years in the middleware org, when an opportunity came to join the APEX team and bring workflow into the database – I immediately knew this was where I wanted to be. DBMS was my favorite subject at university. Process Automation and Database coming together – the ecstasy level was like two of my best buddies getting married!
My journey with APEX is only about 4 years old but what an amazing journey has this been! Building process automation in APEX has been a dream ride. And with my fellow team members who are equally driven by vision, curiosity and passion, I have never felt more aligned with my pursuit than today.
Four years ago, I had been doing quite well in the middleware org. So why make a move? Because I was curious. About what came next. My takeaway from my own experience is this: they say curiosity kills the cat. But it also kills the myth of the comfort zone and stagnation. I plan to stay curious and wake up to new possibilities every day.
In my free time, I write poetry. My other passion. My colleague Christian Neumueller had once requested me to write a poem using PL/SQL. I haven’t been able to fulfill that request, but here’s a short poem on APEX that I find apt to end this story with!
Cheers!
I’m low on code and high on life
Isn’t that how the deal must be?
Who needs a sequel when there is SQL
Forever filling my artery.
I’m low on code and high on life
That my friend, is real flex-
And if you have guessed my name
You’ve guessed it right! It’s A…PEX!
Ananya Chatterjee, Consulting Member of Technical Staff