Head of Product @ PayQuicker • Creator – Follow for content on Leadership, Personal branding, UpSkilling & Productization • I share what I learn

I am an AI Product Leader with 13+ years of experience in FinTech, digital payments, and product management, focused on building and scaling solutions that move money securely and efficiently. My expertise spans payout orchestration platforms, virtual cards, digital wallets, and cross-border payments, with a track record of delivering products in 200+ countries and 40+ currencies.

I’ve partnered with banks, PSPs, and global card networks (Visa, Mastercard, ACH, SEPA, SWIFT, RTP) to launch products that improve speed, reliability, and customer experience. My background includes defining KPIs, reducing failed transactions by 15%, and driving feature adoption by 20% through data-driven insights.

On the technical side, I work closely with engineering teams to design and deliver products built on REST APIs, OAuth standards, and webhook integrations for real-time synchronization. I leverage SQL and BI tools (Power BI, dashboards, analytics) to guide prioritization and ensure compliance with frameworks such as KYC, AML, PCI, PSD2, 3DS, and EMVCo.

I thrive at the intersection of product strategy, execution, and stakeholder alignment — turning complex financial and regulatory challenges into clear roadmaps, and mentoring teams to deliver scalable, customer-centric solutions.

Nazuk Jain 👩‍💻

The last 5 minutes of my interview got me an offer letter
Real story ⬇️ 

This one time, I was in the behavioral round interview, as the interview was nearing an end, I had this feeling...

I had followed a very structured approach to my answers and all my examples/stories. 

But something felt missing.

When it was time for my questions, I asked the usual thoughtful ones (about the company, team, challenges, etc.). 

Then, as we wrapped up, 
I asked something that eventually led to an offer. 
Behavioral interviews are less about "good answers" and more about telling complete stories. 

Most candidates never get to tell all of theirs.
After a couple of my questions towards the end, I asked:

"Is there anything I haven't had a chance to touch on that would be helpful for you to know?"

The interviewer paused.

Then said, "Actually… tell me more about your GenAI work."
That question created an opening I didn't have before.

I spent the next few minutes walking through how I'd applied GenAI in product workflows. The conversation went deeper. 

That round led to the next. The next led to an offer.



Don't forget: your last question is a powerful part of the interview. Make it count.

♻️ Repost to help someone prepping right now.

GenAI Product • Product Strategy and Growth • Writes about Product Management, AI and Career Growth • Creator • Brand Partnerships

"Just be yourself" is the worst interview advice ever
6 killer moves that help you stand out in PM interviews

I know we don't like to admit this, but truthfully, the interviewer isn't always objectively scoring your answers. 

Their brain forms a snap judgment in the first few minutes, then spends the rest of the hour looking for evidence to confirm it.

which means most of your prep is solving the wrong problem. You are asking ChatGPT to give you polished answers when you need to understand 
the psychology, tactics, and biases.


6 tactical moves that shift outcomes:

1/ Front-load your strongest story. Your first answer is the anchor. If their first note says "sharp thinker," every answer after gets the benefit of the doubt. Don't open with something safe. Open with something that shows judgment.


2/ Research the interviewer, not just the company. Their LinkedIn tells you what they value. A former founder is most likely to reward scrappiness. A Big Tech PM most likely rewards cross-functional rigor. Lead with the story that matches their lens. and dont generic questions like "what's the culture like" 


3/ Don't end at the result with "So What." You said, "Retention improved 15%," which is great, but then if it was paired with addional qualifier, "That became the #1 input to our Series B narrative," is a strong highlight in the feedback.


I go deeper into the psychology + a full list of rest of 6 moves, how you need to tweak your answer depending on where you interview (startups, scaleups, and big tech) in my full free guide. 


Comment "tactics" and I'll personally send you the guide. (must be connected)
♻️ Reposts gets priority.

Is this you?
→ You want a career that actually feels meaningful and exciting (and pays well).
→ You’re tired of living for weekends, vacations, and “someday”.
→ You know where you want to go, but not how (it's a WIP).

Hi, I’m Soumya. I help burntout professionals, grads, and career pivoters make intentional career transitions, without starting from scratch or settling.

I spent years in roles that were objectively good (interesting work moments, nice people, solid pay) that still left me wanting more (and that felt selfish and scary!).

Making the shift changed everything. It led to meaningful projects I’m proud of, teams that pushed me to grow, real social impact at scale, and a level of freedom in how I live and work that I didn’t think was possible.

But my path was messy, long and full of late-night anxiety.

So, I’m building a product in this space so you don’t have to spend years in trial and error. I also coach a small group of people through career changes where I can genuinely help.

Let's talk if you’re:
→ trying to change direction and struggling to find the best way to do it
→ a new grad/pivoter who’s feeling stuck in your job search for the right roles
→ interested in building something for driven non-linear professionals

Soumya Pasumarthy

I used to think going after the most popular + proven path was the smartest choice I could make for my career.

But what I wanted at 23 is nowhere close to what I want now. 

In my 20s, I thought I wanted:
📌 a big company
📌 a strong title
📌 fast promotions

...the kind of career that impresses extended relatives in family gatherings.

And for a while, when I was building that, it felt like success.

But somewhere along the way, my definitions changed.

And I realised what I ACTUALLY wanted was:
✨ work that felt meaningful
✨ people I actually enjoyed spending 8 hours a day with
✨ energy left at the end of work to still have a life
✨ and time for hobbies, curiosity, and rest.

That shift was deeeeply uncomfortable. 

Because once you realise what you actually want, staying where you are starts to feel expensive.

Of course, exploring something different is terrifying.

You worry about financial stability, starting from scratch, falling behind peers, failing...

But there’s another cost we rarely talk about:

👉 The real cost of slowly losing yourself over 90,000 hours, spending most of your adult life doing work that drains the hell out of you, all for a few hours of fake weekend recovery (mostly doing chores!) and the occasional scheduled escape.

And you realise that the brave thing to do isn’t to accept things for what they are and stay, 

But to give yourself permission to find and do what actually matters to you.

That's been my biggest learning in the last 10 years.

What is something that mattered to you in your 20s that matters a lot less to you now? 🫶 😃

Helping you skip Sunday Scaries | Founder, 3x Pivoter, Coach | MIT, IITKGP | Edtech, Career Change, Meaningful Work, Nonlinear Paths

Everytime I've changed careers (after grad school, mid 20s, and at 30), I've run into the same question: “How am I supposed to get hired in a field with no experience?”

That question sends you into busywork: rewrite your resume 47 times, apply/network everywhere, and hope someone takes a chance.

But looking back, this is what I'd tell my younger self:

📌 First off: Stop making hiring managers connect the dots.
Instead of just listing years of work, explain it as experience/skills that make sense for the domain you’re MOVING into, so it's easy to see you understand  the space + you'll add value from Day 1. I still remember the kind feedback I got on a beeeauutiful multipage colourful resume I had for a Product Design role that was a 10/10 for creativity but not really for clarity 😅 

📌 Secondly, if you don’t have proof yet, build it: 
I realised after some trial and error that while courses help, hands-on evidence helps more. If new without experience, take a weekend or two, imagine you already work for that company, and do a mini case study, a DIY project, a 10-slide “here’s how I’d solve this” deck, a small app, or even a freelance project.

📌 Lastly, be clear on why they should pick you:
Suuuper important. You’re competing with people who already have the “right” background. So what’s your edge coming from an unconventional path?

Whether it’s a domain insight from your previous industry, advanced degree, or side hustle experience that adds up. Know your unfair advantage and articulate it confidently, and clearly.

For yourself more than anyone else.

✨If I were changing careers today, I'd 1000% focus on learning >>> pay.
Picking internships, part-time roles, projects that give real reps, even if they’re not initially ticking all the boxes.

This is a stepping stone. No one lands their dream role right off the bat, but the people who break the path down 2-3 doable action points tend to get there faster.

Changing careers can be hard. But I always feel it's so exciting to be able to do something fulfilling -- that alone is worth the jump 😃 And who knows what you'll discover on the other side!

I just wrapped up one month of testing (crazy!!) and I feel like I unlocked a few earlystage founder milestones along the way 😅 so here goes:

1) The demo that chose chaos.
My very first tester. I had built the prototype on Lovable (I can't code). I tested it 30 minutes before the call, and everything was beautifully functional.

We get on the call, I'm nervous and excited, it's my first prototype and my first non-family/friend user, aaand it doesn’t work.

Turns out Gemini was having issues at that. exact. moment. And as a non-technical founder, there was absolutely nothing I could do except try chatting with Lovable while awkwardly asking the user for a few seconds, freaking out, smiling and politely apologising 🤣 

I ended up sending a coffee voucher as a thank you for their time and patience, and promised we’d redo it.

I went for a walk. Came back. It worked perfectly.

Founder lesson: sometimes the solution is fresh air and emotional resilience.

2) The wildly different feedback.
Even within my small cohort of testers, the reactions were extreeemely different.

The varying feedback depended majorly on the stage of job search they were in, and this reinforced just how strongly the product can vary depending on the stage and mental frame of the user.

I'm constantly going back to the white board refining the niche and offer.

3) The reactions I didn’t expect (in a goood way!)
This was the most unexpected, surprising, and happiest part of the month.. I had asked testers to complete 1-2 tasks, buut so many of them stayed on and explored for longer!

Hearing things like,
“Wait..this is so honest and actually helpful.”
"Wow, that's exactly what I want to do... how did it figure that out?!!"
“DUUUUUDE I NEEEDED this!!” .. genuinely surprised me.

There are so many career tools out there, and seeing mine land felt incredibly grounding.

Entering March feeling exceptionally grateful, AND excited. 

There's also that daily founder energy of: What day is it? I need to move faster. There’s so much to build aaaaa (typical me)!

Month one was messy, validating, slightly chaotic, but very motivating.

Onto iteration two. Hopefully with fewer live demo plot twists 😬

Nobody talks about this career phase: you know your current role isn’t it, but you can’t see the next move yet.

Before you panic-apply, quit on a rough day, or take the “safe” option, pause. 

That in-between phase is uncomfortably common, and it’s actually not as hard to navigate as you’d think (it just feels harder in the moment) 😓

This is what you need: a short reset + a few low-stakes experiments.

Do this:

1. List work that energizes you (aka your repeatable strengths).
✨ What day-to-day work do you like doing, and do it well?

2. Define your deal breakers.
✨ What do you care about for your current phase (pay, exciting work, learning curve, recognition, flexibility, culture & team), and what are you willing to compromise on?

3. Turn your past into a clear reason to hire you.
✨ What high-impact problems do you uniquely solve better than others, for who, and what in your experience proves it?

Once you’ve done this groundwork, things start getting clearer. 

You can spot the industries, companies, or types of problems you’re especially well suited for.

From there, don’t guess, talk to 5 people already doing that work. Chill, pressure-free 20 min chats where the only goal is to learn about their day and "test" fit before making a change.

Want to turn that reflection into a clear next step? My DMs are open 👋

Next week I'll talk about ways to test that fit in low-risk ways.

--------

👋 Hi, I'm Soumya! I spent years trying to find work that energized me instead of draining me, so you don't have to. Follow along for posts on fulfilling careers.

You: ‘Whaat, I don’t hate my job, why would you say that??’ 
Also you: celebrates cancelled meetings like national holidays.. 🫠

I’m noticing this recurring question among late-20s / early-30s folks in big tech: what does growth look like from here?

For ~50% of the people, strong compensation and relatively stable work is enough.

For the other 50%, this is where growth and satisfaction starts to diverge.

Additional scope or title changes don’t materially change the work itself, and the long-term effort-to-reward trajectory becomes less exciting and more limiting.

Because it’s not about fewer hours. It’s about whether the effort is compounding in a direction they care about.

Big tech makes you good at:
• structured problem solving
• technical depth that travels
• strong cross-functional execution
• rapid experimentation and tight learning loops

Here’s the thing: All of these are incredibly transferable skills.

You just need a new context.

A lot of the “meh” isn’t about ability. It’s about wanting mission alignment. 

And sometimes the shift isn’t to leave big tech, it’s simply to apply your  leverage in a space you care about.

If you are in engineering, product, or design, here are 3 very specific arenas, and real problems worth solving + where you can bring a ton of value:

What would you add? Curious what I’m missing 🫶

taplio

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Soumya Pasumarthy

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taplio

The Battle

Nazuk Jain 👩‍💻

Soumya Pasumarthy

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