Episode
Engineering Manager by Day, Solo Innovator by Night: Why This Is the Best Time to Build
- Published
- Nov 19, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 879
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://share.transistor.fm/s/f9d28b07
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Summary
This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/engineering-manager-by-day-solo-innovator-by-night-why-this-is-the-best-time-to-build . Engineering Manager & Top ML Writer shares his journey from destroying radios to pioneering SmartScreen 9 years before Google's Android 15 feature. Check more stories related to management at: https://hackernoon.com/c/management . You can also check exclusive content about #engineering-leadership , #machine-learning , #open-source , #ai-innovation , #audio-technology , #tech-careers , #hackernoon top story , #software-development , and more. This story was written by: @rdondeti . Learn more about this writer by checking @rdondeti's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com . Ravitez Dondeti, Engineering Manager and Top Writer on HackerNoon in Machine Learning, Programming, and Security, shares his unconventional journey into tech from dismantling his grandma's radio as a kid to nearly failing his first software training, then becoming a recognized innovator. His 2015 SmartScreen app pioneered intelligent screen timeout nine years before Google implemented similar functionality in Android 15. Now, he builds AI-powered mobile apps, contributes critical security fixes to open-source projects like OpenSIPS, and writes about the reality behind AI hype. In this interview, he discusses why this is the best time to be a builder, his vision for AI on edge devices, and why knowledge not just tools will always be yours.