Meet The Team #5: Bhupali Chiplunkar (& the importance of rubber ducks 🦆)

In this edition of Meet the Team, we sit down with Bhupali Chiplunkar, the Engineering Manager of our Product Engineering team. From challenging astrologers' career predictions to managing critical production issues and planning dream vacations, Bhupali shares her journey from being a hands-on coder to leading engineering teams.

Your journey into software engineering started with going against an astrologer's prediction. Tell us about that.

After my 10th standard board exams, my parents, being quite traditional, consulted an astrologer about which stream I should pursue. The astrologer suggested I'd do well in the medical stream. Being naturally rebellious, I decided I'd prove them wrong. I don't even remember exactly why I was so opposed to the prediction. However it completely aligned with my life philosophy – I believe you can excel at whatever you put your mind to, rather than depending on luck or someone else's predictions. That mindset has carried through into my work as well!

Walk us through your path to Clarisights.

My journey spans about 10 years and it's been quite a ride. I started at Indus Valley Partners, a company making software for hedge funds. Fresh out of college, I was hired as a full-stack engineer working with C# and JavaScript. While I couldn't make much sense of fintech then, that job was crucial because it helped me discover my true interests. Having studied human-computer interactions in college, I had a natural affinity for UI and user experience, but I didn't necessarily have a design perspective. That's when I realised front-end development was my calling.

From there, I moved to a healthcare startup similar to Practo. The startup environment was eye-opening. That's when I really started diving deep into front-end development and React. Then came BookMyShow, which was fascinating because of the scale. Think about it: every Friday when a movie releases, there's a massive surge in ticket bookings. The infrastructure needed to handle that load is incredible.

It's actually a common job interview question for engineers: 'How would you build your own Ticketmaster?' I wanted to work for a company that actually solved that problem! The experience taught me about guardrails, monitoring systems and, most importantly, business acumen. It wasn't just a tech job, it was about understanding operations and how technology impacts the business' bottom line.

Later, I worked at ShareChat, a social media platform. There I discovered something new about myself. I wasn't just good at coding, I found joy in helping others solve problems. That's where I first managed a team of 25 people. It was both exhilarating and intense. I absolutely loved it.

For many engineers choosing between coding and leading people is a difficult decision. How did you navigate that?

There was a defining moment at ShareChat that really crystallized this for me. We had this massive production bug that was costing the company 60% of our daily GMV. Being from a full-stack background I had two choices: jump in and code myself, or help the team solve it. During that debugging session, I didn't even know the system or how it worked, but I knew that if I didn't help this person figure it out, it would cost the company significantly. I chose to be their rubber duck. Sometimes being a rubber duck for someone else's problem-solving process can be more valuable than writing the code yourself.

What does an average day look like for you at Clarisights?

My days are pretty packed, but I've developed a rhythm that works well for both me and the team. I start my day with sync-ups because I strongly believe that any high-priority changes or blockers should be highlighted first thing in the morning. If there are going to be delays, I want to know about them immediately. Then I have a specific block for reviewing pull requests. I take this very seriously. It's not just about code review; it's about maintaining our engineering standards and helping the team grow. After that, there's usually a block for technical discussions.

One of the most important parts of my day is the one-on-one with team members. I do these weekly or bi-weekly, depending on what each person prefers. It's not just a formal check-in, it's where I keep in touch with people and maintain a continuous feedback stream. I keep my coding time for the end of the day when I can sit alone and really focus.

You're currently working on Table 2.0 which seems to be generating a lot of excitement internally. Tell us about that project.

Table 2.0 is really exciting because it's completely reimagining how tables work in our reports. You know, when you think about it, tables are the fundamental way marketers interact with their data. Currently, our tables show dimensions and metrics in a fixed way - you have your list of dimensions first, followed by metrics, and that's pretty much it. But we're asking ourselves: why should it be this rigid?

We're adding capabilities that might seem simple on the surface but are actually quite transformative.

Things like column reordering, breakdown capabilities, and in-place pivoting. The fundamental question we're asking is: do users really need to transform or create a different table just to pivot their data? Can these pivots be temporary? Can we have column-level filters? How do we handle creative previews when users want to see ad spends against them?

This is especially important because the marketing world is evolving rapidly. There's more focus on creative previews in marketing than ever before. You have both visual ads and written ads now, and the business is moving more towards visual content. Our tables need to evolve to accommodate these changes.

The really interesting challenge here is making all this power accessible without making it complicated. It's like what we did with custom metrics - you shouldn't need to know complex formulas to work with your data effectively. That's exactly what we're doing with Table 2.0 - reimagining the interface to cater to today's marketers while keeping it intuitive and user-friendly.

What makes Clarisights different from other places you've worked?

The biggest difference is that Clarisights is building what I'd call one of the most basic products marketers need. It's like what Jira or GitHub is for engineers. What's fascinating is how something that appears so simple on the surface has such immense complexity behind the scenes. The amount of optimization and hard work that goes into building these reports, so users can consume them daily, is mind-blowing.

What really drew me to Clarisights is their unique approach to tables and data interaction. We're essentially competing with Google Sheets, which is bread and butter for many people - I mean, I even planned my entire wedding on Google Sheets! But we're approaching it fundamentally differently.

Instead of making users adapt to technical requirements, we're adapting the technology to how users actually work. Do marketers really need to know complex formulas? At the end of the day, they just want to see their data in a way that makes sense to them.

Another major difference is how close we are to our customers. In my previous roles at B2C companies, you couldn't really go to a random user and ask them about their experience booking a movie ticket, or posting on social media. At Clarisights, we have a direct line to our users. Being a B2B product means we're not just building features, we're solving very specific problems for very specific users. That requires a different kind of thinking and a different approach to product development.

You can't just throw features at the wall and see what sticks - every feature needs to solve a real problem for our customers.

Outside of work, we hear you're quite the traveller?

Yes! If I hadn't become a software engineer, I think I would've been a travel influencer. I love experiencing different cultures and looking for local experiences, rather than just tourist hotspots.

Greece is my favorite destination so far. It was an eye-opener for both me and my husband. Everyone stops working at 5 PM, which was such a contrast to India. We spent time just relaxing on beaches, especially in places like Paros, Naxos, and Milos. I always tell people to skip Santorini - it's beautiful but not the most beautiful island. There are other islands in the Cyclades with equally stunning views!

Tell us about life at home.

I live with my husband, my parents, and my two dogs, Coco and Bella. Coco is as old as my career. I got him with my first salary because I'm an only child and always wanted a sibling. He's the apple of my eye! The funny thing is, my husband used to be scared of dogs, so on our six-month anniversary, I got him a puppy - Bella - to help him overcome his fear. It worked!

My husband recently started his own company called Fuell, making healthy snacks for corporate offices. It came from his experience as a product manager - he often missed meals during busy days. Their first product is a dry fruit bite with no additives or preservatives - perfect for those busy meeting days!

Finally, if you had to compare Clarisights to a movie, what would it be?

Being a film buff, I'd say we're like the Avengers. Each team is great in isolation - like Iron Man or Captain America - but when there's a problem, everyone comes together regardless of which team they belong to. And then the real magic happens.

Are you ready to be part of a dynamic team that’s redefining how marketers interact with data? Explore exciting career opportunities and discover what life at Clarisights is all about. Visit careers.clarisights.com to check out open roles. We can’t wait to hear from you!