Sunil Joshi - Engineering Director

👤 About Me

I'm a senior technology leader with 20+ years in software engineering, including 10+ years building and scaling products in fast-paced startups. I specialize in full-stack product engineering, AI/automation, cloud architecture, and leading high-ownership engineering teams.

💎 Value Proposition

I help organizations turn technology into a growth engine by modernizing platforms, launching AI-powered products end-to-end, and building strong engineering cultures. I bridge technology, product, and business, simplify complexity, and enable teams to deliver reliably through clean architecture, data-driven decisions, and operational excellence.

⭐ Key Highlights

Led the conception and delivery of Wingman, the aviation industry's first inflight AI chatbot for real-time passenger trip planning, showcased as an industry-first innovation at Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) 2025, Hamburg — April 8–10. Link
Conceptualized and led the end-to-end LEO inflight connectivity platform, scaling deployments from 2 initial installations to 50 firm aircraft commitments, while designing real-time analytics dashboards providing actionable insights on connectivity performance, passenger usage, system health, and airline operational KPIs.
Scaled AirFi platform to 309K+ flights and 9.5M+ passengers, supported by real-time analytics dashboards driving operational, product, and commercial insights.
First engineering hire at Zay.works, played a pivotal role in scaling the organization to 25 employees, establishing the engineering foundation, hiring pipeline, and team structure.

💼 Professional Experience

AirFi Aero — Engineering Director

2022 — Present

AI & Platform Innovation

Led AI initiatives including Wingman, an inflight AI assistant for travel recommendations, operational support, and real-time passenger assistance.
Designed and deployed AI-driven log analysis and predictive diagnostics, reducing incident triage time and improving operational reliability.
Introduced LLM-based automation for QA workflows, reducing test case creation time from hours to minutes and accelerating test cycles by ~60%, improving release confidence.

Technology & Delivery Leadership

Owned technology roadmaps, quarterly planning, and OKRs, aligning engineering execution with business priorities.
Modernized engineering workflows through CI/CD, automation, and observability, improving delivery velocity by ~40%.
Led and scaled distributed teams (8–25 engineers) across frontend, backend, QA, AI/ML, and DevOps.

Zay.works — Lead Architect

2015 — 2022

First engineering hire, played a key role in scaling the organization to 25 employees by building the core engineering team and hiring pipeline.
Architected the backend platform for Zaycare, enabling scalable, secure product delivery.
Established engineering culture, standards, and processes, supporting sustainable growth and remote collaboration.

FIS — Lead Developer

2009 — 2015

Built and maintained enterprise-grade financial platforms, APIs, and system integrations for global clients.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver secure, high-availability solutions in regulated environments.

Mastek — Software Developer

2005 — 2009

Contributed to enterprise application development using .NET and SQL Server.
Gained strong foundations in software engineering, data modeling, and large-scale system delivery.

🛠️ Technology Leadership & Platforms

Scalable SaaS & Platform Architecture
Cloud-Native & Serverless Systems (AWS)
Data, Analytics & AI-Driven Products
Event-Driven & Distributed Systems
Security, Reliability & Cost Optimization

🌐 Domain Expertise

Aviation & Inflight Digital Platforms

Inflight Entertainment (IFE) and Connectivity Platforms, including content streaming, passenger engagement, and aircraft-integrated systems.
End-to-end Order-to-Seat (O2S) digital solutions, optimizing passenger experience from booking through inflight service delivery.
AI-driven analytics platforms for flight operations, passenger behavior, content performance, and service personalization.
Next-generation ADS-B intelligence systems, enabling real-time aircraft visibility, anomaly detection, and predictive operational insights.
LEO-powered inflight connectivity solutions, delivering ultra-low-latency, resilient communications for global aviation environments.

Childcare & Education Technology

Digital platforms for early childhood education, parent engagement, and caregiver collaboration.
Automation of daycare operations, including scheduling, attendance, billing, compliance reporting, and operational analytics.
Solutions aligned with European childcare standards and regulations, supporting scalability and regulatory compliance.

🎓 Education

Masters in Computer Application — Pune University

🚀 Projects

WingMan — AI Travel Assistant

Led the conception and delivery of WingMan, the aviation industry's first inflight AI chatbot for real-time passenger trip planning. This industry-first innovation was showcased at Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) 2025 in Hamburg.

WingMan leverages LEO connectivity to deliver hyper-personalized, real-time travel itineraries to passengers while in flight. The system processes user preferences through an advanced AI algorithm, generating customized trip plans within seconds. The platform continuously refines recommendations by learning from user interactions and accessing real-time local information.

Tech Stack:

LangChain, LangGraph, RAG, Node.js, React, LEO Connectivity, Real-time Systems

Learn more

AI-Driven Log Analysis & Prediction System

Designed and deployed an AI-driven log analysis and predictive diagnostics system using LangChain and LangGraph. The system analyzes application logs in real-time to identify patterns, predict potential issues, and provide actionable insights for proactive incident management.

The platform significantly reduced incident triage time by automating log analysis and enabling predictive maintenance. It processes large volumes of log data, identifies anomalies, and generates intelligent recommendations for operational reliability improvements.