From smart homes to Ads: Sonali's unexpected career story

Sometimes the most exciting journeys are the unexpected ones, as Sonali Maharishi’s Amazon journey proves.

"Amazon happened a bit by accident," she admits.

Having spent 10 years working on smart home security and utility systems, Sonali—a Software Development Manager—had developed an impressive resumé focused on connected devices. Yet there was a part of her that missed the challenge of learning something new.

Then an Amazon recruiter reached out with an opportunity in fintech—something she had never considered before. "I was like, finance? I don't know anything about finance," Sonali recalls.

The interview process revealed that Sonali’s engineering background would serve her just as well in fintech. “I realized the underlying design concepts are the same," Sonali explains.

So Sonali joined Amazon and spent the next year and a half building a new platform for finance governance, risk, and control.

With a new industry under her belt and ready for her next challenge, Sonali moved to a cutting-edge project on the Amazon Ads team, where she is now re-imagining how consumers engage with advertisements.

"It's a simple but interesting concept,” she says. “We’re trying to make ads more fun."

What does that mean, exactly?

Imagine watching an ad for a product like ketchup and realizing you’ve nearly run out of it. In the past, you might make a mental note, add it to your shopping list, or even forget about it altogether.

Now, thanks to Sonali’s team, you can immediately interact with the ad—perhaps adding ketchup to your cart, purchasing it there and then, or setting a reminder for later.

“This is the future of advertising: interactive, engaging, and actionable,” Sonali explains. “We’re just scratching the surface of making ads more useful.”

As soon as Sonali started working at Amazon, one thing that struck her was the culture of collaboration and speed.

“I’d not experienced anything like it. Even though Amazon is such a large company, each team operates as a startup. Speed matters in everything,” she says.

In her current role, Sonali works across nearly 20 teams on interactive video ads, and she describes cooperation as essential to success. “The collaboration between the teams comes easy. All you have to understand is which components and systems you'll be impacting. Everyone is used to working together to get things done.”

“Amazon is a place where ideas—no matter where they come from—are encouraged,” Sonali adds. “Take my current project; it started in an engineer's brain. It was a small idea that evolved into a multi-organization product, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in advertising and driven by our obsession with customer experience."

In addition to her engineering work, Sonali plays a vital role as an Amazon Bar Raiser. "I wanted to grow as an individual and also to positively influence our hiring," she explains.

So what exactly does a Bar Raiser do? In simple terms, these colleagues ensure that Amazon is hiring not just for a particular team but for the company as a whole.

"Amazon's bar is very dynamic. We need to ensure that everyone we employ is the right fit for our fast-paced, innovative environment,” Sonali says.

For anyone considering applying to Amazon, Sonali offers both encouragement and practical advice.

“Amazon challenges you in a way that helps you become a better professional version of yourself," she says. She stresses that Amazon’s culture promotes curiosity, continuous learning, and the freedom to innovate across a range of tech.

“Every day new products are being built. No matter what you're doing at Amazon, you're encouraged to feed your interests and continue to grow.”

As for preparing for the interview, Sonali emphasizes the importance of understanding the job you're applying for and working closely with your recruiter to know what will be expected.

She also highlights the need for candidates to understand and demonstrate how they embody the Amazon Leadership Principles, a cornerstone of Amazon’s interview process, and advises people to be ready to showcase their unique experiences and perspective: “Don’t hesitate to bring your individual self to the interview. Sharing who you really are stands out,” she concludes.