Raviteja Anantha works as a principal applied scientist and technical lead at Amazon where he is leading the adoption of generative AI in advanced health applications.
Raviteja Anantha moved to the US in 2015. He says at the time he left, the AI research ecosystem in India was in its infancy
Raviteja Anantha works as a principal applied scientist and technical lead at Amazon where he is leading the adoption of generative AI in advanced health applications.
Over the years, he has led several high-impact AI initiatives across industries. At Apple, he spearheaded Apple Intelligence, focusing on large language models (LLMs), driven planning agents and personalisation.
At Bloomberg LP, he applied AI to transform finance by improving decision-making for investing and trading.
Why He Left India
At the time Anantha left India for the US, almost all the cutting-edge research in AI was concentrated in the US. “In 2015, India’s share of global AI research output was estimated to be only around 1–2%; venture capital investments in deep learning start-ups were minimal compared to the billions in the US,” says Anantha.
“The lack of significant research infrastructure, funding and industry opportunities in India made it clear that pursuing my passion for AI would be far more promising abroad,” he adds.
Life in the US
Anantha moved to the US in 2015 to pursue higher education in AI and machine learning (ML). The quality of life in the US is generally “very good”, says Anantha, especially in terms of air and water quality, education and job opportunities.
“Of course, no place is without its challenges and there are certain aspects of life that could improve, such as health-care access, income inequality, cost of living and public infrastructure,” he adds. He thinks the overall quality of life in the US fosters a positive environment for both professional and personal growth.
He says, “The quality of life was not the primary reason for my moving to the US, but it does undoubtedly play a role in my decision to stay and build a career here. Factors like world-class education and the presence of cutting-edge job opportunities in tech and AI sectors make it an enriching place to live.”
Would He Ever Return?
On the question of returning to India, Anantha says he might consider such a move “if there were sustained, meaningful improvements in career opportunities, higher compensations, research funding and overall quality of life.”
“If India can build a robust ecosystem that marries cutting-edge research with a high quality of urban life, I believe it will encourage NRIs [non-resident Indians] and international professionals to make it their home,” he adds.