Welcome Aboard, Sunil Shenoy!

As our business continues to grow, the people we hire continue to impact and shape our business more and more.

We had a chance to sit down our new VP of hardware engineering, Sunil Shenoy, to find out what attracted him to SiFive, how he hopes to grow the company and change the industry, and what his title really means.

It’s been nearly a month since the announcement of your hiring. What is the most surprising thing you’ve seen/learned so far?

It’s not so much a surprise, but what I am most impressed with is the rich talent of our engineers, their passion for the mission and the work, the absolute focus on results and an environment of total teamwork. I believe that these ingredients - talented people dedicated to achieving results as a team - are a sure recipe for success. If any one of these factors were missing, I would worry.

What attracted you to work in open source and at SiFive, specifically?

Undoubtedly, it’s the company's mission. I have worked on microprocessors and silicon development all my life. There is no better dream than to contribute to the revolution of a new architecture, and to a breakthrough technology and business model for democratizing hardware development. I was also extremely excited about working for a startup!

What will you be doing as VP of Hardware Engineering?

I will be helping the engineering teams meet results so that they can enjoy the fruits of their talent and work. I hope to add value by putting focus on planning, helping to get the required resources and removing barriers, framing decisions and finding the right people. I’ll also facilitate solutions to the inevitable crises that arise when you take on big challenges, and above all, constantly encourage and recognize people.

In your opinion, what are the most important skills for aspiring engineers and new graduates to learn? What helped you succeed?

You need to be really good at what you do. For that, you need to love your profession, be willing to work hard and continuously invest in yourself. Discover what your strengths are and focus on them. That will make you happy and satisfied and is almost always better for the company and the world. Most things get done in a team or at least by working with partners. So a commitment to teamwork, practicing good communication (which includes listening!) and maintaining a positive outlook always helps.

What are you most looking forward to accomplishing in this new position?

In the end, it is about realizing results for the company that will advance the mission mentioned above. In the process, I would like to learn a lot and add value to the team. Lastly, I hope to bring something to every team member that will benefit and help them, perhaps they will remember me for.