From Engineer to AI Leader: Deepika Sidana on Leadership, Mentorship, and Responsible AI

NY Professional Spotlight · Oct 13, 2026 · 19m

In this episode of the NY Professional Spotlight Podcast, Roman Kirzhner sits down with Deepika Sidana, a Senior Engineering Manager at American Express with around 15 years of experience in software engineering.

Deepika shares how she began her career as a Java developer and gradually moved into engineering leadership. One of the biggest lessons from that transition was learning that leadership is not about being the person who solves every problem. Instead, strong leaders empower their teams to think independently, challenge assumptions, make decisions, and learn from mistakes.

Roman and…