Leading with Decisiveness

Nivedita Ojha is the co-founder and CEO of a new-age robotics start-up, Kamet AI. Kamet AI has recently received funding and has been recognized by the robotics industry as a frontier to aid in adopting robots from 0 to scale using AI. She is co-founding the company with her colleague, with whom she has partnered in previous companies, where they have successfully scaled hardware and cloud businesses.

Kamet AI’s revolutionary platform investigates, assesses, and predicts to provide control to mitigate unknown risks when deploying robots, AMRs, and AGVs at scale. What gives Nivedita the ability to build this unique start-up? Her prior career accomplishments have given her the foundation and confidence to do so. She has been a chief product officer, a product strategy consultant, and a board advisor who counsels companies to grow through innovations, acquisitions, and IPOs. Known as an innovative product leader, general manager, and business strategist, Nivedita is experienced in creating product strategies and building global teams from the ground up.

Recently, as the Vice President of Products for FORT Robotics, she developed and shaped FORT's strategic roadmap to meet customer needs. She spoke to over 300 robotics customers and realized their challenges were a multi-billion-dollar problem. In her previous experience as a General Manager and Product Manager in marquee organizations, she had seen similar challenges when mobile devices were making their way across enterprises. Her prior work experiences at Citrix, Philips, and Flex have helped build the foundation for entering the robotics business.

Her biggest differentiator is her expertise across hardware and its companion cloud offering. Before joining FORT, Nivedita served as a VP at the multinational software company Autodesk.

Her educational background includes a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bombay, an MS from Mississippi State University, and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Nivedita's general philosophy for building business starts with trust and empowering her team–she does not believe in micromanaging. Listening is the next critical skill in leadership, “so I strive first to listen and then work backward to give feedback and mentor,” she says. Mentoring is extremely important to Nivedita, and she is open to everyone who wants to be mentored because “one can only mentor someone if they are interested.”

Regarding business strategy, Nivedita always starts with a vision and visualization of the “North Star.” “First, it’s figuring out where you want to go, and then it’s about filling in the blanks that will lead you there. It’s useful to have an idea of the products and services that customers want and need–versus just products and services that customers may not need or understand,” she elucidates. “Disruption only occurs when customers completely change their perception of the product. It’s this shift that can drive massive valuations and IPOs.”

Nivedita views success as a journey. From her perspective, she achieved success early in her professional journey, yet Nivedita also encountered her share of setbacks. According to her, it varies with each day. Her drive and ambition to progress set her apart because she believes that failures are an inevitable part of life. She tries to learn from her failures and chooses to move fast to her next adventure.

After each endeavor, Nivedita understands that her finest work still lies ahead. “All the successes that arrive are the result of immense backing from your team, mentors, customers, and family. Everyone is cheering for you. Once you secure this balance, there's nothing that can hinder your progress,” she elucidates. “I play to my biggest assets and those are “creativity” and “decisive.” This approach has helped me navigate from being a chemical engineer into the world of chipsets, mobile devices, enterprise software, and now robotics.”

As she builds Kamet AI, she weaves her prior expertise in strategic thinking and practical experience into the world of robotics. Nivedita states, “I have proven start-up leadership expertise at both multinational Fortune 500 and venture-backed entities, and there is so much more to come “. “We are on the cusp of revolutionizing automation by building simplified solutions for a great future. I want to leverage Kamet AI to contribute towards building a great future for our future generations.”