About
Venika Sruthi
Software Engineer II at Harness, working on open source software hardening. Writing about engineering, ideas, and everything in between.
I build software and developer infrastructure, currently working on hardening open source software at Harness. I like working on problems where the details matter — where the thing I'm building actually has to work in the messy real world.
A lot of my work sits around software supply chains, packages, vulnerabilities, and making open source software safer to use. I enjoy problems that are technically challenging but also have a clear impact beyond the code itself.
Outside work, I like travelling, writing, cooking, painting, football, and generally getting lost in random things I'm curious about. I started writing online because I wanted a place to put down some of the things I think about, learn, and experience along the way.
Background
A jump from a company that moved slower than a turtle to one that moves like a rabbit that doesn't know how to stop. All I'd been missing was a good challenge.
I'm currently working on hardening images for open source software, libraries, and more.
My introduction to the corporate world — and adult money. I worked on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, on a service whose effect felt almost invisible in the large ocean that is Oracle. Direction and motivation were hard to find. It was a good place to learn how large organizations work, but I eventually wanted something different: problems where I could see the impact, with a little more chaos involved.
College started in a Covid lockdown. Hard luck. Freshers party was a Zoom call where people expressed joy by changing their virtual backgrounds. Making friends was hard. I fell into a Netflix pit.
When I finally got to campus in person, everything shifted. I met people who were all smart but came from completely different worlds. That's when I started realizing how much existed outside the small world I'd grown up in.
The classic 14-hour study days. The only thing on my mind was cracking the JEE exam — Math, Physics, Chemistry, repeat. The environment was intensely competitive. I think this phase built a lot of mental strength, even if I didn't realize it at the time.
Elsewhere
You can find more of my writing and work linked in the footer, or reach out via the contact page.