Product Management Director with 17+ years leading large-scale, cross-functional portfolios. At Salesforce, managed a $75M+ portfolio serving 90,000+ users across 70 global offices, translating enterprise strategy into executable programs. Built and led high-performing product and engineering teams, strengthening collaboration between global planning and regional execution
Hi, I’m
Kesava Karanam
Linkedin.com/in/kesavak
Frisco,TX
Summary
Overview
1
Certificate
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Salesforce.comDallas, Texas
Director - Product Management
08.2024 - Current
Job overview
- Managed a $75M product portfolio focused on cloud infrastructure, storage, and platform modernization for 90,000+ active users.
- Built multiple products from 0 to 1, including LeanIX (enterprise architecture) and MetricStream (GRC), saving ~$8M in licensing costs.
- Achieved $6M cost reduction by optimizing infrastructure through data center exits and chargeback cost models.
- Directed product strategy during M&A integrations, ensuring stability while merging, retiring, or migrating systems.
- Established an operational command center with ransomware and disaster recovery plans, safeguarding business continuity for 90,000+ users.
- Delivered self-service tools and automated workflows, reducing manual effort by 15% and speeding global engineering delivery.
- Ensured product readiness for the Salesforce+ streaming platform ahead of Dreamforce, validating scalability during high-traffic events.
Salesforce.comHyderabad, Telangana
Director - Portfolio Management
11.2022 - 07.2024
Job overview
- Directed infrastructure planning and program execution for large-scale enterprise modernization across multiple regions.
- Led infrastructure planning for three major M&A integrations, overseeing workload migrations and assessments.
- Established governance frameworks to standardize release management and deployment pipelines for global engineering teams.
- Implemented monitoring frameworks across hybrid infrastructure, reducing mean time to recovery (MTTR) by 22%.
- Managed change initiatives and stakeholder communication for enterprise-wide platform transitions, ensuring zero business disruption across 70+ offices.
- Built and mentored a team of senior program managers, establishing career development frameworks.
- Tracked program performance metrics, surfacing trends for proactive roadmap adjustments.
Salesforce.comHyderabad, India
Senior Manager, Software Engineering
08.2020 - 10.2022
Job overview
- Led a cross-functional delivery organization of over 30 personnel, including FTEs and contractors, across M&A, sustaining engineering, GTM operations, marketing events, and Salesforce platform functions.
- Operationalized platform capabilities within Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud by managing end-to-end delivery from design to deployment and ongoing support.
- Drove continuous improvement culture through structured retrospectives, feedback frameworks, and cross-team collaboration rituals adopted within engineering.
- Managed vendor relationships, bid evaluations, and contract negotiations to ensure alignment of third-party delivery with program timelines and quality standards.
Salesforce.comHyderabad, India
Manager, Software Engineering
08.2019 - 07.2020
Job overview
- Led global applications team of over 50 members to bolster collaboration and operational effectiveness across sales, service, marketing, and HR functions.
- Managed cross-functional engineering teams to deliver software platform solutions on schedule while ensuring alignment with product roadmaps and business stakeholders.
- Developed governance for resource planning, project timelines, and risk identification across multiple parallel delivery workstreams.
- Collaborated with product managers to define requirements, prioritize backlogs, and translate business needs into actionable engineering plans.
Salesforce.comHyderabad, India
Systems Specialist II
08.2017 - 07.2019
Job overview
Tech MahindraHyderabad, India
Technical Project Manager
04.2015 - 08.2017
Job overview
Capgemini (IGATE)Hyderabad, India
Technical Lead
03.2014 - 03.2015
Job overview
ConcentekHyderabad, India
Senior Developer
08.2007 - 03.2014
Job overview
Education
I C F A IHYDERABAD
PG Diploma from Business Management
01-2009
University Overview
J N T UHyderabad
Bachelor of Science from Computer Science & Information Technology
04-2007
University Overview
Skills
Product & Portfolio Leadership: Roadmap Strategy, OKR Orchestration, Cross-Functional Delivery, Global-Regional Execution, Stakeholder Engagement, Risk Management, Modernization, Budget Management
Tools & Frameworks: AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, VMware, Salesforce, CloudHealth, LeanIX, Linear, Jira, Confluence, Agile/Scrum, Kanban, Tableau
Product & Operations: Product Operationalization, SDLC Governance, FinOps, Enterprise Architecture, Cloud Strategy & Migration, M&A , Business Process Optimization, Capacity Planning
People & Culture: Team Development & Mentorship, Hiring, Product Org Building, Inclusive Leadership, Executive Communication
Certification
- Stanford - Advanced program Management
- ISB - Operational Excellence for Leaders
- PMP CERTIFIED
- PRINCE2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTITIONER
- ISB - Product Management
- AWS CERTIFIED SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT - ASSOCIATE
- AGILE SCRUM MASTER
- ITIL EXPERT
- 20X SALESFORCE CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION/SYSTEM ARCHITECT
- TOGAF 9.2
- MULESOFT CERTIFIED SPECIALIST
- DEVOPS MASTER
Timeline
Director - Product Management
Salesforce.com
08.2024 - Current
Director - Portfolio Management
Salesforce.com
11.2022 - 07.2024
Senior Manager, Software Engineering
Salesforce.com
08.2020 - 10.2022
Manager, Software Engineering
Salesforce.com
08.2019 - 07.2020
Systems Specialist II
Salesforce.com
08.2017 - 07.2019
Technical Project Manager
Tech Mahindra
04.2015 - 08.2017
Technical Lead
Capgemini (IGATE)
03.2014 - 03.2015
Senior Developer
Concentek
08.2007 - 03.2014
I C F A I
PG Diploma from Business Management
J N T U
Bachelor of Science from Computer Science & Information Technology