From dial-up networks to AI code: Swapna Bapat of Palo Alto Networks on 25 years in tech

Swapna Bapat first came across the internet during her master’s in computer science. Dial-up internet had just been introduced and the “possibilities looked enormous.” 

“My generation was at a point when the internet was taking off. The fact that we were able to communicate over a platform where everything could be connected was exciting,” she recalls.

That early sense of boundless technological potential has fueled Bapat’s 25-year journey in the industry, from embedded systems to artificial intelligence applications in cybersecurity. 

Today, as the Vice President and Managing Director for India and SAARC at Palo Alto Networks, Bapat leads the company’s growth by expanding its technology reach, building strategic alliances, and strengthening the partner ecosystem. 

Her adaptability, she notes, was forged early in life. Her father, a consultant engineer in steel plant design, had a transferable job. When she was three, her family moved to Venezuela, returning to Visakhapatnam nine years later. “Wherever there was a big steel plant, I was there,” she says. 

This constant movement, Bapat says, shaped her outlook on both life and work. “When you move around, you have to find a way to fit in. You have to fit the puzzle pieces such that you establish yourself, but the other side also feels you are a person they can work with.”

In School, Physics and Mathematics became her favourite subjects, not for their complexity, but for their clarity. “There was no ambiguity and they weren’t subject to someone else’s view. With math and physics, if you’ve understood the concept, you can interpret it and use it,” she explains.

Traversing diverse domains

After completing her master’s in computer science with a specialisation in data communications, Bapat took a break to have her first child. She remembers driving to interviews with her daughter in the back seat, while her husband stayed in the car to look after her, as she attended interviews.

Her first job was humble, porting software from one operating system into another, but it provided a crucial understanding of why multiple operating systems existed. 

Then came Lucent Technologies, where she spent what she considers the most formative years of her career: fixing bugs.

“We didn't have AI or fancy tools, you had to go through code and see where problems occurred. This allowed me to comb through the entire codebase to understand how it worked, how a system functions, and understand the whole stack from hardware to software,” she elaborates.

After a couple of years, when she was expecting her second baby, the management moved her to the systems engineering team. 

“I wasn't happy at the time because they didn't ask me, but retrospectively, it was a very early career move. They thought I was capable enough to design complex systems,” she reveals.

Bapat discovered that she liked talking to customers, understanding what landed well and didn’t, and what the business needed to be successful. This enabled her to transition to product management.

After Lucent, she worked in Ciena, and then at Cisco, which exposed her to cellular technology. She also moved back to India from the US, and helped build a product for India that would eventually become successful globally. 

After Cisco, she joined Brocade, which led to her first exposure to pre-sales, handling objections, dealing with competition, proof-of-concepts and pricing.

A stint at Microsoft followed, where Bapat transitioned from hardware to software. 

After six years at Microsoft, she got an opportunity to return to product management at Palo Alto Networks. After two years, she moved to sales. 

“I'm leading the country from a sales perspective, while it’s a full circle back to sales, my love for technology hasn't gone,” says Bapat.

She now runs the business for Palo Alto Networks in India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. 

“I think it’s one of the most exciting times to be in cybersecurity. The leadership at Palo Alto is extremely forward-thinking, customer-centric, and fast in decision-making, which is extremely important in the world of cybersecurity,” she notes.

“Demand to be heard”

Bapat reveals that she has navigated gender dynamics in the tech sector, especially at the start of her career.

She shares an experience that taught her the importance of speaking up. In her engineering team of 13 people, only three were women–all of them Asian immigrants in the United States. “I realised I was never heard in team meetings. Three of us used to be quiet while the 10 men talked. They were loud and overbearing, not out of malicious intent, but just by their nature.”

She understood that a direct response often works. “There were times when I would go in front of the room and stand there saying, ‘Hey, I’m short but I have a voice. I demand to be heard.’” 

This experience taught her a crucial lesson: “I realised you have to make a space for yourself. Just sitting there and expecting somebody to open the door for you won't happen.”

Bapat also admits that as a woman who chose to have children earlier compared to women today, she had to make tough calls about not choosing jobs that required travel, thereby probably reducing the pace at which she got promoted.

But she’s happy about the progress over the years. “Now, we have daycare centres within campuses and better maternity leave policies,” she notes.

Her advice to women who are passionate and want to work outside the home is, “Find ways of making it work. In India, we have a much better support structure compared to many other countries. Ask for help, there's nothing wrong with that. It's your own loss if you don't ask for help.”

She also encourages women to take advantage of returnship programmes offered by organisations that help them come back to the workforce after a break.

“During the planned break, don’t lose touch with what’s happening. There are resources like Coursera, Unacademy, podcasts--stay up to date,” she advises.

“It’s okay to fail.”

She also addresses the imposter syndrome and self-doubt faced by most women by identifying a root cause. “Our hesitation is always the risk of failure and its implications. We tend to overthink the risk of failure. It's okay to fail. Once you accept that you might not check all the boxes necessary, but you'll put your hat in the ring–worst case, they say no. How bad can it be?" she asks.

After 25 years in technology, Bapat encapsulates her experience into three principles:

Know what you want to do: "A lot of us don't sit back and think: what do I want to do five years from today? Many candidates only know the next step–'I want to get promoted, I want to become a manager.' Why? What impact do you want to drive?"

Know your strengths and weaknesses: "Knowing your weakness is itself a strength because you know the areas you need to work on."

Build your network: "Somebody should speak up for you when you are not in the room. Do you have five or six people to do that? I wish I would have learned this a long time ago."

Bapat believes this is “one of the most exciting times to be in cybersecurity. The leadership is extremely forward-thinking, customer-centric, and fast in decision-making,” she says.

Looking ahead, her future goals centre on impact: “My first circle of influence is my own team–investing in them, ensuring they're heard, they're doing better, and they bring their best selves every day to work."

Long-term, she hopes to join an NGO full-time: “That's something that gives me personal satisfaction. Right now, it's a little bit here and there, but hopefully eight years down the road, I will join them full time,” she concludes.