In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, few leaders stand out for their ability to seamlessly integrate technical excellence, product innovation, and people-first leadership. Ramya Boorugula, Head of Advertiser Intelligence at Snap Inc., is one such leader. With over 15 years of experience, Ramya has built scalable platforms and high-performance teams and pioneered solutions that bridge cutting-edge technology with real-world impact. Her journey from a passionate engineer to an influential leader showcases a narrative of relentless growth, thoughtful innovation, and meaningful transformation.
Early Life and Academic Foundation
Ramya’s foundational years were marked by a strong academic background that laid the bedrock for her career in software engineering. Earning her degree in Computer Science, she started her professional journey in Hyderabad, India, at CA Technologies. Her early work developing SDKs and internal survey tools equipped her with deep technical capabilities and a nuanced understanding of enterprise software.
This educational grounding provided her with technical skills and a systems-oriented mindset. Her ability to understand the intricate layers of software architecture would later become crucial in designing robust solutions at Amazon and Snap.
Professional Journey: From Code to Strategy
Ramya’s career reflects a path of progressive leadership. She honed her software development skills at CA Technologies, contributing to vital internal tools. Her move to Amazon in 2011 was pivotal, as it offered the scale to lead globally.
As Automation Lead, she designed CI/CD pipelines and test frameworks that cut execution times by 95%. Later, as a Senior Technical Program Manager, she orchestrated distributed systems across 15+ teams. From tax exemption systems for Kindle to integration frameworks for Alexa, Ramya delivered solutions that balanced efficiency, compliance, and scalability.
Her transition to Software Development Manager brought further achievements, including building Alexa’s Emergency Assistance Platform from scratch and leading the development of APIs handling 100K+ requests per second. These innovations advanced Amazon’s smart home and safety tech capabilities.
At Snap Inc., she returns to her backend roots—now driving vision, strategy, and organizational growth at scale.
Leadership and Innovation
Ramya’s leadership style blends clarity of vision, empathy-driven team building, and a strong focus on execution. At Snap, she leads four mission-critical teams spanning advertiser insights, real-time recommendations, dynamic offer systems, and developer tooling. Her strength in scaling initiatives from concept to production highlights her technical foresight and collaborative approach. By transforming legacy systems into real-time platforms—such as replacing batch-processing advertiser systems with Kafka-driven APIs—she has improved latency, efficiency, and enabled scalable architectures. Her leadership aligns engineering with business goals, reflecting a holistic mindset.
Notable Achievements
Among Ramya’s many achievements, a few stand out for their strategic impact. She architected the Alexa Emergency Assistance Platform at Amazon, pioneering safety solutions for aging customers. Her work here extended to a B2B vision for senior living communities, reducing development efforts significantly while maximizing utility.
At Snap, she introduced predictive models with over 80% confidence rates for advertiser churn and customer segmentation—technologies redefining how advertisers interact with the platform. These are technical feats and strategic levers that enhance customer experience and business performance.
Academic Contributions and Technical Thought Leadership
Though not on a traditional academic path, Ramya’s contributions to applied technology are substantial. Her system designs—such as event-driven notifications and distributed caching with active-active regional setups—bridge theory and practice. At Amazon, she developed the widely adopted “Tell Me How” technical program management framework, codifying best practices in design reviews, debt management, and service reliability. Her internal thought leadership has been key to scaling knowledge across large engineering organizations.
Future Vision and Industry Impact
Ramya continues to drive innovation at the intersection of technology and user experience. Her work in advertiser intelligence at Snap lays the groundwork for the next generation of data-driven advertising platforms. She envisions systems that are real-time and predictive but also inclusive, ethical, and adaptive to user needs.
Her influence extends beyond code and platforms. She shapes engineering culture, mentors the next generation of tech leaders, and fosters inclusivity in the workplace. As technology continues to evolve, leaders like Ramya Boorugula are not just responding to change—they are creating it.
