When Vandana Bharvani was growing up in Bombay, India, she found herself captivated by the elegance of mathematics. “There’s something really beautiful about how a logical solution can bring clarity to something complex,” she recalls. Her early fascination with numbers was nurtured by her father and grandfather, both of whom shared a deep appreciation for math and science. Her father, though encouraged into the family business, often spoke of physicists like Niels Bohr and Max Planck. “I wish I had listened better,” she laughs.
That early love of numbers led Bharvani to pursue an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering at the University of Mumbai. But she quickly realized that while she excelled at the analytical and process-oriented aspects of the field, she wasn’t interested in building circuit boards. Instead, she wanted to apply analytical thinking in broader, more practical contexts.
A serendipitous dinner with Rajan Batta, now Distinguished Professor in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, opened her eyes to the field of operations research. “He talked about students working with United Airlines, solving real-world problems. That conversation changed everything. I walked away thinking, ‘This is precisely the engineering I want to do.’ I didn’t just want to study math in isolation,” she says. “I wanted to use it as a lens for making real-world decisions better. That’s what drew me to operations research and information engineering.”
Bharvani applied to Cornell’s M.Eng. program in operations research and information engineering, attracted by the program’s rigorous academic foundation and its unique ‘Semester in Manufacturing’ collaboration with Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. She still recalls traveling with her cohort to factories across the country – car plants in Detroit, apparel factories in North Carolina – immersing herself in the mechanics of supply chains and process optimization. “That semester taught me how operations research is applicable to every part of business, from forecasting demand to understanding workforce dynamics.”
Bharvani immersed herself in a curriculum that demanded both precision and creativity. “It was intellectually rigorous, but also very grounded in practice,” she says. “Every course asked the question‘What would this look like in the real world?’”
After earning her M.Eng., Bharvani joined a startup developing supply chain software. A last-minute interview led to an unexpected opportunity: handling European accounts. “They asked, ‘Can you go to Europe?’ and I said, ‘Done!’” she recalls with joy. She spent over a year in the Netherlands and Germany helping companies like Philips optimize supply chains, followed by several years working with Fortune 500 clients like Intel, Lucent and Johnson & Johnson. One project involved ensuring Shrek-themed merchandise hit Walmart shelves exactly on time to coincide with the film’s release – a vivid example of real-world logistics at work.
Her next major role brought her to Gap Inc., where she spent five years, including two at Old Navy. She managed inventory systems and implemented pricing algorithms, ensuring products – from flip-flops to sweaters – arrived in the right place at the right time. “Retail gave me the clearest feedback loop,” she says. “You could look at inventory on store shelves and immediately see the financial impact of your decisions, dollars gained or lost.”
Wanting to expand her skill set further, Bharvani pursued an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business while continuing to work full-time. She would travel for work Monday to Friday, then attend weekend classes. “It was exhausting, but also energizing. I was surrounded by peers who were juggling kids, careers and startups. That community has been an ongoing source of personal and professional growth for me.”
Eventually, Bharvani transitioned to Google, where she expected to spend a year or two. She stayed for nine. Initially hired for her operations background into the Product Quality Operations team, she found herself at the center of Google’s evolving efforts in trust and safety. “At first, it felt like a back-office job – fighting spam, abuse. But soon, misinformation, deep fakes, fraud, election interference – all of it became front-page news.”
She rose through the ranks to become director of trust and safety operations, leading cross-functional efforts to protect users across products like Maps, Chrome, and Cloud. She even wrote the first abuse charter for Google Cloud, despite having no previous experience in that area. “If you showed willingness to learn, Google gave you opportunities,” she says. Her role involved developing abuse-detection strategies, managing large global teams and ensuring swift responses to threats ranging from credit card fraud to content moderation challenges.
After nearly a decade at Google, Bharvani left to focus on advising and investing in startups, particularly those at the Series D/E stage where operations become critical. She’s also a co-founder of the Fishbowl Challenge, a global social entrepreneurship competition connecting students from more than 90 countries to tackle problems in health care, agriculture and sustainability. “It’s incredible to see young people collaborate across cultures and time zones, building real solutions together.”
Bharvani is currently completing Stanford’s ‘Emerging COO’ program, a three-month executive course for leaders in operational roles. She sees herself continuing to grow into senior leadership roles in small-to-midsize organizations, building scalable operations with purpose. “I’m still figuring out my next pivot,” she says. “But I know it will be about making things work better, whether for individuals, industry, or society.”
When she reflects on her time at Cornell, she beams. “I was new to the US, and had never seen snow. But I felt welcomed and challenged. I made the most of every opportunity that year.” She adds, “My M.Eng. program at Cornell taught me how to pivot, how to adapt, and how to ask, ‘What can I learn next?’ That mindset has stayed with me through every stage of my career.”
Asked what advice she would give to future students, she pauses for a moment. “Don’t be afraid to bring your unique perspective,” she says. “Whether you’re deeply technical or more of a strategist, there’s space for all kinds of thinkers here. The problems are complex and interdisciplinary, and that’s what makes the work so exciting.”