How Neel P. centers service in his tech career

Neel P. joined Vanguard about eight years ago as a DevOps engineer, focused on modernizing how the company deploys software to clients. From there, Neel rotated through advice delivery teams and now serves as a Senior Manager on the Discretionary Advice Platform.

For Neel, finding a company that reflected his values was ideal. Vanguard’s mission—to take a stand for all investors, treat them fairly, and give them the best chance for investment success—aligned closely with his own. In this blog, Neel shares his career journey and what keeps him motivated in his work.

A drive for purpose

Vanguard allows me to bring my authentic self to work. The themes that keep me motivated are simple and consistent throughout my life. These include selfless service, prioritizing the interests of others, and a commitment to legacy.

My inspiration is drawn from my Gurus, Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj, and their teaching, “In the joy of others lies our own.” I’ve adopted this mindset, and it shows every day in my work with crew and clients.

This approach is also aligned with how Vanguard delivers advice through accessible offerings such as Digital Advisor and Personal Advisor, which can help more people receive financial advice at a low cost.

Outside of work, I have done volunteer service to help build the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey. That experience reinforced a simple lesson that continues to guide me in my work: having a clear purpose. It ensures each step is grounded in something larger, helps prioritize what truly matters to the people you serve, and drives meaningful impact along the way—making the journey itself more fulfilling.

I am a purpose-driven individual, and at Vanguard, we pursue a purpose bigger than ourselves. Vanguard itself is a legacy, built on serving investors and treating them fairly, and the work I do is meant to strengthen that legacy for clients and crew.

Raising the bar for tech talent  

Vanguard invests in its crew because our people are the center of the flywheel. I wanted a fair, practical way to see talent in action. We standardized HackerRank for entry-level technical interviews and paired it with templates, training, and readiness sessions for interviewers.

HackerRank is a technology-hiring platform that can help us evaluate and identify prospective tech crew through skill-based assessments. This gives our team valuable insights into how candidates will perform on the job.

The result is consistent evaluation in a realistic coding environment, a better candidate experience, and more confident hiring decisions. Expanding this approach tightens the process and raises the bar for the technical talent joining our teams, another example of building processes that help others thrive.

Growth through challenge and impact  

Early on, my biggest challenge at Vanguard was absorbing the breadth of our business and deepening both technical and advice acumen. Understanding how value reaches clients through disciplined delivery, thoughtful risk management, and close collaboration took time.

A significant win has been building teams with a service-focused mindset that places client outcomes first and deploys intuitive, simple, and trustworthy experiences.

I am proud of our momentum in democratizing advice at an affordable rate for average households, and of the features our teams have delivered to make enrollment and ongoing portfolio decisions faster and safer.

For me, a win is not one feature or a release. It’s a pattern—one where you’re creating a seamless, integrated experience for clients, simplifying enrollment, improving portfolio behaviors, and ensuring dependable money movement.

That is where a service-focused mindset shows up in technology. You can make decisions that reduce complexity so that clients can focus on milestones that matter. Vanguard’s mission and culture reinforce that focus on clients and crew alike.

—Neel P.

Advisory services are provided by Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (VAI), a registered investment advisor.

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