Sridhar Sabesan : Driving Innovation & Engineering Excellence At Scale
Sridhar Sabesan
Sr. Director - Engineering
At Western Digital, where he has led the engineering business unit in India for the past nine years, Sridhar’s sense of purpose has only grown stronger. His collaborations with senior leaders on initiatives such as the Technical Leadership Series, Innovation Bazaar, Hackathons, and Patent Day helped build a thriving ecosystem of innovation and expertise. The results - ranging from increased subject matter experts to significant patent growth - reinforce his belief that inspired, coordinated teams can achieve extraordinary outcomes. Let’s dive in to know more.
How do you see the data storage industry evolving with emerging technologies like AI, the Metaverse, and Web 3.0, and what is your strategy to meet these new demands?
I believe the storage industry is entering a new era shaped by AI digital creativity, and decentralized technologies. AI workloads now require massive capacity and friction less data movement across edge, core, and cloud. To address this, I focus on delivering scalable, sustainable, and intelligent solutions. At Western Digital, we’re advancing high-capacity platforms using ePMR and UltraSMR, enabling multi-petabyte performance for AI, HPC, and research.
We’re also democratizing SMR so enter -prises can scale smoothly without disruptive transitions. Through our expanded Open Composable
Compatibility Lab, we offer pre-validated, interoperable solutions that reduce deployment risk and avoid vendor lock-in. Our strategy ensures we remain ready for a rapidly evolving, data-intensive world.
What are the most challenging technical hurdles you have faced with current storage solutions, and how are you guiding your team to innovate to overcome them?
One of the toughest challenges I see today is enabling traditional storage architectures to scale efficiently as AI, IoT, and edge workloads drive exponential data growth. Managing performance, capacity, and cost at this scale becomes increasingly complex. To address this, I’m guiding my teams toward scale out architectures, software-defined storage, and intelligent tiering to deliver greater elasticity and agility.
We’re also working closely with partners to design modular, cloud-native solutions that adapt quickly to changing workloads. AI/ML and realtime analytics bring additional hurdles, particularly around ultra-low latency and high throughput. To overcome these limitations, we are accelerating adoption of NVMe-over-Fabrics and exploring parallel I/O frameworks to optimize data paths and support GPU-driven workloads.
How are you enabling the larger industry and ecosystem on these new architectures?
I’m focused on strengthening industry readiness by fostering deeper collaboration and creating spaces where organizations can confidently adopt modern storage architectures. Through our expanded Open Composable Compatibility Lab (OCCL), we provide a truly vendor-neutral environment for validating and integrating next-generation solutions.
This allows companies of all sizes to test interoperability, reduce deployment risks, and lower total cost of ownership. By simulating real-world conditions and enabling independent scaling of compute and storage, we help customers design reliable NVMe-oF™–based, dis -aggregated infrastructures with- out being tied to proprietary systems. My goal is to empower the ecosystem with the flexibility, trans parency, and confidence needed to transition smoothly to these emerging architectures.
What are the most challenging technical hurdles you have faced with current storage solutions, and how are you guiding your team to innovate to overcome them?
One of the toughest challenges I see today is enabling traditional storage architectures to scale efficiently as AI, IoT, and edge workloads drive exponential data growth. Managing performance, capacity, and cost at this scale becomes increasingly complex. To address this, I’m guiding my teams toward scale out architectures, software-defined storage, and intelligent tiering to deliver greater elasticity and agility.
We’re also working closely with partners to design modular, cloud-native solutions that adapt quickly to changing workloads. AI/ML and realtime analytics bring additional hurdles, particularly around ultra-low latency and high throughput. To overcome these limitations, we are accelerating adoption of NVMe-over-Fabrics and exploring parallel I/O frameworks to optimize data paths and support GPU-driven workloads.
For me, innovation thrives when people feel free to share ideas openly and learn from one another
How are you enabling the larger industry and ecosystem on these new architectures?
I’m focused on strengthening industry readiness by fostering deeper collaboration and creating spaces where organizations can confidently adopt modern storage architectures. Through our expanded Open Composable Compatibility Lab (OCCL), we provide a truly vendor-neutral environment for validating and integrating next-generation solutions.
This allows companies of all sizes to test interoperability, reduce deployment risks, and lower total cost of ownership. By simulating real-world conditions and enabling independent scaling of compute and storage, we help customers design reliable NVMe-oF™–based, dis -aggregated infrastructures with- out being tied to proprietary systems. My goal is to empower the ecosystem with the flexibility, trans parency, and confidence needed to transition smoothly to these emerging architectures.
As a leader of high-impact teams, how do you foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and conti- nuous learning?
For me, innovation thrives when people feel free to share ideas openly and learn from one another. I focus on building a transparent, collaborative environment supported by regular technical exchanges, peer learning, and cross-functional dialogue. Leading with accountability and openness helps teams feel empowered to experiment and take ownership.
At our India Development & Engineering center, this approach has translated into a sharp rise in invention disclosures, reflecting our growing global influence. Programs like She Invents play a key role by mentoring women technologists and helping them convert ideas into patents, driving an 88% increase in participation from FY20 to FY24. Celebrations like Patent Day further reinforce continuous learning and inclusive, breakthrough thinking.
What advice would you give to aspiring engineers who aim to move into leadership roles in the data storage industry?
I would encourage aspiring leaders to first build a deep understanding of storage architectures, protocols, and emerging technologies like NVMe®, object storage, and cloud-native designs. A strong technical base is essential, but leadership requires looking beyond technology, understanding customers, business priorities, and the strategic impact of decisions. Strengthening communication, collaboration, and structured problem-solving skills is equally important. Stay curious, keep learning, and stay connected to industry trends. Most importantly, focus on inspiring and mentoring others. True leadership in this field is about enabling innovation through people, not just mastering the technology.
Sridhar Sabesan, Sr. Director- Engi -neering, Western Digital
Sridhar Sabesan, Sr. Director of Engineering at Western Digital, is a seasoned technology leader with deep expertise in large-scale storage architectures, innovation strategy, and ecosystem enablement. With nearly a decade leading Western Digital’s India Platform engineering organization, he drives cutting edge product development, mentors emerging talent, and champions programs that advance industry-wide technical excellence.
For me, innovation thrives when people feel free to share ideas openly and learn from one another. I focus on building a transparent, collaborative environment supported by regular technical exchanges, peer learning, and cross-functional dialogue. Leading with accountability and openness helps teams feel empowered to experiment and take ownership.
At our India Development & Engineering center, this approach has translated into a sharp rise in invention disclosures, reflecting our growing global influence. Programs like She Invents play a key role by mentoring women technologists and helping them convert ideas into patents, driving an 88% increase in participation from FY20 to FY24. Celebrations like Patent Day further reinforce continuous learning and inclusive, breakthrough thinking.
What advice would you give to aspiring engineers who aim to move into leadership roles in the data storage industry?
I would encourage aspiring leaders to first build a deep understanding of storage architectures, protocols, and emerging technologies like NVMe®, object storage, and cloud-native designs. A strong technical base is essential, but leadership requires looking beyond technology, understanding customers, business priorities, and the strategic impact of decisions. Strengthening communication, collaboration, and structured problem-solving skills is equally important. Stay curious, keep learning, and stay connected to industry trends. Most importantly, focus on inspiring and mentoring others. True leadership in this field is about enabling innovation through people, not just mastering the technology.
Sridhar Sabesan, Sr. Director- Engi -neering, Western Digital
Sridhar Sabesan, Sr. Director of Engineering at Western Digital, is a seasoned technology leader with deep expertise in large-scale storage architectures, innovation strategy, and ecosystem enablement. With nearly a decade leading Western Digital’s India Platform engineering organization, he drives cutting edge product development, mentors emerging talent, and champions programs that advance industry-wide technical excellence.