Koshy John (pronunciation)

I’ve long been drawn toward technology, particularly software design and engineering. That curiosity and drive showed up early - reading the Whole PC Family Encyclopedia cover to cover as a young child, devouring U.S. editions of PC World magazines long before I fully understood everything I was reading.

While still in school, I built several software applications, some of whose successors eventually reached millions of users worldwide. Along the way, I earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, led a team to the NZ finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup in 2011, and spent time in several technology and fintech companies in New Zealand. Today, I manage an engineering team in Microsoft Azure’s Compute Platform at Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

What motivates me, day in and day out, is the knowledge that technology, when applied thoughtfully, can meaningfully improve how people live and work. I’m deeply interested in systems where humans focus on higher-order thinking and complex problem-solving, while machines abstract away repetitive, lower-value tasks. Being part of that continuous transition is not just exciting to me; it’s the kind of work I want my career to stand for. This is especially true today of my work that underpins and secures the infrastructure powering internal and external cloud services at Microsoft.

I hold myself to a high bar. Perfection may be unattainable, but the pursuit of it isn’t optional. I’m acutely aware of my limits, which is precisely why I push against them deliberately. Real excellence doesn't come from comfort; it comes from sustained, disciplined effort aimed at becoming the best version of yourself you can clearly envision.

At a more fundamental level, I strongly believe in living with integrity - respecting others and their property, standing up for those who cannot advocate for themselves, and trying to be the change I want to see in the world. I may not yet have the influence or resources to create change at the scale I aspire to, but it's been a multi-decade journey with a trajectory of outcomes I find satisfaction in. In the meantime, I do what I can within my means at each stage, and encourage others to do the same. It thus matters to me that I work for a company that takes its social responsibility seriously.

Outside of software, I’ve always been fascinated by automobiles - especially technology-dense vehicles and the algorithms that govern safety, performance, and comfort. I enjoy thinking through systems like a city of networked cars dynamically optimizing routes based on real-time traffic, schedules, and destinations. If that kind of problem space resonates with you, we’ll probably get along.

This passion for cars led me to window-shopping an E93 BMW M3 in 2008 (laughably beyond the means of a student with no income), picking up my first BMW (F36) at the BMW Welt in Germany in 2016, and finally getting one of the first BMW M4 Competition M xDrive (G82) cars in the world in 2021 (finished in a rare BMW Individual color). Along the way, this interest led me to pursue high-performance driver education, experience several supercars on the track, push upto an electronically-limited 155 mph on the German autobahn in my then brand-new BMW, go around the Nürburgring (as a passenger), and more.

What follows in the subpages in this section is an honest account of the path I've walked and the principles that continue to guide it.