Failed IIT Twice, Now Leading Operations At Microsoft, Techie's Inspirational Story Viral

An Indian-origin tech executive working in the US has gone viral for sharing her inspirational journey of overcoming multiple setbacks, financial troubles and self-doubt to achieve her dreams. In a now-viral online post, Priyanka Vergadia, who serves as a senior director at Microsoft, detailed how the challenges, including failing the highly competitive IIT entrance exam twice, did not deter her from building a successful career in technology.

"The entire time, one truth kept me going: I had to believe in myself before anyone else would. Failing IIT twice felt like the end of the world. But it wasn't my destination, it was just the beginning," wrote Vergadia.

In 2009, she graduated with an engineering degree and moved to the US graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, starting "from scratch in a new country".

The first few years in a foreign land were difficult, explained Vergadia, adding that she could not find an internship while the pressure to repay the loan instalments started mounting.

In 2010, she finally landed an internship at a tiny startup, which she turned into a permanent opportunity a year later. As a quality assurance engineer, Vergadia struggled initially and started doubting whether she could make it. Standing at a crucial juncture in her career, Vergadia decided to face her fears, took a leap of faith and ventured into customer-facing engineering.

By 2014, Vergadia realised she had finally found her footing. Just as she was busy solving problems with engineering, Google came knocking.

She found her calling in developer relations (DevRel) and launched zero-to-one products whilst becoming a best-selling author, and eventually leading Developer Advocacy for North America at Google Cloud.

In 2024, Microsoft hired her to lead the developer strategy for go-to-market, and in 2025, she earned a Wharton MBA, published another best-selling book and took the TED stage.

"From a "Not-IIT" engineering school to leading developer strategy at the world's biggest tech companies wasn't about being the smartest person in the room. It was about showing up consistently, learning relentlessly, and never letting failure or fear make my decisions."

Check The Viral Post Here:

I failed IIT twice. Took loans I couldn't afford. Started as a Quality Engineer while my friends climbed faster. 25 years later, here's the timeline:

2000: Decided to become an Engineer from IIT

2004: Failed to get into IIT

2005: Failed to get into IIT a second… pic.twitter.com/HIr7US3rjx

— Priyanka Vergadia (@pvergadia) December 29, 2025

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'Gives Me Motivation'

As the post went viral, social media users lauded Vergadia for sharing her life story and inspiring countless others who were in a similar situation and doubting their journey.

"Such an inspiring journey, Priyanka. Your GCP Sketchnote repo was one of the reasons I was able to ace the GCP certifications on multiple occasions," said one user, while another added: "Popped up on my feed. What an uplifting post."

A third commented: "Truly, this gives me more motivation than anything else. Life may throw problems at you but keep doing what you believe in and never discourage yourself that you can't do it because every problem has a solution."

A fourth said: "Thanks for sharing your journey. It's a powerful reminder that success isn't always linear. Your resilience is inspiring, and it's great to see how far you've come."