Hi, I'm Rahul
Solutions engineer. Product builder. Practical futurist.
Rahul Jain

Solutions Engineer at Selector, working on AI for network observability and AIOps. Sixteen years at Cisco before that, across solution architecture, presales, and product management.

About

Engineer from PEC, Chandigarh, then sixteen years at Cisco across Bengaluru, Raleigh, and Gurgaon. After Cisco, a stretch of independent consulting; now a Selector Solutions Engineer, working on AI for networks. My favourite work sits at the seam between product and process design.

Work Experience

View CV

Solutions Engineer

Jun 2026 - Present

Selector

Gurgaon

  • AI-driven network observability and AIOps for enterprise and service-provider networks.
  • Pre-sales solutioning, demos, and POCs that translate telemetry into actionable insight.
  • Product-management-informed: I scope for the problem worth solving, not just the demo.

Back at the seam of networks and product, now with AI in the loop.

Founder & Principal Consultant

Dec 2024 - May 2026

InfoCzar

Gurgaon

  • Independent product and technology consulting.
  • Advised on SmartLease, a device-leasing product, from concept through pilot.
  • AI adoption, product design, and go-to-market advisory.

The brand began as a PEC-era venture; formally incorporated in 2024.

Product Manager

Oct 2019 - Nov 2024

Cisco

Gurgaon

Compliance eraApr 2024 – Nov 2024

End-to-end audit automation for hardware and software compliance across 1,200 sites. Audit cycle eight months to three. Effort halved.

Services eraOct 2019 – Apr 2024

Owned three products end-to-end: Digital Twin, Branch Upgrade Automation, Endpoint Classifier. Built the AFM framework. Lead outcome: Branch Upgrade Automation, with 80% manual reduction and $15M+ in service revenue.

Five years building products at Cisco. Two distinct mandates.

Presales Solution Architect

Jun 2012 - Sep 2019

Cisco

Raleigh, USA

  • $100M in services sales over four years.
  • Led 2,000 change windows at Verizon Wireless with zero outages.
  • Six-month rescue at Rockwell Automation — turned customer sentiment negative-to-positive.
  • Earned Data Science Level 1 at NC State.

Seven years learning to translate between engineers and procurement.

Network Consultant

Aug 2008 - Jun 2012

Cisco

Bengaluru

  • Service Provider migrations for AT&T, Vodafone, STC, Airtel, Turkcell, DU Dubai, Sprint, Paetec, and Reach Telecom.
  • Designed and deployed the Commonwealth Games 2010 video transmission network.
  • Built Easy Migrate Portal in 2010 — $5M in orders within weeks.

The first chapter. Learning what enterprise actually means.

Education

North Carolina State University

2015

Data Science Programme, Level 1

Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh

2004 – 2008

B.E. (Hons.), Electronics & Electrical Communication.

  • PECFEST 2005, SMS marketing. Ran fest marketing on SMS when SMS was still the only channel that landed at scale. Built the registration system; 1,200+ signups in three days.
  • Hostel LAN, 2006. Pooled funds with fellow students to build the first hostel network. Laid cables, deployed switches. A 100+ computer star topology, fully resident-funded.

PKR Jain Public School Ambala

2004

Schooling

Places I've lived

Panchkula → Chandigarh → Bengaluru → Raleigh → Gurgaon. Arrows draw in chronological order.

Skills

Solutions EngineeringProduct ManagementAIOpsNetwork ObservabilityPre-Sales/POCsNetwork TelemetryArchitectureAutomationAI

Plumbers of the internet, plus a few extra hats.

Featured Projects

2023–24·Cisco

Digital Twin

Cisco's network Digital Twin product. End-to-end product ownership from MVP through to customer delivery.

Shipped
2021·Cisco

AFM and Branch Upgrade Automation

An automation framework (AFM) and its lead outcome (Branch Upgrade Automation): a 1,200-branch upgrade programme transformed from a six-month war room into a four-week pipeline.

Shipped
2015·Cisco

Migration Scoping Automation

An Excel-based scoping tool for presales services that compressed weeks of estimating into hours.

Shipped
Pensive

Ideas I'm working through

Space for the ideas, predictions, and policy thinking I'm working through. Looking for collaborators, comments, and feedback. Read the Latest

  • August 2019·Defence · India

    Drone surveillance.

    Predicted civilian drone surveillance would become standard for border, infrastructure, and large-event monitoring within five years. Three Indian states had operational programmes by 2024.

  • June 2010·Healthcare · India

    Online medicine.

    Wrote an internal Cisco proposal for a network reference architecture for an online pharmacy. Was told the regulatory environment would never allow it. India's online pharmacy market crossed ₹10,000 crore in 2024.

  • September 2004·Telecom · India

    SMS marketing.

    Built the first SMS-based marketing system at PECFEST. By 2009, every Indian bank, telco, and pizza chain was doing the same thing.

What colleagues say

Outstanding product management skills, a true customer advocate with sharp data-analytical strengths.

Divya Jain

Consulting Engineering Technical Leader, Cisco (CCIE SP, AIOps)

His ability to quickly and correctly identify both the technical and business requirements established him as a leader on the team.

Matt Engle

Principal Architect, Cisco

A Technical Product Manager who can drive product strategy, facilitate seamless execution and deliver measurable results.

Abhilash Saladi

Senior Services Product Manager, Cisco

Deep knowledge spanning product lifecycle, presales and product design; helped many SD-WAN customers cut cost and deployment time.

Dahlia Leese

Global Snr Program Manager, Digital Transformation

Everything you look for in a team lead. His ability to set all the correct expectations, in delivery and in problem resolution.

shashi kantshukla

CCIEx2 (ENT & SP), SD-WAN Expert

Not only a subject-matter expert but a natural leader. His mentorship was a game-changer for me.

Sachin Bodkhe

Network Delivery Architect, Cisco (CCIE DC)

Exceptional skills in product ownership and management. His leadership and strategic thinking were invaluable to our success.

Krystian Różycki

Software Engineer, Elisity

A standout Product Manager. Strategic vision, attention to detail, and adaptability contributed to multiple successful launches.

ILLIA DOLSKI

Senior Frontend Engineer, ex-Cisco

As a product owner he showed the team a clear vision and perfectly understood the real needs of our users.

Viktoryia Makarevich

QA Automation Engineer

An effective leader with notable technical knowledge in network engineering and strong interpersonal skills.

Vitaly Grigorjev

Product Designer, B2B SaaS

A very innovative and thoughtful mind, always looking for new solutions that bring a positive impact.

Ankush Dabas

Enterprise Network Leadership (CCIE Wireless)

It's rare to come across someone as motivated and enthusiastic as Rahul. He always brought fresh ideas to the table.

Chhavi Sharma

Senior Software Engineer (Python, GenAI)

His expertise in designing and implementing complex solutions was instrumental. A seasoned and innovative solution architect.

Atul Paul

Senior Technical Program Manager

Impressed with his deep technical knowledge coupled with astute business acumen. He set the right expectations and delivered.

Nirmaan Aggarwal

Customer Success Manager, Public Sector

Rahul's unique way of handling any complex situation with a great solution without showing any extra effort is his USP.

Suprita

Internet Society Fellow, Network Engineer

A dedicated, results-oriented professional, willing to take the extra mile to achieve customer satisfaction.

Karim Fahmi

Strategic Customer Engagements Leader, AWS

A great innovator and a great peer. A diligent hard worker and a great network engineer.

Parampreet Singh Baweja

Enterprise Azure Sales Leader, Microsoft

So supportive in a group and very talented. His creativity is amazing and coding even better.

Atul Sharma

Co-Founder & COO, Qyula Narratives

CONTACT

Get in touch

For job opportunities, consulting work, or thoughts on the ideas. I respond to thoughtful messages within a few days. Solicitations get ignored.

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