Engineering Manager by Day, Solo Innovator by Night: Why This Is the Best Time to Build

Ravitez Dondeti, Engineering Manager and Top Writer on HackerNoon in Machine Learning, Programming, and Security, shares his unconventional journey into tech from dismantling his grandma's radio as a kid to nearly failing his first software training, then becoming a recognized innovator. His 2015 SmartScreen app pioneered intelligent screen timeout nine years before Google implemented similar functionality in Android 15. Now, he builds AI-powered mobile apps, contributes critical security fixes to open-source projects like OpenSIPS, and writes about the reality behind AI hype. In this interview, he discusses why this is the best time to be a builder, his vision for AI on edge devices, and why knowledge not just tools will always be yours.