From IAS to AI

The Incredible Journey of Kashish Mittal—from NITI Aayog Bureaucracy to Microsoft AI Research and Startup Founder Backed by South Park Commons

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." So wrote Nietzsche, foretelling the path of those whose inner compass dares defy institutional inertia. “Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors,” says an African proverb, and in the case of Kashish Mittal, this adage breathes truth. From the gilded corridors of Indian bureaucracy to the boundless frontier of artificial intelligence, Mittal’s trajectory is not merely a career shift—it is an epistemological reimagination of vocation, duty, and self-actualisation. Once entrenched in the rational rigour of public policy at NITI Aayog, Mittal did not succumb to the seductive permanence of the civil service. Instead, he embarked upon a rare ontological pivot, leaving behind the stasis of systemic governance to embrace the fluid dynamism of technological innovation. His stint at Microsoft’s AI research division and subsequent founding of an AI startup backed by South Park Commons reveal a deeper philosophical unrest: the desire not only to serve the people, but to reinvent the architecture of that very service through data, code, and cognitive augmentation. Mittal’s journey dismantles binary distinctions between service and enterprise, between duty and disruption. It demands that we reassess our definitions of success, not as linear ascents, but as recursive reinventions. His story is not merely personal—it is paradigmatic, a totem for a generation seeking meaning beyond prescribed laurels. It exemplifies the modern dharma of those who choose not the path of least resistance, but of deepest resonance.

Introduction: A Career Turn That Gripped the Internet

In an era where traditional career paths are often viewed as lifelong commitments, one man’s journey has disrupted this narrative with extraordinary force. Kashish Mittal, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, recently made headlines across India’s internet landscape for what many are calling the “craziest pivot” of the year. From a secure and prestigious role within the Indian civil services to an ambitious foray into the cutting-edge world of artificial intelligence (AI), Mittal’s trajectory exemplifies a rare kind of professional audacity. His story emerged on the public radar when screenshots of his LinkedIn profile went viral. The sequence was both baffling and fascinating: IAS Officer → NITI Aayog → Microsoft Research → AI Startup Founder. What stunned people wasn’t just the transitions—it was the sheer improbability of it all. This was a bureaucrat with a promising administrative career, voluntarily walking away from the permanence and power of government service to enter a world governed by code, venture capital, and entrepreneurial uncertainty.

But the real plot twist was yet to come.

In 2025, Mittal announced the launch of his startup Disha AI, a Bengaluru-based ed-tech and AI learning company aimed at empowering individuals with real-world artificial intelligence skills. What added even more weight to the announcement was the early backing from South Park Commons (SPC), a prestigious Silicon Valley-based community and venture fund known for investing in transformative early-stage technologies. As social media caught wind of the story, reactions ranged from admiration to awe, laced with confusion. Some users called it the boldest mid-career switch they’d ever seen. Others questioned what might prompt someone to leave the IAS—an aspiration for millions—for the ambiguity of a startup. But among the noise, one thing was clear: Kashish Mittal had reignited an important cultural conversation about career reinvention in the 21st century. His journey is not just one of professional change; it’s a narrative of systemic boundary-breaking. It pushes against the prevailing notion that certain careers—like the IAS—are golden cages, difficult to enter and even harder to leave. It reaffirms the rising belief that deep domain expertise, coupled with courage and clarity of vision, can transcend sectoral boundaries.

This article explores, in depth, the many layers of Mittal’s story. From his academic roots at IIT Delhi to his time in district administration, from his stint in India’s central planning think tank to Microsoft’s global AI labs, and finally, to the entrepreneurial ground zero of his own company—each chapter of his life paints a picture of how conviction, adaptability, and technological fluency are reshaping the meaning of public service and private ambition in India. This isn’t just a story about a career change. It is a paradigm shift—one that speaks to the future of governance, the evolution of public-minded tech entrepreneurship, and the courage it takes to walk into the unknown.

Foundations: From IIT Delhi to the Indian Administrative Service

To understand the magnitude of Kashish Mittal’s career pivot, one must begin at the roots—his early academic choices, his rigorous preparation for civil services, and the institutional environments that shaped his worldview. Before becoming a headline-grabbing disruptor, Mittal was already part of India’s intellectual and administrative elite, with a resume that most aspirants only dream of.

IIT Delhi: Engineering a Strong Start

Kashish Mittal’s academic journey began at one of India’s most revered educational institutions—the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D). As a B.Tech student in Computer Science & Engineering, he was immersed in a world that fostered analytical precision, systems thinking, and technical depth. IITs are not just centres of academic excellence—they’re crucibles for building leadership, innovation, and resilience. Graduating from IIT Delhi with a Computer Science degree meant Mittal had a direct path into the corporate world—lucrative jobs at global tech giants, top roles in consulting firms, or even PhD opportunities at Ivy League institutions. But instead of treading that familiar route, he opted for a radically different challenge: the Indian Administrative Service.

The IAS Dream: Choosing Public Service Over Corporate Comfort

Mittal began preparing for the Civil Services Examination (CSE)—widely regarded as one of the toughest competitive exams in the world. With its success rate of less than 0.1%, cracking the UPSC exam requires not only intellect but an ironclad work ethic, broad general knowledge, strong writing skills, and a deep commitment to public purpose. His decision to pursue civil services speaks volumes about his early motivation: a desire to create large-scale, people-centric impact from within the system. In a society where high-paying private-sector roles are often the default for engineers, Mittal’s choice to enter the IAS indicated a deeper ideological alignment with governance, equity, and nation-building. He was selected into the IAS in January 2011, joining the civil services at a time when India was undergoing rapid transformation—digitisation, federal economic reforms, and the early stirrings of national debates on climate, AI, and urbanisation.

Training Grounds: Mussoorie and Beyond

As is customary, he underwent foundational training at LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) in Mussoorie, where officers are groomed not only in law, economics, and public administration but also in ethics, rural immersion, and field preparedness. The IAS, by design, throws its officers into India’s most complex governance spaces—from tribal belts to urban sprawls, from border districts to ministry corridors in Delhi. Mittal’s early postings included roles such as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) in Chandigarh and Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Tawang, a high-altitude district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China. These assignments are no easy feat. Tawang, for instance, poses unique challenges in terms of infrastructure, ethnic diversity, strategic military sensitivities, and environmental concerns. As a DC, he would have overseen everything from healthcare and education to land disputes, law and order, and disaster management. Such roles gave him firsthand exposure to how policies translate on the ground—and where they often fail to.

Why This Foundation Matters

The blend of technical grounding from IIT and systems-level exposure through the IAS created a rare profile. Few professionals get to straddle the worlds of technology and governance with such depth so early in their careers. This foundational duality would later become the fuel for Mittal’s pivot into technology entrepreneurship: an engineer who understood code and an administrator who understood people. It also gave him clarity on the bottlenecks India faces in scaling up inclusive innovation. Bureaucracies tend to be slow to adopt new tools, particularly AI and digital solutions. Often, there’s a gap between what’s technologically possible and what’s administratively implementable. These frustrations—paired with a desire to create more agile, impactful systems—would later shape his decision to explore AI more directly.

Mittal’s foundation was not accidental—it was methodically built across India’s most respected institutions, and it laid the intellectual and ethical scaffolding for everything that came after.

The NITI Aayog Chapter: Where Policy Meets Technology

After demonstrating both administrative acumen and on-ground leadership in his initial years as an IAS officer, Kashish Mittal entered one of the most intellectually dynamic and reform-oriented spaces in Indian governance: NITI Aayog. It was here that his interests in policy, technology, and systems innovation began to converge in meaningful ways—and it was here that the seeds of his future pivot to AI were likely sown.

What Is NITI Aayog?

Formed in 2015 as the successor to the erstwhile Planning Commission, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was envisioned as the Government of India’s think tank—a body that would promote cooperative federalism, catalyse policy innovation, and design strategic frameworks for sustainable development. Its mandate stretched across sectors: health, education, urban planning, agriculture, energy, and increasingly, technology and data governance. Unlike other ministries with a fixed operational focus, NITI Aayog functions as a strategic and technical advisory body, working directly under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It brings together bureaucrats, domain experts, economists, scientists, and technocrats to formulate long-term vision documents and targeted action plans. Joining NITI Aayog as a senior official represented a major leap for Mittal—not just in hierarchy, but in the level of intellectual freedom and policy influence he now held.

A Bureaucrat with a Technologist’s Mindset

Mittal’s unique blend of an IIT computer science background and real-world administrative experience made him especially suited to contribute in domains where policy intersected with emerging technologies. At NITI Aayog, one of the key priorities during his tenure was the development of India’s National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence—a forward-looking document that sought to place India at the global forefront of AI research and implementation. NITI Aayog, under the leadership of then Vice Chairperson Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant, had identified AI as one of the most promising technologies for inclusive development. The AI strategy emphasized five key sectors: healthcare, agriculture, education, smart mobility, and smart cities. While official records do not disclose every internal contribution, Mittal’s background suggests he was deeply involved in projects that required both technical literacy and policy sensitivity, such as:

AI for social sector delivery (healthcare diagnostics, rural telemedicine)
Data governance frameworks and ethical AI usage
Collaboration models between government, academia, and industry (like the AI research centres in partnership with IITs)
Developing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) structures for AI adoption in critical infrastructure

His time at NITI Aayog also offered him a bird’s-eye view of India’s digital policy ecosystem—what was working, what was lagging, and what kind of institutional mindsets stood in the way of real transformation.

Exposure to National and Global Stakeholders

A stint at NITI Aayog often involves interfacing with a wide array of national and international actors—UN agencies, World Bank, tech companies, start-ups, and global policy labs. Mittal would have regularly participated in high-level consultations, inter-ministerial working groups, and innovation task forces. It is likely that during this period, he built critical networks across the global AI policy community, interacted with Microsoft Research India (which has partnered with NITI in the past), and cultivated a deeper understanding of how AI could be responsibly scaled within India’s democratic and developmental framework.

The Limitations of Bureaucratic Innovation

However, this exposure may have also come with a sense of limitation. Bureaucratic systems, while robust and well-intentioned, are often slow to adapt to emerging tech. Pilot projects can take months—sometimes years—to gain traction. Procurement bottlenecks, talent shortages in public institutions, and a lack of risk tolerance often stifle innovation. Even when NITI Aayog crafted brilliant policies, the real challenge lay in implementation by line ministries and state governments. Mittal, with his grounding in tech and a clear grasp of India’s grassroots needs, may have found this frustrating. He could envision AI applications for healthcare diagnostics in rural clinics or smart irrigation systems for farmers, but rolling them out at scale was another matter altogether. This friction between policy design and execution inertia may have contributed to the first flickers of discontent—a realisation that he could do more, and move faster, outside the system.

A Turning Point in Mindset

While many bureaucrats may feel the same frustration, few act on it. What sets Mittal apart is that he didn't stop at diagnosis. His time at NITI Aayog gave him a framework to think about national challenges, but also exposed him to the velocity of technological change outside government systems. The experience became a springboard for his next bold move: stepping into the private sector, not for personal gain, but to deepen his engagement with AI and build systems that could drive real-time impact. In hindsight, NITI Aayog wasn’t just another posting in his bureaucratic tenure—it was the ideological and intellectual bridge that led him from policy dreamer to AI builder.

The Bold Exit: From Government to Global Tech (Microsoft)

If transitioning from India’s top engineering institution to the civil services was a bold leap, then Kashish Mittal’s next move was nothing short of a career supernova. In 2020, after nearly a decade of distinguished service in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he did the unthinkable—he resigned. The reason? To join Microsoft, one of the world’s leading technology firms, as a Principal Researcher in Artificial Intelligence. This wasn't a sabbatical. It wasn’t a deputation or a diplomatic assignment. It was a clean break from one of the most secure, respected, and culturally venerated careers in the country. A resignation from the IAS is no small matter. It comes with not just bureaucratic formality, but also a heavy emotional toll, especially for someone who had risen through the ranks, served in remote districts, and worked at the highest levels of policymaking in NITI Aayog.

Why Leave the IAS?

The million-dollar question everyone asked was—why would anyone leave the IAS?

For context, the IAS is considered the "steel frame" of Indian governance. It offers lifetime job security, high-level influence, access to the nation's top decision-makers, and deep respect in society. Most officers spend 30+ years in service, climbing the administrative ladder toward Chief Secretary or Secretary to the Government of India posts. Resignations are rare, and career shifts into the private sector are even rarer. For Mittal, however, the answer may lie in a confluence of professional disillusionment and creative hunger. After witnessing the limits of policy implementation firsthand and perhaps feeling the inertia of institutional systems, he chose to shift from structural governance to solution-building through technology. It was a leap of conviction—an engineer returning to the roots of problem-solving, but this time at a scale enabled by machine learning, cloud computing, and real-time data.

The Microsoft Opportunity

At Microsoft, Mittal was appointed as a Principal Researcher, a role that sits at the intersection of advanced research and applied innovation. This isn’t your average corporate job—it’s a position that allows for exploratory development, publication of cutting-edge research, and the creation of real-world tech solutions that integrate with Microsoft’s global platforms. Microsoft Research, especially its India division based in Bengaluru, has long been known for its work in AI for Societal Impact. The unit focuses on leveraging AI and data science to address challenges in health, agriculture, education, accessibility, and public service delivery—sectors that Mittal knew intimately from his time in the IAS.

Some of the AI-for-good initiatives Microsoft Research India had previously worked on include:

Project FarmBeats: Precision agriculture using IoT and AI.
AI for Healthcare: Early disease detection, epidemic prediction models, and diagnostic tools.
AI for Accessibility: Tools for visually or hearing-impaired users to navigate digital spaces.

Although exact details of Mittal’s research at Microsoft are not publicly available, it is reasonable to infer that his experience in public policy, grassroots administration, and national strategy development uniquely positioned him to work on AI systems designed to bridge social and digital divides. He was no longer just drafting plans for AI transformation—he was building them.

Stepping into the Global Arena

Beyond the technical opportunities, Microsoft offered Mittal a global platform. He could now access the best minds in AI and machine learning, collaborate with academic institutions like MIT and Stanford, and work on projects that reached hundreds of millions of users. He had transitioned from a system of bureaucracy to one of borderless innovation. This phase of his career also marked a personal evolution—from being an instrument of policy to becoming a technological creator. His exposure to Microsoft’s product thinking, research ecosystem, and startup partnerships deepened his understanding of how AI solutions could be deployed at scale with impact, accountability, and speed. While his time at Microsoft spanned about five years, it wasn’t meant to be permanent. For someone with an entrepreneurial itch, the job—however stimulating—was still someone else’s vision. Eventually, he would need to build his own.

What the Exit Signified

Mittal’s resignation and subsequent shift into AI R&D marked a generational inflexion point. It showed that the newer breed of civil servants no longer saw their career as a 30-year one-way street. They could—and would—pivot, explore, experiment, and even walk away from institutional privilege in pursuit of deeper alignment with their passion and skills. His decision was not a rejection of public service, but rather a reimagining of it. It proved that one could serve the public not only from within the government, but also by innovating from outside—through technology, entrepreneurship, and systems design. He had stepped out of the corridors of North Block and into the digital frontier. From influencing policy on paper, he had moved to writing code, building models, and shaping algorithms that could change lives.

And yet, he was just getting started.

The Arrow of Reinvention: Founding Disha AI

After nearly five years of absorbing the rigour, pace, and global ambition of Microsoft’s AI research ecosystem, Kashish Mittal found himself at yet another turning point. Having traversed the bureaucratic machinery of India and the elite corridors of global tech, he now faced a choice that would define the next chapter of his journey—not just as a policymaker or technologist, but as a builder. In 2025, Mittal made that choice loud and clear: he founded his own AI startup, Disha AI, headquartered in India’s innovation capital, Bengaluru. The name “Disha” (which means “direction” in Hindi) was not just poetic—it was symbolic. It captured his core intent: to guide a new generation of learners, workers, and problem-solvers into the AI revolution, and to do so in a way that was accessible, ethical, and deeply rooted in real-world applications.

What Is Disha AI?

At its core, Disha AI is envisioned as a learning-by-doing platform for applied artificial intelligence. It is designed to help students, professionals, and even policy practitioners understand, build, and deploy AI systems that solve practical problems. This isn’t just another edtech platform offering passive video tutorials or AI jargon dumped into PDF notes. Disha AI is built on the belief that the best way to learn AI is to build with it—by working on real datasets, solving community-specific problems, and developing deployable projects. From climate risk modelling to crop yield prediction, from building ethical LLM workflows to designing AI tools for small enterprises, Disha AI aims to offer project-centric learning, mentorship from real AI practitioners, and an evolving toolkit that adapts to the rapidly changing tech landscape.

What Makes It Different?

Applied, not just academic: While most AI learning platforms focus on theory, Disha AI prioritises hands-on project development aligned with industry and societal needs.
Inclusive learning architecture: The platform is designed to accommodate non-CS learners—those from economics, public policy, agriculture, and humanities—who want to use AI meaningfully in their domains.
India-first data and challenges: With Mittal’s background in Indian governance, the problems Disha AI tackles are contextualised to Indian datasets, languages, and local nuances—a refreshing shift from generic AI training.
Ethical and responsible AI design: Given the global concerns around bias, surveillance, and automation harms, Disha AI includes modules on AI ethics, transparency, and fairness, training not just coders, but future AI stewards.
Mentorship-driven learning: Through weekly project reviews, peer learning circles, and expert mentor networks, learners are pushed beyond tutorials to prototype tangible outcomes.

In short, Disha AI isn’t just teaching “how AI works”—it’s teaching how to work with AI to solve problems.

Backed by South Park Commons: A Global Vote of Confidence

What truly set the startup apart in its early phase was the announcement that Disha AI had secured early backing from South Park Commons (SPC), a highly selective venture fund and founder community based in San Francisco. Founded by former Facebook and Dropbox engineers, SPC isn’t your traditional VC firm. It operates as a community of high-conviction builders, supporting entrepreneurs who are exploring ambitious ideas before they’ve even incorporated a company. SPC’s backing is both financial and intellectual—it gives access to mentors, researchers, designers, and fellow founders tackling frontier challenges. Their portfolio includes pathbreaking ventures in AI, bioengineering, digital infrastructure, and education. That Disha AI was chosen by SPC indicates global confidence in both the founder’s vision and the potential of the Indian AI education ecosystem.

From Civil Services to Startup Leadership

Mittal’s move from a Microsoft researcher to a startup founder was not just a career switch—it was a philosophical declaration. In government, he had seen what kind of tools could help citizens, but bureaucratic inertia often slowed progress. In big tech, he had learned how AI systems are designed and scaled. Now, with Disha AI, he was blending both worlds—public interest and private innovation—to create impact at the grassroots. In interviews and public posts, Mittal has hinted at his desire to create “democratized access to AI capacity.” In a world where AI risks deepening inequalities, especially in the Global South, Disha AI is an attempt to put these powerful tools in the hands of everyday builders, policy wonks, social entrepreneurs, and students.

Why Disha AI Matters in the Indian Context

India stands on the brink of a massive AI transformation. With a young, tech-savvy population and pressing challenges in health, education, agriculture, and climate, the need for locally relevant, scalable AI solutions has never been greater.

Yet, there’s a gap between what India needs and what most AI training programs offer:

AI education is often too expensive, too Western-centric, and disconnected from Indian data realities.
There's a severe shortage of interdisciplinary AI builders who understand both algorithms and the social context.
Public sector adoption of AI remains slow due to a lack of talent pipelines that combine tech and governance fluency.
Disha AI positions itself to fill these gaps. It aims to be not just a startup, but a movement—to create an ecosystem where AI doesn’t replace people, but empowers them to design better futures.

The Road Ahead

Still in its early stages, Disha AI is yet to fully reveal its product roadmap or learner cohort data. But early signals—SPC’s funding, Mittal’s interdisciplinary leadership, and the growing demand for contextualised AI skills in India—suggest that the venture has both vision and viability. If successful, Disha AI could become the flagship ed-tech platform for applied AI in emerging markets, inspiring a wave of civil servants, educators, developers, and changemakers to embrace the AI frontier—not as consumers, but as creators.

Reception and Reactions: A ‘Crazy Pivot’ That Sparked the Internet’s Imagination

When Kashish Mittal’s bold transition from IAS officer to AI founder hit the headlines in mid-2024, it did more than make news—it broke the internet.

The Announcement that Went Viral

The story surfaced subtly at first. A few LinkedIn posts hinted at his new AI venture, but it was a widely shared tweet with a caption reading “From File Notings to Neural Networks” that triggered the real storm. That one post—part inspirational, part bewildering—garnered over 3 million views, thousands of reposts, and sparked intense debate across digital India. For a nation accustomed to worshipping the IAS as the highest career pinnacle, Mittal’s pivot felt unthinkable. Why would someone walk away from power, privilege, and permanence for an uncertain startup future?

Media Coverage: From Mainstream to Meme Culture

Indian media houses quickly picked up the story. Headlines ranged from respectful curiosity to outright fascination:

“The Bureaucrat Who Left Babudom for Bots” – The Hindu

“IAS to AI: The Most Radical Resignation in Civil Services History” – The Print

“From Red Tape to Neural Nets: Kashish Mittal’s Startup Gamble” – Moneycontrol

“Is AI the New UPSC?” – YourStory, which jokingly reported a surge in IIT graduates rethinking government exams

Even meme culture jumped in. Popular Instagram pages posted satirical takes like:

“IAS: India’s Ancient System. AI: India’s Awakening Innovation.”

“He left the only job where people touch your feet... to build one where AI does the same!”

Public Reactions: Polarised, Passionate, and Philosophical

The public response was, in a word, electric. It revealed not just opinions about Mittal’s choice, but the collective psyche of an aspirational, tech-savvy, status-obsessed India in flux.

The Admirers

A significant portion of young Indians celebrated the move:

UPSC aspirants said it gave them “permission to dream differently.”

Tech founders hailed it as a rare blend of policy intellect and tech grit.

IAS officers and alumni privately reached out with support, admitting they too had felt “boxed in” by the system.

On Quora and Reddit, users began threads titled:

“What can we learn from Kashish Mittal’s pivot?”

“Is it possible to serve India better outside the system?”

Many argued that building impactful technology may today be more transformative than writing government memos or navigating district politics.

The Skeptics

But there were critics too:

“He abandoned service. The nation invested in his training,” some wrote.

“It’s easy to talk reform from a startup boardroom. Real change happens in the field,” others pointed out.

Some dismissed it as a trend-chasing move: “Another elite building tools for other elites. Will AI help a farmer in Barabanki?”

These concerns weren’t baseless. India’s deep-seated trust in public institutions—even with all their flaws—still anchors many people’s definition of service and duty. For many, leaving the IAS felt like walking away from responsibility.

Yet even detractors agreed on one thing: Mittal’s move had ignited a long overdue national conversation.

Influence on Youth and the Startup Ecosystem

What made the pivot more than personal was its ripple effect:

Startup incubators reported an uptick in applications mentioning “social AI” and “governance tech.” Career coaching firms noted that more students were now balancing UPSC prep with coding bootcamps and fellowships. A few civil servants, still in service, began exploring sabbaticals or secondments in emerging tech sectors. For Gen Z and millennials straddling traditional values and tech disruption, Mittal became a metaphor, not of escape, but of evolution. Not of rejection, but of reinvention.

In talks and podcasts, he made one point clear:

“We need to stop thinking in binaries—IAS or startup, public or private. We need people who can bridge the two worlds. That’s where real innovation lies.”

The IAS Community’s Response: Surprise, Respect, Reflection

While publicly, the IAS community remained largely silent, insiders say his decision sparked deep reflection within the services:

Could civil servants innovate without quitting?

Should the government incubate internal innovation labs?

Is lateral entry enough, or does the structure itself need reinvention?

Some officers viewed his decision as “a wake-up call,” urging the state to become more agile and porous to new ideas. Others saw it as a symbol of frustration with bureaucratic inertia—the very thing reformers inside the system have been trying to fight for decades.

India at the Crossroads: Bureaucracy vs. Innovation? Or a New Synthesis?

Kashish Mittal’s transition from India’s most coveted bureaucratic role to an AI entrepreneur wasn’t just a career move—it became a symbol of two Indias colliding: one rooted in age-old governance systems, the other racing into a digital future. His story sits at the heart of a national question:

Can India’s bureaucratic rigor and startup dynamism work together—or are they inherently incompatible?

The Bureaucratic India: Legacy, Stability, and Hierarchy

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) has long been the steel frame of Indian governance. It commands respect, provides stability in times of political turbulence, and acts as the interface between people and policy. But it’s also often:

Burdened by outdated rules,
Resistant to rapid innovation, and
Distrustful of risk-taking.

While India’s public sector has produced outstanding leaders, it operates in a low-tolerance, high-blame ecosystem. Even forward-thinking officers must navigate procedural red tape, political interference, and snail-paced decision-making. In this setup, someone like Kashish Mittal—a tech-savvy officer with a vision—may often find himself outpacing the system’s comfort zone.

The Startup India: Speed, Disruption, and Agility

Conversely, India’s startup ecosystem—especially in AI and deep tech—is booming:

India has over 110 unicorns as of 2025.
The AI sector alone is projected to contribute $967 billion to India’s GDP by 2035 (NASSCOM–EY Report, 2024).
Startups are now solving problems from credit access to crop yield, mental health to logistics, often with real-time, data-driven innovation.

However, this world, too, has its gaps:

Startups often lack on-the-ground policy insight.
Many innovations remain elitist, targeting urban or English-speaking users.
Impact at scale is limited without state partnerships.

What Mittal’s pivot revealed is that both sectors—bureaucracy and startups—are incomplete without the other.

A New Breed of Bridge Builders

Kashish Mittal’s journey exemplifies a growing cohort of Indians who straddle both domains:

Former civil servants launching tech ventures.
Engineers joining public policy think tanks.
Bureaucrats experimenting with blockchain in land records or AI in grievance redressal.

This hybrid tribe, armed with institutional know-how and startup daring, is uniquely positioned to:

Translate governance challenges into tech problems.
Build public-sector-ready AI systems.
Navigate regulations without sacrificing innovation.

“The future lies in institutional entrepreneurs—people who don’t just build apps or draft laws, but design systems,” Mittal remarked in a post-2024 panel at IIT Delhi.

Policy Reform to Encourage Cross-Pollination

Mittal’s pivot has intensified the call for systemic reforms:

Fellowship Pathways: Create short-term rotations for IAS officers in startups or research labs.
Reverse Mentorship Models: Young tech entrepreneurs advising civil servants on digital tools.
Government Sandbox Initiatives: Safe spaces within ministries where experimental tech can be piloted without procedural risk.
AI-for-Governance Task Forces: Multidisciplinary groups that include engineers, administrators, ethicists, and citizens.

If the government institutionalises such mechanisms, it could prevent brain drain from the IAS, while simultaneously infusing bureaucracies with 21st-century skill sets.

International Comparisons: Learning from the World

Other nations have already begun synthesising governance with tech:
Singapore’s GovTech unit pairs bureaucrats with coders to rapidly prototype citizen services.
Estonia pioneered e-governance with public-private collaboration, making 99% of its services digital.
The UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) rewrote procurement, digital inclusion, and policy feedback mechanisms.
India—with its tech talent and governance reach—can leapfrog ahead, but only if it incentivises cross-sector flow.

The Psychological Shift: Redefining Success and Service

Kashish Mittal’s decision also reflects a deeper psychological evolution in India:

Service is no longer tied only to sarkari (government) roles.
Impact is not measured solely by designation, but by delivery.
Purpose is being redefined by a generation that values agility, scale, and creativity over protocol and hierarchy.

For a country whose brightest minds once defaulted to UPSC or IIT, Mittal’s pivot offers a powerful alternative narrative:

“You don’t have to abandon the system to change it. But sometimes, stepping out helps you build the tools to fix what’s inside.”

Bureaucracy + Innovation: The Formula India Needs

Ultimately, India doesn’t need more civil servants or more entrepreneurs—it needs visionaries who can toggle between both. People who:

Speak the language of policy and code,
Understand ground realities and machine learning models,
Care as much about ethics as about efficiency.

Kashish Mittal may have resigned from the IAS, but in doing so, he didn’t abandon service—he redefined it.

A Symbol of a Generational Shift: What Kashish Mittal’s Journey Means for India’s Future

In a country where government jobs are often perceived as the pinnacle of success and stability, Kashish Mittal’s story is not just unusual—it is revolutionary. His trajectory from the Indian Administrative Service to Microsoft to founding an AI startup backed by elite Silicon Valley investors marks more than a personal pivot. It represents a profound generational reorientation in how ambition, impact, and national service are being redefined in 21st-century India.

Rewiring What It Means to ‘Serve’

Traditionally, civil service in India has been viewed as the most direct, noble, and stable way to contribute to society. And rightly so—the IAS has shaped India’s institutions and responded to its most critical challenges for over 75 years. However, what Mittal’s journey reveals is that impact is no longer bound to government corridors. The frontier of change might now lie at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and ethical innovation. When someone who has already held the levers of bureaucratic power decides to leave it all behind to build tech products for underserved populations, it sends a powerful message: service doesn’t need a designation—it needs a direction.

The Rise of Mission-Driven Technologists

Mittal is not an anomaly. A quiet but growing trend is taking shape—highly educated Indians, many from the IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, and Ivy League schools, are choosing to deploy their skills in problem-first, mission-oriented ways rather than chasing traditional career milestones. Startups in healthcare, fintech, edtech, and climate tech are now being led by former bureaucrats, doctors, researchers, and civil engineers who are fusing domain expertise with code, data, and design thinking. They are building public goods using private tools, often backed by mission-driven investors who are more interested in catalytic outcomes than quick exits. Mittal fits squarely into this archetype. His vision for Phoenix AI isn’t just to generate revenue but to generate relevance, especially for sectors that are often ignored by the flashier segments of AI, like entertainment or e-commerce.

Reimagining the ‘Brain Drain’

For decades, India battled the phenomenon of brain drain, where top talent migrated abroad for better opportunities. But the reverse is now happening—not just in geography but in intention. More Indians, even those working at global tech giants like Microsoft, are returning or repurposing their skills to tackle India-specific challenges. Mittal didn’t go abroad after IIT. He entered governance. And after exiting IAS, he chose to build something that still addresses public-good challenges, albeit with the speed and autonomy that a startup allows. This is not brain drain. This is brain redistribution—a diffusion of expertise into corners of society that have traditionally been neglected by both government and markets.

Lessons for Policy Makers

Ironically, Mittal’s exit from government should also serve as a wake-up call for the system he once served.

Policymakers must ask: Why do some of our brightest civil servants feel they can create more impact outside the system than within it?

Bureaucratic inertia, resistance to tech adoption, lack of experimental sandboxing, and outdated promotion structures often stifle innovation. If India wants to retain people like Mittal, the system must evolve to become more porous, more adaptive, and more welcoming of interdisciplinary ideas. At the same time, collaborations between the government and ventures like Phoenix AI must be strengthened through procurement reforms, challenge grants, and agile pilot schemes. A well-governed India will be one where ex-IAS officers and current ones can co-create solutions without institutional silos.

Inspiration for the Youth

To young Indians watching Mittal’s journey, the message is clear:

You don’t have to choose between ambition and altruism.

You can move between sectors, reinvent yourself, and still stay rooted in national purpose.

Whether you’re building policy in Parliament or products in a co-working space, impact is what you measure, not the title you carry.

Mittal’s courage to pivot is a signal that risk-taking, once frowned upon in traditional Indian households, is becoming a virtue. Especially when it’s done with integrity, insight, and the intent to solve real problems.

Conclusion: The Bureaucrat Who Rewired His Code

Kashish Mittal’s journey isn’t just about a career shift—it’s a metaphor for a shifting India. One that’s unafraid to mix idealism with innovation. One where boundaries between public and private, stable and experimental, technical and humane are being redrawn in real time. From drafting policies at NITI Aayog to launching a responsible AI startup from scratch, Mittal is part of a new breed of changemakers. Bureaucrats who became builders. Administrators who became algorithmic thinkers. Engineers who turned empathy into enterprise. If India is to leapfrog into a future defined by inclusive growth, technological sovereignty, and ethical governance, it will need many more such pivots—perhaps not always as dramatic, but certainly just as daring. In the annals of Indian civil service and entrepreneurship, Kashish Mittal’s name will not merely be remembered as someone who left the IAS. He will be remembered as someone who reimagined what it means to build India—one line of code, one mission at a time.

References

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