Punit Soni, who returned to India in 2015 as Flipkart’s Chief Product Officer, shared his experiences of adjusting to the Indian work environment after spending over 15 years in the US. Having moved to the US for his MBA in 2005, Soni worked with major companies like Google and Motorola in San Francisco before taking on a new role in Bengaluru.

However, Soni soon realized that the transition was far from smooth. He described the work intensity in India as vastly different from the professional atmosphere in Silicon Valley. “Work-life balance was essentially nonexistent in the Indian tech ecosystem,” he told Business Insider. He noted that the culture in India seemed to normalize constant work, which often led to burnout. Employees were driven to push through exhaustive conditions to secure professional growth, dealing with intense office dynamics and fierce competition.

Soni also discussed the personal challenges he faced in reconnecting with his home country after years abroad. Despite knowing the language and culture, he felt unfamiliar with the environment, especially as he noticed changes during his absence. He humorously mentioned speaking Hindi with an Indian-American accent, and how his professional and social mannerisms felt out of place.

After two years in Bengaluru, Soni returned to the US with his family, where he founded Suki, an AI-powered voice solutions company for healthcare based in California.