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Ritvvij Parrikh

@ritvvijparrikh

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AI product leader driving monetization and transformation with pragmatic ML.

India

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead AI-driven product and monetization transformations—turning ML into auditable business outcomes, scaling cross-functional teams, and shipping pragmatic GenAI that improves retention and revenue.

I drive high-impact business transformations that blend complex cross-functional coordination, pragmatic systems thinking, and deep technical grounding. I’m especially strong at bridging “left-brain” mandates like Machine Learning infrastructure and P&L management with “right-brain” mandates like editorial content strategy, user experience, and data communication.

I led Times Internet’s Machine Learning and Agentic AI mandates from scratch to multi-million DAU, scaling Signals recommendation models and improving key engagement metrics. At TOI, I took ownership of the app through structural pressures—pivoting it into an algorithmic content aggregator, a subscription aggregator (TOI+ and ET Prime), and a commerce aggregator for monetizable growth.

I’ve consistently protected and improved baseline user metrics throughout major pivots, automating push notifications and reducing high-churn sensationalist content. I also scaled user acquisition via performance marketing on Google UAC and Meta, ASO, and owned channels such as web-to-app, print, and social.

On the AI transformation side, I de-risked execution by proving model performance on decade-old NVIDIA Tesla GPUs before securing H100s, cost-modeled inference economics, and reduced latency to sub-200ms. I designed production-ready LLM agents using DSPy and vector embeddings with evaluation datasets and LLM-as-a-Judge frameworks, and I anchor alignment through transparent dashboards in Metabase.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior Director of Product Mgmt

Current

Times Internet

Dec 2025 - Present (7 months)

Took ownership of the TOI app to navigate Google Zero and declining display ad yields, leading a 40+ member cross-functional team. Scaled Signals recommendation, pivoted to an algorithmic content and commerce/subscription aggregator, automated push notifications, and improved retention while expanding acquisition via Google UAC, Meta, and ASO.

Product Leadership Mobile App Monetization Recommendation Systems Algorithmic Content Aggregation Subscription Aggregation Commerce Aggregator Push Notifications Performance Marketing Google UAC Meta Ads App Store Optimization (ASO)Organic Referral Installs

Senior Director of Product Mgmt (ML)

Times Internet

Jun 2022 - Nov 2025 (3 years 5 months)

Led corporate AI transformation, scaling Signals recommendation to multi-million DAU and doubling feed CTR while improving D7. Built and led a direct-report team of data scientists to deliver the AI roadmap, including ML cost/latency optimization and production-ready LLM agent development.

Machine Learning Generative AI Recommendation Systems Data Scientists Team Leadership Kafka Clickhouse Inference Cost Modeling Event Driven Architecture AI Agents DSPy LLM As A Judge Clickstream Bias Mitigation

Director of Product Mgmt (Analytics)

Times Internet

Dec 2021 - May 2022 (5 months)

Shifted subscription monetization strategy from a hard paywall to ML-based targeting to reduce churn risk. Built the Signals recommendation model for TOI subscription, improving CTR and recirculation among subscribers.

Analytics Product Management Machine Learning Recommendation Systems CTR Optimization

Associate Director of Product

Times Internet

Dec 2020 - Nov 2021 (11 months)

Addressed subscription revenue volatility caused by reliance on off-platform traffic and programmatic display ads. Co-led the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for TOI+, launching the platform and acquiring 120,000 annual subscribers within the first year.

Go To Market Strategy Programmatic Off Platform Traffic Strategy

Co-Founder

PROTO

Sep 2018 - Sep 2020 (2 years)

Co-founded a company focused on combating misinformation on social media platforms, leveraging the post-2016 surge in demand. Bootstrapped an agency, closed consultative sales for clients (including Gates Foundation and WhatsApp), and launched a WhatsApp misinformation verification tipline that gained global media recognition.

Misinformation Mitigation Consultative Sales Agency Operations Bootstrapping Partnerships

Co-Founder

Pykih

Sep 2013 - Aug 2018 (4 years 11 months)

Co-founded a bootstrapped agency delivering complex data products and consultative sales to global clients. Sold off IP in an exit as the data visualization market commoditized.

Big Data Data Products Consultative Sales Client Delivery Data Visualization

Technical Consultant

Amdocs US

Jun 2006 - Feb 2011 (4 years 8 months)

Provided consultative enterprise software solutions across assignments in India, Israel, and the US, with exposure to global consultative sales. Worked with the consultative sales team for AT&T on solutions that supported multi-million USD sales.

Enterprise Software Consultative Sales Solution Delivery