For this edition of our Narmi Employee Spotlight, we talk to Vivek Sanghvi, Sales Engineer at Narmi. We go into his transition from software to sales engineering, what his day-to-day looks like, the nuances he’s learned when speaking to customers about their unique problems, and more.
You started your career as a Software Engineer before making the jump to Sales Engineering here at Narmi. What inspired you to step out of the codebase, and what was the biggest learning curve in moving from a purely technical role to a customer-facing one?
What really drove the transition was wanting to see the actual results of my code. When you are building backend systems, you are solving tough architectural puzzles, but you rarely see the end user's reaction. I wanted to be in the room for that. The biggest hurdle was learning restraint. As a former software engineer, my first instinct is to explain exactly how the backend works. But showing a client every single feature usually just overwhelms them. I had to learn how to edit my talk track to focus strictly on the specific problems that institution is facing today.
You’ve described your role as a mix of morning discovery calls and the “calendar Jenga” of demo prep. For someone outside of pre-sales, what does a typical day look like for you, and how do you balance the heavy technical prep with the interpersonal side of the job?
My day usually falls into two buckets: discovery and configuration. Mornings are for calls where I just listen. I try to mentally map out the bank's current tech stack to find exactly where things are slowing down, whether that is call center overload or manual data entry. Afternoons are my quiet time to set up the demo environments. The challenge is taking all that technical prep and translating it into a simple narrative. Instead of throwing everything at the wall, I build a phased roadmap. The goal is to make the technology feel accessible and easy to adopt by the time we present.
You’ve mentioned how rewarding it is when a customer realizes that banking technology doesn't have to be clunky. Can you walk us through a recent 'Aha!' moment you had with a client and what that breakthrough felt like?
A great example happens a lot when we talk about fraud prevention with community banks. Skeptics naturally view new tech like AI as a potential risk. During a recent pitch, I walked the leadership team through the logic behind Narmi’s KYC/KYB decision engine. I showed them how the platform evaluates hundreds of inputs simultaneously during onboarding. We look at everything from basic IP and geolocation to device jailbreak status. The process is faster, more comprehensive, and highly auditable compared to legacy standards. Watching their perspective shift from viewing AI as a liability to realizing it actually neutralizes risk is the best part of the job. Their eyes just light up like, "whoa, this is a whole other world."
In your recent interview with The Financial Brand, the focus was on AI in smaller banks and 'bringing skeptics along.' How do you approach conversations with community institutions that might be hesitant or overwhelmed by adopting advanced, next-gen technology?
You have to approach skepticism with empathy. When compliance officers push back, it is usually just a reaction to the unknown rather than a strict rule. They know bank regulations perfectly, but deploying AI is totally new territory for them. I try to close that gap by making the tech relatable. I describe AI as a smart intern. It can handle a lot of the initial heavy lifting, like drafting a secure message to a member, but a human will always double check the work. You also have to tailor the message. Different teams have different fears, so an effective advocate addresses each group on its own terms without making anyone feel left behind.
When you are speaking with banks and credit unions about transforming their digital experience, how does your background as a former Software Engineer give you a unique advantage in earning their trust?
Coming from a software engineering role, I know how things are actually built under the hood. When we demo a new product, the executives usually love the visuals, but the IT team is sitting there looking for the catch. They want to know if this is going to break their existing setup. Because I have been in their shoes writing code full time, I do not have to deflect their questions. If they want to get into the weeds about API payloads, MCP servers, or how we handle read-only access to live data, we can just talk shop right then and there. Getting that technical sign-off is everything. It proves we are not just selling a pretty shell, but a system that actually holds up under pressure.
What makes being a Sales Engineer at Narmi unique compared to other tech or fintech organizations? How does the team and culture here empower you to do your best work?
Narmi gives us a lot of trust and ownership right out of the gate. We are empowered to act as strategic advisors instead of just reading off a script. What makes this team unique is our focus on bringing community banks up to speed. We take the exact same cutting edge innovations used by massive national banks and make them accessible and secure for smaller institutions. Being part of a culture that actively levels the playing field for community banking gives the work a lot of purpose.
What advice would you give to a purely technical engineer who is reading this and curious about making the jump into a pre-sales or customer-facing role?
Do not abandon your technical roots, but definitely learn how to translate them. Being able to build complex systems is a great skill, but in this role, your focus has to shift from the codebase to the end user. When you first start out, it is really tempting to show off everything the software is capable of doing. Resist that urge. Focus on what the client actually needs to fix right now. If you find joy in untangling a messy workflow and showing a client exactly how your tech can make their day easier, you will do great in presales.
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