In this brief interview, Professor Pete Alexander hosts Vish Kulkarni, Global Marketing Director at Cyfield, on the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Over six rapid-fire questions, Kulkarni discusses the rewarding nature of the diagnostics industry, highlighting the recent launch of a COVID‑19 assay that has quickly impacted patient care. He reflects on the challenges of maintaining work‑life balance during the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of dedicating equal time to family and work. Kulkarni recommends fellow leaders—Dan Malloy and David Morshigi—for future podcast episodes. His core leadership advice centers on passion, giving one's fullest to both teams and family, and prioritizing what matters most. He recounts his first post‑graduate role as a research scientist at a neuroscience institute, where he collaborated with neurosurgeons on pre‑surgical imaging, underscoring his long‑standing focus on patient impact. The episode concludes with contact details, inviting listeners to connect via LinkedIn or email.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hi, Peter. Great to meet you on the video. My name is Vish Kulkarni and I'm the Global Marketing Director at Cyfield.
Vish, it's really great to have you on the show. Thank you so much. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
So one of the best things about working in diagnostics is having an immediate impact on patient life, and that's something we have been doing with all our products. And just to give you a flavor of one of the recent products that we launched was the coronavirus assay, the test for coronavirus. And that has actually been a significant improvement in the way testing can be done for coronavirus. And we have had immediate impact on multiple patients even now, starting just 2 weeks ago. And it's going to help improve patient care in the near future.
That's very exciting. Question number 3, I hear from other business leaders that staying in a good work-life balance for them and their team members is a challenge. What are your thoughts?
Yeah, work-life balance is, it's always a challenge when you're really enjoying your work, I have to say. But at the end of the day, you have to make sure you give time to your family. And especially in situations that we are in at this point, in a pandemic situation, family is definitely important. And I would suggest while you enjoy your work, definitely give it your 100%. But also give the same amount of time to your family and your friends.
That's very sage advice. Question number 4: What other successful business leaders like yourself should be on my podcast?
Yeah, so I do know a few, few folks who would be really be able to provide great insights. One of the persons' name is Dan Malloy, who is my— who is in SAP as well, who was director of marketing. He leads the informatics business, as well as David Morshigi, who leads manufacturing side.
Excellent. Excellent. So we'll reach out to those and see if either one of them wants to be on the show. Appreciate that. Question, question number 5: What insight or advice would you give to other business leaders?
The main insight I would give the business leaders, or anyone who is managing or leading teams is to, to again, be passionate about what you're doing. Make sure you give your fullest to your teams as well as your businesses, but also make sure you give your fullest to your family and your friends. At the end of the day, we are in a situation today where everyone is working remotely, everyone is unfortunately sheltered in place. But in these kinds of times, you end up realizing what is the most important thing for you. For me, it obviously is the family is most important. And similarly, work is obviously very important. And I enjoy working at Cepheid. But I would suggest that you have to prioritize what is the most— whatever is most important. And for me, it's family.
And that's, that's what I find with many, many leaders is that they really know what, what is important to them. And it sounds like you have your priorities in order.
Sure.
Excellent. And question number 6, please tell me, uh, what, what was your first job?
Yeah, my first job after my, uh, master's was, uh, was a research scientist at a neuroscience institute. And one of the fun things about that was, uh, me and my team would actually sit down with neurosurgeons and work on looking at images, if you will, pre-surgical images, and help the neurosurgeons create a path towards, towards a tumor in a patient's brain, for instance. And that was really, really exciting for me because it was a first job out of college, but it was also really exciting because it was helping someone who is actually making an immediate impact on a patient's life. That was something that was really exciting for me.
That really— and it seems like it's continuing today with being able to be involved with these COVID-19 tests. That you've got now.
That is correct.
That's awesome. That's awesome. So Vish, thank you for being on the show. How can people find you?
They can, they can reach out to me on LinkedIn, or they can email me at viskul@gmail.com.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
