Kanchan Bankar

Engineering@Toast | ex-Amazon | ex-Visa

Los Angeles, California, United States

About

Specialties: C, Java,database administration, html, javascript, linux, microsoft access, microsoft c #, microsoft windows xp, mysql, networking, operating systems, oracle, php, postgresql, sql, web application development, web site production,

Experience

  • Senior Manager, Software Engineering, Go-To-Market & AI Strategy at Toast
    Jan 2026 - Present · 7 mos

  • Amazon ()
    • Software Development Manager
      Nov 2022 - Jan 2026 · 3 yrs 3 mos

      -Led an engineering team of 11 building ML- and AI-powered platforms that improve product discovery, personalization, and operational efficiency for Amazon Private Brands. - Owned technical strategy and roadmap for search, recommendation systems, LLMs, and deep learning infrastructure in partnership with engineering, science, and product teams. - Founded and lead the Agentic AI initiative, driving workflow automation, developer productivity, and AI adoption across the organization. -Improved engineering execution through scalable platforms, Infrastructure-as-Code, automation, and operational excellence, reducing delivery timelines and accelerating experimentation. - Mentored engineering talent, served as Hiring Bar Raiser, and championed organizational culture through mentoring and leadership development initiatives.

    • Software Development Manager
      Mar 2022 - Nov 2022 · 9 mos

      -Led strategy and execution for Manufacturer Central, a greenfield platform to centralize manufacturer account management. -Scaled the engineering team from 4 to 13 engineers while driving cross-functional delivery and a successful alpha launch. -Defined technical vision and roadmap, aligning engineering execution with business objectives in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.

  • Verifi Inc, a Visa Company (7 yrs 11 mos)
    • Senior Manager
      Jan 2021 - Mar 2022 · 1 yr 3 mos

    • Technical Lead
      Jul 2019 - Jan 2021 · 1 yr 7 mos

    • Software Engineer IV
      May 2017 - Jul 2019 · 2 yrs 3 mos

  • Software Engineer at Dex One
    Sep 2012 - May 2014 · 1 yr 9 mos

    -Managing full software development lifecycle ( testing, implementation and maintenance) -development and maintenance of web-based systems to implement n-tier distributed applications -Product design, bug verification and remediation, and product support - workflow management - changes and enhancement in existing software -writing and contributing to technical documentation, test scripts and performing detailed unit tests - UI development (JQuery and AJAX)

  • University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (2 yrs 3 mos)
    • Teaching Assistant
      Sep 2010 - Dec 2011 · 1 yr 4 mos

      Assisted professors for courses “Introduction to Computer Systems,” “Programming Language Design,” “Introduction to C programming,” “Database Systems,” and “Parallel and Distributed Computing Systems”.

    • Research Assistant
      Oct 2009 - Aug 2011 · 1 yr 11 mos

      • Conducted research on information retrieval and database management. • Survey Paper on “Existing Techniques of Keyword Search in Relational Databases” • Master’s Project: Performance evaluation of Candidate Network and Graph based approaches for Keyword Search in Relational Databases Implemented candidate network and graph frameworks for “Keyword Search in Relational databases” and examined the core techniques of the system. Technologies used: JAVA, MySQL • Master’s Thesis: Keyword Search in Database-Generated Dynamic Web Pages Proposed novel techniques to support db-page search and implemented in prototype search engine called dash. Technologies used: Apache Hadoop, MapReduce, Pig, JAVA