Vivek Mahapatra ’05

Overview

VP AI Product, Salesforce
San Francisco, CA

• BA, Art, Computer Science, Vassar College
• MBA, Entrepreneurship & Strategy, INSEAD

Vivek Mahapatra is Vice President of AI Product at Salesforce. As a founding team member of Salesforce’s AI platform, Agentforce, Vivek leads a team focused on helping organizations move AI from early proof of concept to something truly enterprise-ready. His day-to-day work involves partnering closely with product, engineering, sales, marketing, and customers to build durable solutions with clear outcomes — not just short-term efficiency gains, but long-term, sustainable value. When you read about the successes and failures of AI across industries like e-commerce, financial services, and healthcare, Vivek and his team are often working directly with the practitioners — the people with hands on keyboards — to understand what actually works in the real world and what will sustain the AI moment beyond the hype. Over a 20+ year career spanning startups and global enterprises, Vivek has held leadership roles across sales, solution engineering, competitive strategy, product management, and product marketing, repeatedly helping build businesses from 0 to 1 and scale them globally. Vivek double-majored in Computer Science and Studio Art at Vassar College. It was at Vassar where he found the space and partnership to hone his left- and right-brain thinking into something tangible, co-creating a multidisciplinary computer animation course with two professors and a fellow student that blended art, computer science, and media and was taught for over 20 years. This blend of technical and creative perspective shaped his career in ways he never could have imagined. Vivek also holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Strategy from INSEAD. He lives in Singapore with his wife, who runs her own immigration law practice, and their two very curious (and energetic) sons. Outside of work, they enjoy traveling together and discovering new foods and cultures.

Advice to Students: 

Compare yourself to yourself, not to your friends, classmates, or people you follow online. Take time to figure out what matters to you right now – whether that’s financial stability, job security, a work visa, or simply learning what you enjoy – and don’t apologize for it. Focus there but know that as you mature, what matters to you will also evolve. Be critical of your work, but kind to yourself. Try new things. Explore widely. You may need to be practical – or even a “square” – for a period of time, and that’s okay. Lean into your non-linear thinking, however it shows up. Writing, cooking, coding – it all counts. The liberal arts mindset of questioning assumptions, experimenting, and validating ideas is more valuable than ever. Build your network with care and intention. It can matter as much as net worth. And above all: patience, perseverance, and resilience compound.