Employee Spotlight: Father's Day Edition

This Father’s Day, we’re highlighting a special father–son duo at 84.51°. From meaningful life lessons to navigating the balance between work and family, Suresh Devarakonda (father) and Koushik Devarakonda (son) share what fatherhood means to them and the experiences that have shaped their personal and professional journeys. In this conversation, they reflect on the values they’ve passed down, the perspectives they’ve gained from one another, and how their bond continues to influence their lives both at home and at work.

Q: Tell us about your role at 84.51°

Suresh: I am a Lead Database Engineer on the Science & Development Platform Operations (SDP Ops) team. I manage the Azure Databricks platform and provide guidance and support to Data Engineers and Data Scientists, helping them successfully run their workloads. During my 11 years at 84.51°, I have supported a variety of database and big data platforms, helping teams build, scale and optimize data solutions across the organization.

Koushik: I'm currently a Data Scientist on the Ad Server AI & Algorithms team. I am transitioning from the Insights team, where I focused on supporting clients with custom insight solutions and media insights. Now, I’ll be focusing on optimizing ad positioning with the Kroger Ad Platform.

Q: What first sparked your interest in this type of work?

Suresh: I’ve always enjoyed solving technical problems and helping others succeed. Throughout my career, I've worked with different database and data platforms, and what has kept me interested is the opportunity to enable others. My role is often about removing obstacles, improving platforms and helping teams get the data and tools they need to do their jobs effectively.

Q: Did one of you influence the other's career path or interest in the industry?

Suresh: Yes. Based on my son’s interests and undergraduate studies in mathematical economics and psychology, I encouraged him to explore Data Science as a career path. I saw a strong connection between his academic background and the work being done at 84.51°. It has been very rewarding to see him begin his journey in this field.

Koushik: Yes! I studied mathematical economics and psychology in undergrad, and I would attribute my interest in these seemingly unrelated majors to a curiosity in a more mathematical approach to consumer behavior. My father was the one who connected this analysis to data science work at 84.51°, which motivated me to pursue data science and eventually work here.

Q: Do your roles ever overlap or give you opportunities to work together?

Suresh: Absolutely. Since I support the platforms and data infrastructure used by Data Scientists and Data Engineers, there have been occasions where I have helped my son and his team with data access, platform guidance and technical questions. While we work in different areas of the business, it's nice to have opportunities to collaborate professionally from time to time.

Koushik: Yes, my father has served as my expert go-to for much of my technical understanding of our data organization.

Q: What's the best part about working for the same company?

Suresh: Besides sharing a car ride to work, it’s been great to talk about our experiences at the company and learn from each other’s perspectives. It also gives us a nice opportunity to see different parts of the business and better understand it.

Koushik: There’s an easy advantage of being able to carpool together. But more seriously, my father has provided a different perspective on the technical and data side of our business, showing me resources I would not normally be aware of.

Q: What's something you've learned from each other, either professionally or personally?

Suresh: One thing I've noticed about my son is that he works sincerely and is committed to whatever he takes on.

Q: In one word, how would you describe working at 84.51° together?

Suresh: Proud. As a parent, it has been especially rewarding to see my son grow from being recognized as a Kroger Scholar in high school to beginning his professional career at 84.51°.

Koushik: Eye-opening.