Zerodha CTO Kailash Nadh: I have stopped using Google for….

Zerodha’s CTO, Kailash Nadh, has stopped using Google and other search engines for technical queries. Instead, he relies on Claude or GPT-4 for technical debugging. In an interview with MoneyControl, Nadh expressed his belief that the concept of web search as a means of finding answers is becoming outdated, particularly for technical individuals.

“However, new engineers should not depend on GPT to generate code without understanding it. In the short term, it'll work because these things do produce great code but I don't think it’ll automatically make them good engineers without learning the fundamentals,” he further added.

He said that generating code is just one aspect of designing a piece of technology. The other aspect, he noted, is understanding the essence of why something is being built. “You have to understand consumer expectations. You have to take bets. You have to factor in business considerations. You have to factor in human psychology.”

The CTO further stated “In the very long run — decades or centuries — perhaps these things won't matter anymore as software and technology mature as disciplines but in the medium term, they will absolutely matter.”

On impact on mental health after coming back to office

When asked about his statement that the team's mental health has improved after coming back to the office, Nadh said “the gist of it is that Zerodha's history, culture, and way of working is built on well-balanced interpersonal relationships within teams that fuel collaboration.”

“We have always hired people for these traits, and not traits that are essential for remote work to be successful such as effective async remote communication and articulation skills,” he noted, adding “During our remote work years, this fundamental incompatibility took a big toll on the team's mental health and productivity, including mine.”

He added “Last year, about over 80 percent of the team reported their mental health to be in a poor state. After we started coming back to the office, this year, about more than 90 percent of the team reported that their mental health is in a positive place; mine included.”