Tragic Death of Young Techie at Ola's Krutrim Unveils Allegations of Toxic Work Culture

Bengaluru: A promising young engineer at Ola's artificial intelligence division Krutrim died by suicide on May 8, reportedly due to overwhelming work pressure. Nikhil Somwanshi, who joined the company less than a year ago, was a recent graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) with an impressive 9.30 GPA.

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In the weeks following his death, allegations of a toxic workplace environment at Krutrim have emerged on social media, painting a troubling picture of the company's internal culture.

According to reports, Somwanshi was on leave when he took the extreme step. Krutrim has acknowledged his passing, releasing a statement offering "thoughts and heartfelt sympathies" to his family.

A detailed Reddit post by user 'Kirigawakazuto' has shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. The post alleges that despite being a fresher, Somwanshi was leading a project and shouldered additional responsibilities after two colleagues departed the company.

The post specifically names US-based manager Rajkiran Panuganti, who allegedly subjected employees, particularly new recruits, to verbal abuse. According to the Reddit user, Panuganti "had no idea how to manage people" and would frequently "bash people and then disappear."

More concerning are claims that even after Somwanshi's death, management has reportedly forbidden employees from discussing the incident, with no noticeable changes in workplace behavior. The anonymous poster described the situation at Krutrim as "pathetic," alleging that the manager routinely directed his frustrations at team members.

Speaking anonymously to the Financial Express, a former colleague of Somwanshi corroborated these allegations, confirming that the manager lacked "people management skills." The ex-employee also claimed that current staff have been instructed not to speak with media or police regarding the engineer's death.

Somwanshi's LinkedIn profile reveals his previous work included developing a large language model (LLM) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)-based chatbot called Saathi. This project was part of his master's thesis and received funding from the Melinda Gates Foundation, highlighting his talent and potential in the AI field.

The tragedy has sparked broader conversations about workplace culture in high-pressure tech environments, particularly at rapidly growing AI startups where tight deadlines and ambitious goals can sometimes overshadow employee wellbeing.

Neither Ola nor Krutrim has publicly addressed the specific allegations regarding workplace culture or management practices that have emerged following Somwanshi's death.

This incident raises important questions about stress management, leadership accountability, and mental health support in the tech industry, especially as companies race to develop cutting-edge AI technologies in increasingly competitive markets.

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