Last week marked a special milestone for Caravel Labs. James Liao started his full-time role as the Head of Research. James is the last of the five founders of Caravel Labs to become a full-time employee of the company.

The genesis of Caravel Labs lies in the long-standing realization of the five founders of their privilege as software engineers to enable social innovation at scale through technology consulting. During 2007-2018, the founders redefined how custom application development services were delivered at Microsoft Services, by seeking inspiration from the software engineering culture and practices of the best product teams at Microsoft, long before the value of these practices were universally recognized. The founders bring their mindset and experience to Caravel Labs to continue their personal mission of rapidly equipping customers driving social innovation, some of which is critical to the very survival of life on this planet, with effective software technology solutions that maintain their efficacy over time.

In the course of their work in the industry, the founders also learned how the traditional technology consulting industry’s implicit business model of monetizing human effort is a stubborn deterrent to the appropriate culture and talent management practices required to sustain and scale the revolution that they had spearheaded. Redefining the technology consulting business model to seek reward for customers achieving their business outcomes and building an equitable and sustainable global community of engineers and innovators motivated to enable positive change, are therefore, equally important causes behind the creation of Caravel Labs. 

To our friends from the PSSC and MASC: The founders of Caravel Labs are grateful for the professional friendships we have made through our work around the world when building and running the Public Sector Solutions Centers (PSSC) and Modern Apps Solutions Centers (MASC) at Microsoft during 2011-2018. These friendships are based on our shared desire to build a better world through our work, both as software engineers and as users of software tools. We have always been inspired to change the game to suit your needs, and now through Caravel Labs, we are empowered to do so. We want you to know that the band is back together and ready to empower innovators through our work once again. So please connect with us. We’d love to have a coffee with you and talk about technology, design, travel, or the weather – our door is always open.

To our customers: We’re thrilled to have assembled an incredibly talented and passionate group of folks at Caravel Labs ready to help you move the needle forward on your own innovation. Please reach out to us to discuss your plans and how technology can support your mission.

Ashutosh Chatterji, CEO

Marcos Ocasio, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering

Adam Stoffel, Head of Operations

James Liao, Head of Research

Yang Zheng was supposed to start full-time in January 2021 as our Head of Consulting, but he tragically left this world on December 10, 2020. We believe he is full-time with us in spirit. His professional career inspires our work, and his memory makes our team whole. The fulfillment of his vision for the company and its consulting function is the shared mission of all the founders.