From humble beginnings in India, Arun Dobriyal has emerged as a formidable tech leader in the dynamic landscape of Silicon Valley, leaving an indelible mark on the tech world. With a storied career that includes tenures at industry giants like Meta, Snapchat, and Vartana, Dobriyal’s trajectory embodies the epitome of success and innovation.
Harnessing his innate creativity and astute team leadership, Dobriyal has spearheaded groundbreaking advancements in payment systems and financial technology across multiple organizations. His visionary approach and unwavering commitment to excellence have catalyzed transformative change, propelling his teams to achieve remarkable feats of ingenuity and impact.
In the ever-evolving American tech market, Dobriyal’s contributions are towering pillars of innovation, reshaping industries and redefining possibilities. He continues to inspire and elevate those around him through his pursuit of excellence, cementing his legacy in the global fintech arena.
“Growing up, I was always interested in math and science. At a young age, I witnessed the power of technology and how advancements in tech were bringing financial inclusion to hundreds of millions of people in India and helping them escape poverty,” Dobriyal said. Wanting to contribute to this mission globally, his journey was propelled into software engineering and technology.
Despite harboring ambitions of pursuing higher education, his path was initially clouded by financial concerns that loomed over his family. However, fate smiled upon Dobriyal when he triumphed over the formidable IIT JEE national entrance exam, securing admission to India’s foremost engineering institutions. With an overwhelming number of applicants—over a million—competing for admission each year, and only a scant 0.5% clinching a position, this achievement was no small feat. This pivotal moment not only opened the doors to academic excellence but also granted him access to invaluable financial aid.
For Dobriyal, this milestone marked the genesis of his tech odyssey—a testament to his resilience, determination, and unwavering belief in the power of education. It served as a poignant reminder that talent, coupled with opportunity and perseverance, can transcend obstacles and transform dreams into reality. Dobriyal’s time at university saw him graduate in the top 5% of his class. He earned a Btech and Mtech in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, one of the premier engineering institutes in India. In a fortunate turn of events, Dobriyal’s journey took an extraordinary leap during his senior year when scouts came knocking at his alma mater’s doors and offered him a software engineering position at Meta. This was an invitation to join the ranks of one of the world’s most illustrious tech companies.
In 2012, Dobriyal made the move to Menlo Park, California, where he began his professional engineering career at one of the most prestigious tech companies in the world. His tenure at Facebook not only honed his technical skills but also instilled in him a profound understanding of the intricacies of payment systems and financial technology, a complex business that handles how people buy and sell things every day. Through navigating challenges and seeking innovative solutions, Dobriyal’s trajectory was set, propelling him toward becoming a seasoned expert in his field.
Working at Meta marked a transformative chapter in Dobriyal’s life, both personally and professionally. “Adapting to a new country and culture was challenging at first, but after more than a decade of working in the United States, I can say I would not want to work anywhere else. I never had a professional position in India, so I am much more in tune with the workplace culture in the US,” Dobriyal said.
At Meta, he flourished as the tech lead for the payments platform team, where he was responsible for processing all of the self-serve advertising and games revenue. Dobriyal learned an enormous amount from this role, and it gave him the foundational understanding of the payments space to move into his next post at Snapchat, where he started the payments and commerce team from scratch. Leading a team of over thirty individuals and architecting an efficient payment system posed significant challenges, yet the rewards were immeasurable. The invoicing platform Dobriyal and his team developed empowered large advertisers, enabling Snapchat to thrive immediately following its IPO. This pivotal contribution facilitated the effective processing of billions of dollars, cementing Snapchat’s position as a formidable brand in the digital landscape.
Dobriyal’s expertise lies in constructing robust payment and financing systems, ensuring the accuracy of financial calculations, compliance, combating fraud, and championing the platformization of various aspects of financial services.
A significant contributor to the rapid growth of the fintech ecosystem is the rise of the API economy. Companies like Stripe, Plaid, and Square have had an immense impact because they have built amazing platforms that other businesses can plug into via developer-friendly APIs. He believes that “API platforms democratize creativity, catalyze the emergence of novel ideas, and enhance market efficiency, paving the way for a more inclusive and vibrant ecosystem.”
By providing easy access to sophisticated technologies, they have enabled businesses to innovate rapidly without needing extensive resources. This has lowered the barrier to entry, especially for startups, and has allowed more entrepreneurs to launch new businesses. This has created entire ecosystems of services and products, driving economic growth. Additionally, it has led to the creation of new business models and revenue streams, such as API monetization and SaaS (Software as a Service) offerings.
Today, Arun Dobriyal heads a multi-disciplinary engineering team focused on vendor financing innovation as the Head of Engineering at Vartana. With over a decade of immersive experience in the fintech domain, Dobriyal radiates confidence in his team’s ability to engineer groundbreaking solutions that push the boundaries of B2B financial technology. In a landscape rife with challenges begging for optimization and innovation, Dobriyal sees boundless opportunities to effect transformative change. His unwavering commitment to leveraging technology for societal progress propels him forward, driving him to explore uncharted territories in this realm. He has established himself as an expert in fintech and a strong team leader. Dobriyal’s hard work has allowed him to rise to the top of his field and make a difference.
