Published on 16, Feb 2023

Tech Genius Balachandar Karthikeyan is Picking Up Momentum

Balachandar Karthikeyan has worked to become one of the most influential tech pioneers under thirty in recent years. Making press as “The Indian Behind WhatsApp,” the young professional is the only member of the WhatsApp and Signal teams from India, hailing from Erode. Making Balachandar’s career has been brought to more impressive heights as he’s come to be identified by his unconventional but effective approach.

Completely self-taught as a tech professional, Balachandar was a failing student at university before dropping out to continue to pursue his self-driven education. “The professors quite literally saw me as a lost cause and were not shy in expressing this to my parents in trying to convince them to discontinue my education,” Balachandar explains. It was only when he discovered a security flaw in WhatsApp that he, unknowingly, made one of the biggest moves of his career. ”The most I expected was a thank you, but soon Brian Acton, the co-founder, was contacting me directly asking me if I wanted to be part of his team.”

Balachandar’s knowledge of tech, which afforded him the attention of one of the world’s most influential tech founders, was obtained entirely through self-education. Developing a deep interest as a child, Balachandar drew upon resources like books and the web to fashion himself as one of the most dynamic professionals the industry has seen.

If you’ve enjoyed additions to WhatsApp such as groups, status messages, and on-platform payments, these are just a few of the contributions made by Balachandar to the most popular messaging app in the world. As interest has begun to shift from WhatsApp due to concerns over security and privacy, Balachandar made the shift to Signal with mentor and Signal founder Brian Acton. As Signal has come to an impressive level of prominence worldwide, Co-Founder Brian Acton has praised Balachandar for his indispensable support to both WhatsApp and Signal. 

Having founded Bringar Research, based in India, and Bringar Apps LLC., based in Dubai, Balachandar markets his associated app WhatsAuto-Reply to United States consumers, effectively balancing his work between three countries. When asked about the challenges of working between radically different demographics, Balachandar said, “At the end of the day, the concepts that appeal to consumers when it comes to running their company or business operation are pretty unilateral. Aside from that, the differences are relatively subtle. It’s just a matter of communicating a product effectively.”

Connect with Balachandar on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/balachandar-karthikeyan-096b3663/