Technology Executive//AirFi Aero//12.97°N 77.59°E

Rohit

Malaviya

For two decades I've turned deep engineering into products that ship at global scale, from the silicon inside your phone to a live network 35,000 feet over the ocean.

View signature workOpen hailing freq.
20+
Years in technology
50+
Countries, live ops
30+
Global airline customers
Coverage50+ countries
Carriers30+ airlines
Live · AirFi Aero · 24×7
LEO SATELLITE LINK
IN-FLIGHT CONNECTIVITY
CABIN RETAIL
50+ COUNTRIES
24×7 OPERATIONS
ROTTERDAM ASSEMBLY
30+ AIRLINES
TGV HIGH-SPEED RAIL
EMBEDDED TO EXECUTIVE
LEO SATELLITE LINK
IN-FLIGHT CONNECTIVITY
CABIN RETAIL
50+ COUNTRIES
24×7 OPERATIONS
ROTTERDAM ASSEMBLY
30+ AIRLINES
TGV HIGH-SPEED RAIL
EMBEDDED TO EXECUTIVE
◢Mission readoutsSector 01

Two decades of outcomes, not job titles

R-01
0+

Years in technology

Embedded engineer to executive

R-02
0+

Countries, live ops

24×7 onboard support

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0+

Global airline customers

KLM · Etihad · EasyJet

R-04
0×

Sales transaction scale

Architected over 5 years

R-05
0×

B2B deployment growth

Expanding customer footprint

R-06
0

U.S. patent

US 9,229,517 · granted at Intel

Trusted by global carriers

KLMEtihad AirwaysEasyJetSNCF TGV+27 carriers
◢DossierSector 02

Engineer at heart, executive by track record

[ Transmission // Log 02147 ]

“A long career, in a galaxy not so far away…”

Dynamic, results-driven technology executive with 20+ years building products and the engineering organizations behind them. I've run full product lifecycles (ideation to deployment to 24×7 support) for cutting-edge, first-of-their-kind industry innovations.

// Focus areas

  • Accelerating hiring

    Building talented, diverse global teams at speed.

  • Change management

    Driving organizational evolution smoothly.

  • Streamlining architecture

    Simplifying complex technical ecosystems.

  • Culture retention

    Shipping top-quality products with a near-zero attrition rate.

Two decades of shipping at global scale, from the silicon inside your phone to a live network above the ocean. Engineering depth, executive reach, a culture that stays.

Personnel file

  • Currently

    Head of Technology · EVP · MD India, AirFi Aero

  • Based in

    Bangalore, India

  • Focus

    Satellite connectivity · cabin commerce · org building

  • World first

    LEO satellite network, live in the cabin

  • Recognition

    U.S. Patent 9,229,517, granted at Intel

  • Education

    MBA and BE, Nagpur University

Always up for a conversation
◢Flight pathSector 03

From the OS layer to the boardroom

A 20-year trajectory through embedded systems, mobile platforms and delivery ownership into full technology leadership. Most recent first.

  1. Head of Technology · EVP · MD India

    Nov 2016 – Present
    AirFi Aero·Bangalore, IndiaActive

    End-to-end technology ownership for the company's connectivity, retail and entertainment products. Reporting directly to the CEO.

    • Own product strategy, architecture, delivery roadmap and release schedules across Satellite Connectivity, Retail and Entertainment verticals.
    • Pioneered an industry breakthrough: a LEO Iridium satellite network on civil-aviation flights. A world first.
    • Secured 30+ prestigious global airlines including KLM, Etihad and EasyJet.
    • Manage factory operations in Rotterdam, delivering products worldwide; supervise live operations in 50+ countries with 24×7 support.
    • Built the engineering site from the ground up across geographies, including leads, architects and PMs, with a near-zero attrition culture.
    • Executed cost-restructuring during the 2020 pandemic with zero-flight periods, keeping the company operationally intact and ready to scale on recovery.
    • Run onboard ancillary retail on SNCF's TGV high-speed rail.
    Satellite ConnectivityIn-flight EntertainmentCabin RetailOrg Building

  2. Head of Technology · Co-founder

    Jul 2015 – Oct 2016
    RetailWorks·Bangalore, India

    Technical owner of product ideation, design and engineering for a retail point-of-sale platform.

    • Built a point-of-sale (PoS) Android application and its backend data dashboard from scratch.
    • Developed and executed the architectural roadmap for the company.
    • Oversaw and managed the engineering team, direct and outsourced.
    Android PoS0 → 1Co-founder

  3. Delivery Owner, Software

    Oct 2012 – Jul 2015
    Intel Technologies·Bangalore, India

    Owned software delivery across all system components, coordinating cross-functional teams, vendors and contractors.

    • Extensively managed software delivery for every component of the system across cross-functional teams.
    • Awarded U.S. Patent US 9,229,517 for a power-saving technique for digitizer pens on portable devices.
    U.S. PatentDelivery OwnershipCross-functional

  4. Senior Staff Engineer

    Apr 2005 – Aug 2012
    Motorola Mobility·Bangalore, India

    System engineering, OS porting and Android applications, overseeing end-to-end lifecycles of 10+ Motorola phones.

    • Owned the OS layer of Motorola phones, with extensive porting of the P2K software stack onto Qualcomm and Texas Instruments chipsets.
    • Core member of the team that owned end-to-end lifecycle of 10+ Motorola devices: system engineering, OS porting, and Android application development.
    • Bridged deep embedded systems expertise with the emerging Android platform, shipping production devices to mass market at a pivotal moment in mobile history.
    AndroidOS Porting10+ devices

  5. System Analyst

    Jun 2003 – Mar 2005
    LG Electronics·Bangalore · Seoul

    Embedded web browsers, working partly on-site in Seoul, South Korea.

    • Re-implemented the HTML rendering engine of Microsoft Mobile Explorer to support nested tables.
    • Contributed to the design of LG's in-house web browser.
    Embedded WebRendering Engine

  6. Software Engineer

    Oct 2002 – May 2003
    AKCP Inc·Bangalore, India

    First software role, at a Taiwan-based embedded products company.

    • Developed the PPP network stack for the company's in-house line of embedded products.
    NetworkingEmbeddedC
◢Signature workSector 04

The work that doesn't fit on one line

A handful of firsts, scales and inventions that define how I lead and what I ship.

World first

LEO satellite link, in the cabin

Pioneered the first use of a LEO Iridium satellite network for civil-aviation flights, anywhere in the world, turning the open ocean into covered airspace.

First in the world
Customers

30+ airlines flying our stack

KLM, Etihad, EasyJet and 30+ global carriers run AirFi connectivity, retail and in-flight entertainment across their fleets.

Scale

20× transactions, no drama

Designed scalable architecture that absorbed a 20× rise in sales transactions over five years, live across 50+ countries.

Inventor

US Patent 9,229,517

A power-saving technique for digitizer pens on portable devices, invented and granted during my years at Intel.

Beyond the sky

Onboard retail at 300 km/h

Extended the cabin-commerce platform to SNCF's TGV high-speed rail, running ancillary retail operations onboard French trains.

Culture

Built to stay

Stood up an engineering site from scratch, attracted top-tier leaders, and ran a remote-first culture with a near-zero attrition rate.

◢SystemsSector 05

A full-stack leader: silicon to strategy

Deep enough to debug the OS layer, broad enough to own product strategy and the P&L around it.

SYS-01

Leadership & Strategy

Strategic leadershipProduct strategyOrg building & speed hiringChange managementInnovative mindsetStakeholder communication

SYS-02

Engineering

C / C++JavaJavaScriptShell scriptingEmbedded systemsARM · STM32OS portingAndroidLinuxPower & performance

SYS-03

Architecture & Cloud

System architectureMEAN stackAWSIBM CloudHerokuCI/CDDatabasesResponsive web

SYS-04

Domains

Satellite connectivityIn-flight entertainmentCabin retail & ancillary salesData scienceAnalyticsPattern recognition

◢ Credentials

Master of Business Administration

2002

Finance & Marketing, Nagpur University

Bachelor of Engineering

1999

Production Engineering, Nagpur University

Open hailing frequency

Building something that needs to ship at global scale?

Two decades of shipping products at altitude. If you want to swap notes on aviation tech, explore a collaboration, or just connect, reach out anytime.

Contact meConnect