About
Hi, I'm Mission — an engineer by education, a technologist by passion, and a problem-solver and strategist by nature.
I enjoy using technology and engineering principles to solve real-world problems, develop meaningful solutions, and create strategies that make those solutions sustainable, scalable, and impactful.
Beyond work, I'm an introvert with a strong curiosity about life and a desire to keep learning and growing in different dimensions. I enjoy exploring new experiences, traveling to unfamiliar places, reading books, listening to podcasts, and having deep, meaningful one-on-one conversations. I value depth over breadth in both personal and professional relationships and would rather have a few genuine, close connections than be surrounded by a crowd.
Where I’m from
I was born in Pithuwa (पिठुवा), a village in eastern Chitwan. My early childhood was spent there; after some time my parents moved to the nearby municipality, Tandi (टाँडी), and set up a small kirana pasal (a neighborhood grocery). My grandparents, Aja and Agi, lived with us, so my childhood was filled with family love and affection, along with the small daily fight with Aja over the TV.
I was very fond of the stories Agi told: the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Buddha, and Dhruva Tara, the brightest star in the sky. Agi said Dhruva was a small boy who worshipped Lord Vishnu and meditated in the forest until Vishnu gave him a bardan (वरदान, a boon) to become that star, and I used to meditate in the rain so that I could become the star too.
The Buddha’s story stayed with me the longest. I wore a Buddha mala Agi gave me every day until it got lost a few years ago. At my graduation, Mummy and Baba gave me a Buddha frame. They had remembered that small detail about me, and I’m grateful beyond words.
From childhood I was curious about how the universe formed and what happens after death, and I had a deep faith in god, instilled by my grandparents. Slowly, listening to Sandeep Maheshwari’s sessions on spirituality, then J. Krishnamurti, Adi Shankaracharya, the Ashtavakra Gita, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and more recently Vikas Divyakirti, my sense of god, life, and spirituality changed completely. Now I believe differently, and these are always beliefs we implant; we can’t say we know. I believe that I know it can’t be known. Everything I hold is second-hand, whatever I correctly or falsely understood from these people. At some point I’ll look for first-hand knowledge, from my own experience, reading, and gurus. For now there are other things to achieve first. And I still like praying and meditating. It gives me peace.
What I wanted to be
As a child I wanted to be a scientist and invent a time machine, go back, and see dinosaurs. I shared the plan with the neighbor didi (older sister), who was fascinated and promised me Kurkure if I did it. I loved Kurkure then. I never did build it.
Before that, like most of us, my career plan changed by the day, usually after a movie scene: policeman, hero, Power Ranger, Spider-Man, endless.
By the time I was old enough to step out of that world, I was watching the professions around us without knowing it. In our tole (टोल, neighborhood) lived a health worker we called Dungana uncle. People went to him when they were ill; he treated them, and me, many times. Everyone respected him. He knew medicine, life, and the community. I pictured him like Bhishma Pitamah of the Mahabharat, old and strong. Just like that, I wanted to be a doctor.
I carried that through school at Panchakanya Vidya Mandir in Ratnanagar and into +2 (classes 11 and 12) at Orchid Science College in Bharatpur, where I took biology in class 11, until one night at a hospital. A relative was admitted; my parents went to care for them and stayed overnight, and I was there too. I had stayed nights in hospitals before, but that night felt different. Seeing people ill and sad, and a few dying, I couldn’t stop thinking that a doctor lives with other people’s pain and loss every day. I couldn’t bear it, and I switched from biology to mathematics in class 12. In another life I might have helped more people and saved a few lives. I chose myself. One day I was in anatomy, the next in calculus; my close friends and my plans separated at the same time.
How I ended up in computer engineering
I started looking for other paths. My mother invited a relative, a dai (older brother) who is an architect, to help me. My one real question was whether he earned six figures. That number had been in my head for years, from motivational videos and a fair number of MLM-funnel scams. I wanted 1 lakh (100,000 rupees) a month. After that conversation I decided on civil engineering.
After +2 I left home for Kathmandu to prepare for the engineering entrance, got good ranks at Kathmandu University (KU) and IOE (the Institute of Engineering), and chose KU for its campus, its infrastructure, and the natural, friendly environment. I applied for civil engineering and my name came on the preliminary list. I was happy for a few days. Then a story went around Facebook: a civil engineer caught taking a bribe, kalo mosho (कालो मोसो, soot, smeared as public shame) on his face, saying he did it to support his family and live well. I had ignored such stories before; this one hit. I thought being rich as an honest civil engineer wasn’t possible, and I couldn’t picture myself taking the bribe. Prithvi Narayan Shah’s line stuck with me: those who give and take bribes are both enemies of the nation.
Now I had a dilemma about which program would make me rich, at least 1 lakh a month, precisely speaking. I researched and found that many of the billionaires in Silicon Valley had been computer engineers. The next day, which was also the last day for switching programs, I removed my name from civil and put it in computer engineering. After a few days’ wait I was selected there too; in 2019, computer engineering at KU was one of the toughest admissions in Nepal. Pure luck and an unexpected turn put me in computer engineering.
What KU gave me
Joining KU was one of the best decisions and luckiest moments of my life. I was there from 2019 to 2024, a year longer than planned because of COVID, and I’m grateful for the experiences, the people I met, and the ways it made me a better person than I was.
Most of that happened outside the classroom. In the KU Computer Club I co-founded the Entrepreneurship and Outreach Community, to give students a way into industry, academia, and entrepreneurship. As a member of the organizing team, I helped run KU HackFest, IT Meet, open-source advocacy, and bootcamps that reached more than 500 students. At the Nepal Research and Collaboration Center I joined as a general member and became its tech lead. We co-organized NASA Space Apps Challenge Kathmandu for more than 200 participants and ran monthly research talks and training with researchers from Nepal and abroad. After 2 years I stepped down so newer members had room to grow, and stayed on as a mentor.
NRCC is also where I sat on my first panel, a public discussion titled “Research Ecosystem in Nepal”, next to people far more experienced than me. With little time to prepare, the day before felt like a nightmare. Once the discussion started I slowly gained confidence, and what I took home was how one theme can be read from so many different perspectives.
I pitched ideas too. MeroGuru, a personalized AI teacher I thought up in 2019, took second place at the KU Idea Pitching Competition and got me an invitation to speak at the NDRI Indian Startup Conference. EventHub, an event listing platform, took second place at the same competition in 2022 and was selected for KU’s startup incubation program. De-Vote, a blockchain voting platform, took third place at KU HackFest 2023 and went through Idea Studio Nepal’s incubation program.
The habit started before KU. In school I was on the Junior Red Cross committee, helping with blood donation drives and clothing distribution in Chitwan. It carried on after: I mentored student teams at DAV Codefest, one of which won, and guiding them taught me as much about different ways of solving the same problem as it taught them.
What I do for work
I’m a software engineer. I started with remote full-stack work for an Australian team during my final year at university, React and Node.js on real tickets in an 8-person team. Then came a data engineering internship at LIS Nepal, for retail clients in the US, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, where I cut a production query from 29 minutes to 14.
Then 2 years at Azminds Services on DataFuseAI, a no-code ETL and data platform, from when it was mostly an idea until it was in production. I joined as an associate engineer without knowing Django, Docker, or AWS, was promoted after 4 months, and a year after joining I was leading technical delivery for a 9-person product team. Staying with one system that long taught me something hopping between projects wouldn’t have: how a decision made in month 3 shows up in month 20.
If there’s a pattern to how I work, I’d rather research and learn the unfamiliar thing than route around it. Cryptography, Nuitka, Docusaurus, Spark tuning, Power BI, SEO, product ownership: I knew none of them when the work needed them. And I like explaining things to people a few steps behind me. It’s the fastest way I know to find out what I only half understand.
What I built is on the work page; the short version is on the résumé.
Where I am now
I’ve graduated, and a few of the dreams are done. I’m starting to write about tech, growing my network, and learning to adapt as AI changes how software gets built.
I’m still wandering, experimenting, and exploring: life, career, spirituality, and whatever life gives me, the AI disruption included.
Awards
- 2025
Mentoring recognition — DAV Codefest
- 2019–2024
Dean's merit scholarship — semester topper, 4.00 GPA (two semesters)
- 2023
3rd Place — KU HackFest 2023 (MLH-affiliated, organized by KUCC)
- 2023
Idea Studio Nepal Business Incubation Program — completed, College Idea Hunt 2023
- 2022
2nd Place — KU Idea Pitching Competition
EventHub
- 2020
2nd Place — KU Idea Pitching Competition
MeroGuru
- 2020
Speaker invitation — NDRI Indian Startup Conference
MeroGuru
Publication
- Dec 2024
A Review on Aerial Image Classification Techniques for Urban Planning (Opens in a new tab)
Co-author, peer-reviewed paper in JACEM (5th National SET Conference, ACEM)
Programs
KU Startup Incubation Program
EventHub
Idea Studio Nepal
Energize Nepal Startup & Incubation
Community
- 2025
DAV Codefest
Mentor
A mentored team won; formal recognition.
- 2022 – 2024
Nepal Research and Collaboration Center (NRCC)
Tech Lead & Executive Member
Co-organized NASA Space Apps Challenge Kathmandu (200+ participants); monthly research talks and training; panelist, 'Research Ecosystem in Nepal'. Continues as mentor/advisor.
- Sep 2022 – Aug 2023
Entrepreneurship & Outreach Community (EOC), KU Computer Club
Co-founder & Coordinator
Led KU Hackfest, IT Meet, open-source advocacy; 500+ students reached.
- 2015 – 2019
Junior Red Cross Society, school chapter, Chitwan
Executive Member
Blood drives and clothing distribution.
My certifications are on the résumé.
Speaker kit
Stage introduction
Mission Shrestha is a software engineer from Chitwan, Nepal, and a problem-solver and strategist by nature. He co-founded a student tech community at Kathmandu University, led technology at the Nepal Research and Collaboration Center, and went on to lead a product team building a data platform.
Short bio 49 words
Mission Shrestha is a software engineer and problem-solver from Chitwan, based in Kathmandu. He studied computer engineering at Kathmandu University, co-founded its Entrepreneurship and Outreach Community, and led technology at the Nepal Research and Collaboration Center. He has built data systems for clients abroad and led a product team.
Long bio 150 words
Mission Shrestha is a software engineer from Chitwan, Nepal, based in Kathmandu. He solves real problems with technology and plans how the solutions last. He studied computer engineering at Kathmandu University, where he co-founded the Entrepreneurship and Outreach Community under the KU Computer Club and grew from a general member to tech lead at the Nepal Research and Collaboration Center, co-organizing NASA Space Apps Challenge Kathmandu for more than 200 participants. His work began with remote full-stack development for an Australian team, then data engineering for retail clients in the US, Australia, and Saudi Arabia at LIS Nepal, then 2 years at Azminds Services, where he joined as an associate engineer and went on to lead technical delivery for a 9-person product team. He has mentored student teams at DAV Codefest, spoken on a panel on research in Nepal, and co-authored a review of aerial image classification for urban planning.
Topics
- How AI is changing programming and software engineering
- Designing data platforms and ETL pipelines
- Cutting cloud cost for small teams: practical AWS optimization
- Learning unfamiliar technology on demand
- Research culture in Nepal
- Building student communities that connect academia and industry
- Starting a career from a Nepali engineering college
- Mentoring student hackathon teams
Working with me
What people I've worked with say, in their own words.
Milan KhatiSenior Software EngineerDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · I got to work with Mission for most of my time at DataFuseAI. I was leading the frontend stack, so I saw a lot of how he developed. He started as a junior backend developer handling smaller tasks, and within a few months he was already owning full modules and features on his own. About a year in, he was leading the direction of the whole product, deciding what features to add, how the UI and UX should work, and a lot of other things.
It was easy working with him and we shipped a lot of features together. I'd say he has strong backend expertise, a good grasp of AWS, and a natural ability to lead. More recently he picked up frontend work too and did well with it, delivering good results in the CMS, marketing pages, and even in the licensing and API connector modules.
Aman ThapaBackend DeveloperDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · It is very comfortable working with Mission. We built the connection profile module in DataFuseAI together, integrating relational and NoSQL databases like Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB and many others. His pace and the quality of his code were both good, so it is always a good experience working with him.
Rakesh KhadkaPython DeveloperDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · We worked together for more than a year at DataFuseAI, starting from its early phase. Being at a startup means you're learning and shipping new things constantly, and we were working in a genuinely fast paced environment. Mission did well in that kind of setting.
One piece of work that stands out to me is when he compiled the entire Django and Docker based project into a C binary. We had a requirement to deploy into an on-premise environment, but we couldn't expose our source code. Mission researched it and built a fully compiled, obfuscated version of the code that ran smoothly across every environment we tested it in.
Pragyan BhattaraiAI/ML EngineerAzmindsWorked with me on the same team · I want to say this personally, Mission is genuinely a good person and a great professional to have on any team. In the time we've worked together at AZMinds, what stood out to me the most isn’t just his technical leadership, though he's strong there too, it is how he brings the team together around a shared goal and cared about the growth of the whole team, not just individual results.
If I have to point to one quality that stands out the most, it's that he thinks about the group and the company as a whole rather than just his own gains. That kind of thing is rare in my experience.
Arbind SahData EngineerDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · Mission has a good understanding of Apache Spark, Databricks Livy, Snowflake, Distributed Data Processing and how to build scalable ETL pipelines. We worked together, with Mission handling backend and me focused on core data architecture. Later he also got involved on the data side and ended up designing and implementing the API connector across both the backend and the data stack.
Santosh AcharyaPython Developer/Cloud EngineerDataFuseAIWas my mentor · I had the opportunity to mentor and work closely with Mission Shrestha at Azminds, particularly while working together on the DatfuseAI project, and I was impressed by his growth and dedication as a software engineer.
During our time working together, I guided Mission across both backend development and DevOps. On the backend side, we worked on API development, architectural decisions, designing maintainable solutions, and understanding the reasoning behind different technical approaches. He was always willing to learn, ask the right questions, and improve his understanding beyond simply implementing a task.
On the DevOps side, I helped him gain practical experience with CI/CD best practices, Docker, deployment workflows, debugging containerized applications, and troubleshooting issues across development and deployment environments. Working on DatfuseAI gave him the opportunity to apply these concepts in a real project, and I could see him becoming more confident in handling technical challenges along the way.
What stood out to me most was his ability to take feedback, learn from it, and apply it effectively. He is curious, dependable, and genuinely interested in improving his technical skills. I believe his combination of backend development knowledge, growing DevOps expertise, and strong learning mindset will serve him very well throughout his career.
I’m happy to recommend Mission and would confidently recommend him to any team looking for a motivated software engineer with a strong foundation, a willingness to learn, and the drive to take on new challenges.
Anup PandeyComputer EngineerDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · I worked with Mission at DataFuseAI on the engine module. I was on frontend, he was on backend. His APIs were easy to build against, and integration never turned into the usual back-and-forth. That says a lot.
He came from backend, cloud, data and system design with no frontend experience, but he wanted to learn it. Within a few months he was shipping frontend features across the app and the landing page. I do frontend full time, and his sense for UI and performance picked up fast.
I also enjoy our technical chats on harnesses, open weight models, and AI workflows. I recommend him to any team that wants a strong backend who can step into frontend when needed.
Bikram SubediBackend EngineerDataFuseAIWorked with me on the same team · We only overlapped for a few weeks but I remember the our work clearly. A client needed API data pulled from a set of public government websites, and the data was spread across multiple paginated endpoints, so DataFuseAI needed to handle the ingestion side of things. Mission built custom API connectors to fit our exact requirements and constraints, and put together the ETL pipeline that pulled data from the list of APIs into our custom warehouse. He also voluntarily joined the client call on his own to explain how the pipeline worked, which wasn't something he had to do.