Power lists like Fortune India MPW help shun self-doubt: NASA’s Krishnamurthy

Akshata Krishnamurthy, Principal Investigator and Mission Science Phase Lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says education has always played an important role in her life. Speaking to Fortune India, the 35-year-old space scientist, ranked 40th in the Most Powerful Women list for 2024, talks about her parents’ role in imparting good values, and advice to budding scientists, the meaning of care in her life and the role of power lists like Fortune India MPW 2024.

A PhD in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S., Krishnamurthy credits her Indian values for laying the foundation of good education. “My parents have been my biggest role models. Not coming from a lot of wealth, it was always important that I get a good education. So I learned the value of education very early on. But, in general too, as Indians we learn core values...like love, compassion and respect teach us to give our best without thinking about success or failure. Those kinds of values were really important and put in the foundation to go on, cross hurdles and achieve more in life.”

In her advice to her younger self, Krishnamurthy says two things: “Don’t get confined in a mould that somebody else creates. Make sure you see yourself, not through other's expectations of what you should or shouldn't do. But follow your passion, and dreams and give your best. If you give your best, you'll succeed in whatever you do. The second thing is a lot of us have different passions and typically, there's a lot of pressure that's put on. But sometimes, we have to understand we don't have to choose. You can be an artist or a scientist, you can be a dreamer and a doer. So being able to give yourself that multifaceted personality, you should be able to have different flavours of you. You should offer that to the world, and hopefully, the world will give it back to you."

On being present in times of need for your family and friends, despite working professionally at a global level, Krishnamurthy says everybody at some point gives more to some specific area of their life and less to another. “Maybe trying to balance the two is always a good approach. Indian cultural system really helps us with social support system, and that also means that you have to have a similar engagement with family and friends. So you have to give to get. If you succeed or not, the people who are going to be with you through the biggest successes or failures are friends and family.”

She also talks about the role power lists like Fortune India's Most Powerful Women play in society. “It helps us believe when we have self-doubt. It helps us take a step back and say if this person can do it, and overcome the obstacles, maybe I can do it as well. That's why these lists are super important.”

Talking about dealing with dissent in work life, Krishnamurthy says she always thinks from other people's perspectives. “Sometimes it's warranted, the feedback might be helpful. You can make some small changes and you are able to come to a resolution. Other times, it might not be warranted. As a leader, you have to gauge the situation to figure out the exact reason behind the issue and act accordingly. So you do the best not only for the organisation but for everybody to grow. Your team must grow with you."

What is the value of “me time” in her life? Krishnamurthy says in this digital age, it’s important to take some time out. “For me, it's important to focus on my fitness, workout or do my yoga, or learn a new skill. But these days, I am spending some time exploring the creative part of me, creating content and doing some outreach, so I can reach a lot of people. This is something that motivates me. So try and follow one or two things that you really like.”

As Principal Investigator, the 35-year-old leads a team of researchers at NASA studying the end-to-end lifecycle of space missions. She and her team are working to replace traditional “qualitative” approaches, which rely on "human intuition and experience", with “quantitative frameworks”. The endeavour will reduce the cost and duration of missions, prevent schedule overruns and optimise resource allocation.