Bentonville, AR - Akanksha Shrivastava is making waves across the global technology landscape with a dynamic blend of technical expertise, creative solutions, and people-focused leadership. From scaling enterprise platforms to nurturing young talent, Ms. Shrivastava has earned recognition as an accomplished product leader, mentor, and tireless supporter of inclusion in tech. With expertise spanning design, engineering, product strategy, and artificial intelligence, she has dedicated her career to building technology that is ethical, accessible, and transformative.

Pushing Boundaries in Product Innovation and AI

Ms. Shrivastava has played a pivotal role in leading product management and development of mission-critical platforms, working closely with executive leadership and global teams. As a Staff Product Manager in AI Product & Experience at Walmart, she leads the creation of intelligent, user-centered solutions that advance both business strategy and social impact. Her leadership is defined by an unwavering commitment to innovation that serves people- driving inclusion, accessibility, and operational excellence Her success is grounded in her commitment to understanding user needs, collaborating with diverse groups across functions, and translating complex challenges into user-friendly technology.

Her portfolio includes designing and launching several award-winning technology solutions within Walmart and with her startup ventures globally.

A Strong Foundation in Research and Entrepreneurship

Before her corporate achievements, Ms. Shrivastava built a strong foundation in research, focusing on human-computer interaction at the Stanford University and Maryland Blended Reality Center. Her work contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications presented at top conferences such as ACM CHI, covering topics like mixed reality social media AR/VR and visualizing meteorological phenomena in VR. AI-powered wearable system for emotion regulation, collaborating with pioneers in affective computing, virtual reality and mixed reality.

Ms. Shrivastava’s entrepreneurial spirit flourished early. This conviction came to life with Code & Play. As co-founder of Code & Play incubated at Startup Shell, she launched an on line K–12 coding school, bridging the gap between STEM education and young learners. Akanksha saw that for many young learners, coding felt distant and intimidating, a language without a key. So, she built the key. She co-founded Code & Play not as another tutoring service, but as a vibrant, online community where K-12 students could learn from “real-world” engineers. It was here, watching a child’s face light up after building their first app, that her core philosophy was forged: truly transformative technology must be rooted in empathy and access.

Prior to this, her another venture at ACipher Tech in India, under the Amity Innovation Incubator, she developed two first-of-their-kind products including an AI-powered marketplace for used books, and a real-time carpooling app. Each platform attracted thousands of users within weeks of launch.

Champion for Diversity and Next-Gen Talent

That same builder’s spirit now fuels her work at a monumental scale which is deep rooted. As the first elected woman president of her college’s Open Source Club, Ms. Shrivastava broke stereotypes and opened doors for more women in leadership and tech. She continues this commitment by being a a sought-after mentor & judge for technology startups with programs like the Fuel Accelerator and Beta University, guiding companies in AI-driven technologies in many aspects of business, and serving on the board of the Grey Space Collective, promoting economic growth in art, tech, and entrepreneurship in Northwest Arkansas.

Academic Excellence and Industry Recognition

Ms. Shrivastava holds a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Amity University. Her work has earned several honors, including the Most Influential Women with Color Magazine, Global Recognition Awards in Technology, Innovation and AI, Most Valuable Player Individual.

Beyond Technology: Community, Culture, and Wellbeing

Born in India, Ms. Shrivastava remains closely connected to her roots as a dedicated Indian dancer and singer, performing at many local cultural events. She is an advocate for mental health, yoga, and active community engagement to support small women owned businesses.

Looking forward, Ms. Shrivastava continues to champion innovation in AI and technology, create meaningful experiences, and support the next generation of tech leaders, especially women in the industry.

For more information about Akanksha Shrivastava please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/akankshash/