Today Kevin and Laura chat with Bala Muthiah, Director of Engineering at Lyft, to talk about what leadership looks like when your product moves real people through the real world. Bala walks through his path from immigrating to the U.S. to leading teams that make real time decisions for millions of riders and drivers, and how those early experiences shaped his views on power, responsibility, and trust in technology.

We talk about what privacy and safety actually mean at Lyft’s scale, where data is not abstract and mistakes have real consequences. Bala is candid about where rideshare platforms have improved, where the industry still struggles, and how leaders decide where to draw hard lines around data use even when the tech makes more possible. The conversation also gets into the human side of engineering. How do you push for speed and performance while building teams that care about ethics, psychological safety, and consent? Bala shares how Lyft uses AI to surface collaboration risks, why that can feel uncomfortable, and how transparency and boundaries matter just as much as capability.

Bala Muthiah is the Director of Engineering at Lyft, where he leads teams that power real‑time decision systems for millions of users. An immigrant from India turned Silicon Valley leader, he’s also a startup advisor, nonprofit board member, and mentor across multiple platforms. Bala blends technical expertise with people‑first leadership and community impact—showing how to scale teams, startups, and even personal growth with empathy, innovation, and AI.