Some people grow up knowing exactly what they want to do — and then they do it. But for Amit Nayar, the Android team lead at Nutrient, his journey to where he is today was anything but clear. He wasn’t the kid who dreamed of working with computers or spent hours in his teenage bedroom learning to code. Instead, he fell into it by accident. But what started as an unexpected job in music quickly became something that shaped his career path in unexpected ways.
From literature to Linux
Amit’s academic journey began in a field completely unrelated to programming: He studied literature. But for various reasons, it didn’t work out, and he decided to take some time off. During that time, he started playing around with synthesizers and making music.
One thing led to another, and he ended up completing a degree in audio technology — a shift that marked the beginning of his journey into the tech world. During his degree, Amit was introduced to programming, which, although a small part of the curriculum, had a significant impact on his future career. And as part of his studies, he began learning C and dabbled with MATLAB and Python.
After graduating, Amit got a job at Midas, a company that makes mixing consoles, where he was a C++ engineer. “My initial interview didn’t go well, because, obviously, I didn’t know much,” he recalled. “But they liked me and thought I maybe had some potential, so they called me back after two weeks. And in those two weeks, I crammed in as much C++ practice as possible for the interview.”
The marked improvement between the two interviews was enough to convince the company that Amit could learn and become a good engineer, so he was hired, and he stayed with Midas for seven years. “That’s where I learned to program,” he said.
Amit admitted it was a steep learning curve. “I’d never used Linux, and we worked entirely on Linux,” he said. “So I learned how to navigate Linux and write scripts.”
At Midas, Amit worked on a variety of projects, including working with hardware engineers to bring their circuit boards to life, and developing a user interface for a mixing console with a touch screen, all written in C++, which became his specialty.
Sound waves to document streams
At a certain point, Amit decided he wanted to take time off and travel, so he left his job and went on a year-long trip. While he was in India, he got a call from Nick Winder, who is on the Core team at Nutrient but used to work at Midas with Amit, where the two had become good friends. Nick told him there was an open role on his team and suggested he apply, and in September 2019, Amit was hired at Nutrient (then PSPDFKit).
Amit first started as a member of the Core team, and he worked there for a couple years until the creation of the Native team, which included the Android SDK. He decided to switch to the new team, because he saw it as an opportunity to continue his learning. It was his first time working with Android, but he embraced it. “At this company, there are so many different products and languages,” he said, noting that on the Core team, it’s almost necessary to be semi-proficient in a little bit of everything.
The beginning of his time on the Native team was a period of transition for the company, with many people either leaving the company or transitioning to other teams. Eventually, Amit was offered the role of team lead, which he accepted, and not long after, the Native team disbanded and he became responsible for Android solely.
Balancing technical and managerial responsibilities
As a team lead, Amit faces the challenge of balancing ambitious projects with the day-to-day demands of a small team. Despite these challenges, Amit finds the role rewarding, especially when it comes to mentoring and building his team. “I’m gradually building up this team, and it’s very rewarding to see how good they can be and how much I can trust them with things and then be able to see the results,” he said.
In addition to mentoring, Amit finds joy in making sure his team has the tools they need to succeed and that the work environment is as smooth as possible. “I quite like making sure the tools are in place to make people’s work lives easier,” he shared, citing automation and ensuring tests and other aspects are running smoothly. His approach to managing his team involves taking on less visible/more technical backend work or bureaucratic tasks — like responding to pings, answering questions, and planning — to allow his team members to focus on larger, more complex projects.
The biggest challenge, in his mind, is working remotely, especially after having worked in a non-remote position. “It’s quite isolating, even though you’re on calls, or you’re working with people all the time,” he shared. However, he said having a family helps mitigate some of the loneliness, and the company’s annual retreats are also good for morale.
Today, as the Android team lead, Amit continues to apply the same adaptability and problem-solving mindset that shaped his early career to every task he faces. Whether it’s mentoring his team, refining development processes, or balancing technical work with leadership, he approaches each challenge with a thoughtful and pragmatic perspective. His journey is a testament to the fact that career paths don’t have to be linear — and that a willingness to learn and grow can lead to unexpected and rewarding opportunities.
Natalye is a copy editor and copywriter from California. She’s passionate about storytelling, immaculate grammar, clean copy, and quality journalism. She loves coffee and beer, mixtapes and books, and road bikes and punk rock.
