Executive PhD student and Apple engineering manager Sirisha Yerroju is researching how technology companies can balance profitability, consumer trust and ethical data practices
Over a decade into her career leading one of the engineering teams for Apple’s “Siri” AI voice assistant program, Sirisha Yerroju is pursuing her executive PhD in business—but not out of necessity for career growth. Rather, she chose to pursue an advanced degree at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business out of curiosity and a desire to add depth and meaning to her already successful career.
She already had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, so while she didn’t need more technical knowledge, she did want a deeper understanding of how business leaders balance profitability, ethics and consumer trust. Specifically, she became interested in the decisions governing how large technology companies collect, use—and sometimes monetize—consumer data. As she puts it, “half of Silicon Valley runs on data as its monetary product.”
Now two years into the three-year University of Denver program, she’s completed her coursework and is researching her dissertation on digital ethics, consumer privacy, and whether tech companies can be profitable without monetizing user data. Her research also investigates if the future of data privacy is commodity-based for those who can afford it, or if it can be attained equitably across socioeconomic classes through subsidies or alternative profit models.
Yerroju—who was born and raised in India—says the Daniels doctoral program holds value for students from a wide variety of backgrounds and industries, with the bonus of flexibility for full-time working professionals and parents. Listening to different perspectives from peers in her program cohort has helped Yerroju approach problem-solving through a new lens. A discussion in Daniels Executive PhD director Dan Baack’s first class made a lasting impact, she says.
“He mentioned that when we look at anecdotal evidence, we assume it is going to apply everywhere, but by the end of the program, we will realize we need to consider data from a meaningful sample size before making any conclusions. And that stuck with me—it is so true.”
Yerroju says this and other “revelations” are reshaping the way she approaches decision-making at work, where she now seeks to understand problems with significant data, rather than making decisions based on one-off experiences.
“Sirisha exemplifies the experienced professional the Executive PhD was designed for,” says Baack. “Her doctoral training allows her to lean into her deep expertise to explore broader questions about business, ethics and society. This honors Bill Daniels’ legacy and captures The Daniels Effect.”
Yerroju is excited for her future career possibilities, sharing, “I would be very happy if I can consult with companies on how they can be fairer, minimize data collection, keep their profits decent and be more transparent.”
For now, however, she is focused on raising her two young children, continuing her work at Apple and finishing her research—which includes publishing papers and traveling internationally to present at conferences and symposiums.
While the program has already changed how she thinks about leadership, problem-solving and research, she believes some of the most valuable lessons are still ahead in her research year.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to find so many of those nuggets that I can keep throughout my life.”