Karnataka tech CEO, wife, and son found dead in US home; former colleague mourns ‘tragic loss’

The tech group in Karnataka is reeling from the surprising information of the deaths of Harshavardhana Kikkeri, CEO of robotics firm HoloWorld, his spouse Shwetha Harshavardhana, and their younger son Dhruv. Shwetha was additionally the president of the corporate. The household was discovered lifeless at their residence in the US, with native police indicating a potential tragic murder-suicide.

Whereas official investigations are underway, the information has despatched waves of grief and disbelief via those that knew the couple. Stafford Michahial, Group CTO at PRS Neurosciences and former Deputy CTO at Holosuit, the corporate Kikkeri based, shared a tribute with ET, highlighting the profound loss felt by these near the household.

“I nonetheless wrestle to seek out the suitable phrases,” Michahial stated in an announcement. He recalled how Harsha and Shwetha welcomed him into their imaginative and prescient for Holosuit in 2017, a journey that noticed him develop from a developer to their CTO. “We shared late nights constructing expertise, goals, and friendships that felt like household. And over time, that’s precisely what we grew to become.”

Michahial painted an image of Harshavardhana as a “man of calm presence — religious, meditative, and filled with centered vitality,” somebody who believed in him and considerably formed his life and profession. He described Shwetha as a “regular, good chief and a loving soul who held the staff — and her household — collectively.” He stated their son, Dhruv, was: “all the time full of sunshine, laughter, and innocence… they have been the whole lot to me.”

The information of their passing has left Michahial “shattered.” “Shedding all three of them — Shwetha, Dhruv, and Harsha — in such a tragic approach has left a ache I can’t describe,” he stated. “I like Harsha for the whole lot he created, for the knowledge he shared, and the lives he modified. However I can not reconcile the way in which all of it ended. It’s devastating. It’s inconceivable to grasp how somebody so spiritually grounded may attain such some extent.”

“And but, that is the exhausting reality — generally the indicators are hidden, generally silence is louder than phrases,” Michahial stated.The tragic information has solid a pall over the tech circles in each the US and India, leaving many to grapple with the sudden lack of an entrepreneur, his spouse, and their younger little one.

Kikkeri initially got here from Kikkeri village in Karnataka. He accomplished his early schooling in Mysuru and later moved to the US, the place he earned a Grasp’s diploma in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse College. He labored at main tech corporations, together with Microsoft, the place he centered on robotics and innovation.

In accordance with an outline on his TEDx speak posted on YouTube, Kikkeri held 44 worldwide patents throughout the US, China, Japan, and Europe. He was honoured with awards such because the Gold Star from Microsoft, an Excellence Award from Infosys, and a Bharat Petroleum Scholarship. He additionally received a number of chess championships.