Leading Engineering with purpose: Meet Smrithi Ravi
We sat down with Smrithi Ravi, Engineering Lead at Wise to hear about her career journey, the unique challenges of leading the APAC Engineering squad, and what makes Engineering at Wise truly impactful. 💡🚀
"It’s fulfilling to lead a team of engineers who understand the significance of every line of code they write and the real-world impact it has on our customers."
Smrithi Ravi (She/Her)
Engineering Lead
Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into Engineering
My interest in Computer Science and Engineering began in my early teens, when I first started writing code as a hobby. My curiosity in coding led me to pursue a Bachelor’s in Computer Science Engineering, followed by a Master’s at Columbia University. After graduating, I began a career at Bloomberg, and later moved to Silicon Valley to work at Groupon.
Eventually, I relocated to Singapore and became a customer of Wise. As a new mum, I resonated deeply with the company's mission, so when the opportunity to join Wise as an engineer arose, it felt like the perfect next step both personally and professionally.
What makes your Engineering team unique compared to other teams at the company?
I lead the Asia Pacific Engineering Squad within Wise's Regional Expansion Tribe, driving the expansion of Wise's products across the APAC region. Our team manages a range of licenses, including Send Money, e-wallet, and Asset licenses, while developing partner connectivity and direct links to payment schemes.
With APAC having the most currencies, licenses, and partners at Wise, our team plays a pivotal role in localizing products for diverse markets—from mature ones such as Australia and Singapore to emerging ones such as India and the Philippines. We've driven key innovations, such as launching video KYC (know your customer) the process used to verify customer identities and developing the first fully cloud-based direct integration with a payment scheme in the Philippines.
Our team of 30+ full-stack product engineers builds, tests, and ships code with a clear focus on customer impact. We follow the principle of "Customer > Team > Ego," ensuring that everything we do is centered around solving customer needs. We localize our products so that cross-border payments feel just as fast and seamless as domestic ones. This is only possible because we have a deep understanding of the regional payment ecosystem and work closely with local partners to make it happen.
What do you find most rewarding about your role as an Engineering lead?
Seeing how closely our Engineering work aligns with the company’s mission. We’re building a product that directly impacts how people manage and move their money— minimum fees and maximum ease, at full speed. It’s fulfilling to lead a team of engineers who understand the significance of every line of code they write and the real-world impact it has on our customers.
I also find it incredibly rewarding to be part of a culture where we work closely with other teams—such as customer support—to quickly address issues that impact our customers' experience. As seen in our Customer Challenge, the constant feedback loop ensures we’re always improving.
This level of mission-driven development is rare in the industry, and as an Engineering Lead, it's inspiring to build and nurture teams that share this focus.
How do you support and mentor your team members in their professional growth?
I’ve learned that productivity isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach—what works for one person might not work for another. Some team members thrive in a hybrid work setup, while others are most productive when they’re in the office five days a week. In some roles, in-person interaction is crucial not just for the team’s success, but also for individual growth. This is why we believe in tailoring development plans to each person’s needs.
We aim to keep our Engineering teams small to ensure that each individual gets the attention they deserve. As Engineering Leads, we wear two hats—both as technical leads and people leads. This allows us to create personalised growth plans, provide mentorship, and help each engineer unlock their potential. By focusing on individual growth, we can enhance productivity and ensure each person’s career trajectory aligns with their unique strengths. At Wise, we have standardised levels and expectations for Engineering that guides an engineer through all areas of growth and not just on skills and expertise alone.
The other aspect is having a technical vision for the teams. This gives engineers direction and also potential to pick up highly impactful technical projects to drive the KPIs for the vision.
What advice would you give to other employees considering joining Wise?
If you’re considering joining Wise—do it! We’re looking for engineers who are passionate about building products that have a real impact on customers, who are interested in financial tech, and who are self-starters—those who don’t just point out problems but jump in to solve them.
One standout feature of Wise is our commitment to transparency—whether it’s roles, expectations, or even salaries. This openness gives you a clear understanding of your potential impact and your place within the wider organisation.
We also place a strong emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. Whether you're into hiking, LLMs (large language models), Women in Tech (join Wise Women Engineering), or you're a parent like me, you'll find a community at Wise that supports and encourages you.
Tags
Roles you might be interested in
Salary
€4250 - €5550 gross / month + RSUs
Location
Tallinn
Team
Technology
Locations
Tallinn
Description
About the role We are looking for a Cloud or GRC Engineer with experience or a strong interest in Cyber Security. If you are a Cyber Security Engineer with a strong interest in Cloud Engineering we al
Reference
f505c6fb-ae7e-4b32-954f-c3d14543c416
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
-
Location
Tallinn
Team
Technology
Locations
Tallinn
Description
About Spend Fraud & DisputesOur mission is to provide a safe, friction-right and eventually free way to spend anywhere in the world:We keep Wise card customers' money safe by preventing fraudulent act
Reference
247e558d-9c90-4146-b5a7-c3b48b4b7ccb
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
-
Location
London
Team
Technology
Locations
London
Description
About the roleWe are looking for a senior software engineer with a background in using Apache Kafka.Our Kafka team is part of the Data Squad.We provide the tooling and infrastructure that allows Wise
Reference
af167a8f-cbf5-4844-a84c-f209052b03a7
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
120000 - 145000 GBP Annual
Location
London
Team
Technology
Locations
London
Description
As the Identity & Productivity Management Engineering Lead at Wise, you will be one of the leaders in the User Technology team. Primarily responsible for multiple teams that govern, deliver, maintai
Reference
fd0898f6-a4bc-4b3d-86ae-a8b336905d3e
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
102000 - 125000 GBP Annual
Location
London
Team
Technology
Locations
London
Description
About the role We are looking for a Senior SRE Engineer to focus on Reliability Excellence at Wise. You will work cross functionally with all engineering teams in Wise to ensure we consistently delive
Reference
38facef4-e5f8-4e8b-92f9-d296e3555df9
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
£65000 - £85000 + RSU
Location
London
Team
Technology
Locations
London
Description
Pricing Platform is one of the core teams at Wise, responsible for building and maintaining the infrastructure features that power pricing for Wise.com and Wise Platform, enabling new partners and pro
Reference
698b8f76-26c1-412b-baf7-373c1041d9ec
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
$115,000 - $130,000
Location
Austin
Team
Technology
Locations
Austin
Description
Wise is one the fastest growing companies in Europe and we’re on a mission: to make money without borders the new normal. We’ve got over 16 million customers across the globe and we’re growing. Fast.C
Reference
6bd94941-5733-47e0-af2b-c477e36eb3c1
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
1,280,000-1,700,000HUF/monthly + RSUs
Location
Budapest
Team
Technology
Locations
Budapest
Description
The team you will join: Europe OnboardingWe're building a convenient and scalable onboarding journey that empowers millions of people and businesses across Europe while staying fully aligned with loca
Reference
f5a127fd-ac7d-4ee9-84c0-f5be317c618b
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
gr. 1,700,000 - 2,100,000 HUF monthly + RSUs
Location
Budapest
Team
Technology
Locations
Budapest
Description
The team you will join: Europe Money MovementWe provide our customers with quick, convenient, and cheap money transfers in a handful of European currencies.We work on new direct integrations with loca
Reference
da2ec172-71b4-4043-a0c6-6ef1c8cf747a
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
gr. 1,700,000 - 2,100,000 HUF monthly + RSUs
Location
Budapest
Team
Technology
Locations
Budapest
Description
The team you’ll be working with: Business Account ExperienceWe're building the essential infrastructure that connects Wise with the diverse landscape of accounting software used by business customers
Reference
258cdfad-90d0-48d9-ab81-6b9fd2cbd976
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Articles you might like

Teaser
Early careersContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/29/2024
Summary
Hello! My name is Jennifer, and I'm a self taught software engineer currently working in one of the engineering platform teams at Wise. My journey with Wise began when I joined

by
Holly Sellers
.jpg)
Teaser
Our cultureContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/05/2024
Summary
Meet Rajat, one of our Senior Developers We caught up with Rajat Meena, a Senior Developer, who made the move from Germany to join our team in Tallinn. He shares his inspiring journey, detail

by
Verona Hasani
.jpg)
Teaser
Our workContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/16/2023
Summary
Why I joined Wise I joined Wise as a graduate engineer right after finishing university. One question I’m frequently asked is why I chose Wise to start my career. A few things a

Teaser
People profileContent Type
BlogPublish date
10/11/2023
Summary
My name is Ali Salman, I’m a last year computer engineering student at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. This summer, I was an engineering intern at Wise in Budapest for 10
.jpg)
Teaser
People profileContent Type
BlogPublish date
05/30/2023
Summary
Hi there! 👋 I’m Stella, a Software Engineer based in Budapest, Hungary. I joined Wise back in September 2022 and I’d love to walk you through how I became passionate about softwar
.png)
Teaser
People profileContent Type
BlogPublish date
04/18/2023
Summary
I’m Holden and I’m a Software Engineer on the Contact Handling team. In my team, we build tools to support our Support. What that boils down to is making sure our custo
.jpg)
Teaser
People profileContent Type
BlogPublish date
03/31/2023
Summary
A bit about me Hey 👋🏽 I’m Jasleen and I’ve been here at Wise as a graduate software engineer since September. You may also remember me from a year ago too as I was also an int

Teaser
Our workContent Type
BlogPublish date
02/01/2023
Summary
Solutions engineering is both the most accurate and most problematic job title I’ve ever had.It describes exactly what my team and I do at Wise, which is great, but it can also be inte