I’m Pulkit. I build things. Not always because I have to, sometimes just because I want to see if I can.

I’m a data and AI engineer by profession, but “builder” is probably the more honest description. I’m still figuring out the edges of what I want to do, but I know it lives somewhere between writing clean systems, making technology feel human, and running things my own way.

I was probably seven or eight when I wrote my first program, QBasic, the one with the turtle. I wasn’t building anything useful, just drawing shapes and loving every line of it. I’ve been a sucker for retro tech ever since. There’s something about constraints that makes you actually think.

Speaking of constraints, I don’t believe hardware should ever be the reason you don’t build something. My entire setup runs on repurposed machines, homelab included. It’s scrappy, it’s mine, and it works. Homelabs aren’t a hobbyist quirk; they’re just early.

I never formally learned UX. I’m just a critical user. I use something and immediately think about how it should actually work. Google Maps still isn’t hands-free. Someday.

That wiring eventually pulled me into generative AI, where problem-solving and user experience finally had a place to live together. Right now, I’m all in on voice agents. I’m building Luna, my own AI assistant that I want to be omnipresent for everything digital I’d rather not think about, email, calendar, Notion, Slack, photos. The whole thing runs on my homelab. Maintaining it has introduced me to parts of the stack I’d never touched before, and I’m enjoying every bit of it.

I came to open source late. College me had no idea what it even meant. But working with open-source tools every day has made me genuinely appreciate the people behind them. Everything I build goes out in the open, for my dad, my friends, whoever finds it useful. Technology should work for the people around you, not just the ones who can pay for it.

I think AI is going to get local and personal. People are waking up to data privacy, and when they do, edge computing stops being a hobbyist thing and becomes the default.

“The greatest invention of the decade: AIr fryer”

~ Pulkit Thapar, circa 2026

When I’m not at a keyboard, I’m probably watching football. Hala Madrid. CR7 is my GOAT, no debate. I’ve driven cross-country twice, north to south of India, and I’d do it again. I make coffee, slowly getting sucked into equipment I can’t justify yet. I pick up random skills when something catches my attention, video editing, most recently. I run local models on my PC. Slower, less capable, totally worth it. My data, my automations, my mess.

Someday, a 3D printer. Not today.