A scientist who became a coach.

Prameela spent her first decade designing and building mission-critical defence systems — complex, high-stakes work that taught her to see problems whole and understand how interdependent parts come together to create something that truly functions.

But the most defining part of this chapter was not the work. It was the person she got to work under.

In the latter part of her decade with DRDO, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam — before he became the President of India — was her leader. Working under him left a mark that has never faded. His boundless curiosity. His extraordinary humility. The way he made everyone around him feel that learning was a joy.

It is from him that Prameela learned to say “I don’t know” without hesitation — and to mean it as an invitation rather than an admission. That hunger to stay curious and keep learning has never left her.

This is the chapter that was always coming, even when Prameela could not yet see it.

After three decades of building, leading, and learning, she discovered what she is most called to do — walk alongside other leaders as they find their own path. That realisation did not come from a plan. It came from noticing where her energy was highest and her impact felt most real.

Starfish Global was founded on a simple conviction — that lived experience is the most powerful coaching tool there is. Prameela brings the scientist’s curiosity, the builder’s enterprise view, and the honesty of someone who has genuinely been in the room where the hard decisions get made.

She works with senior leaders and teams — not as an outside observer, but as a trusted thought partner who has carried real weight and knows what it feels like.

This chapter has given her more energy and fulfilment than any that came before. That, she will tell you, is the clearest sign she is exactly where she is meant to be.