About Vishnu Devarajan (Vish)
Technology architect and volunteer. I set up Yarra Tech Clinic in my own time.
You don’t need to know the technical question. Tell me what’s difficult, slow, risky or frustrating, and I’ll help you work out what the technology question actually is.
Independent counsel with no software commissions or resale agendas.
Why I’m doing this
A way of giving back some of the support I was given when I needed it most.
Gratitude and giving back
Earlier this year I went through one of the hardest periods of my life — a serious health challenge that took me away from much of what I normally do. What carried me through, alongside my family, was people: friends, colleagues and communities in New Zealand and Australia who checked in, made space for me and helped without being asked, often when they owed me nothing.
As I recover, I’ve thought a lot about how to give some of that back. I don’t have unlimited time, but I do have years of knowledge, strategy and hard-won experience — and it’s most valuable when it’s shared. Yarra Tech Clinic is named after my daughter, a reminder of why family, community and giving back matter to me.
The advice gap facing community leadership
There’s a lot of free technology content on LinkedIn and YouTube, and many generous people posting it. But it’s broadcast, not conversation. It assumes you already know what to ask — and when you’re running a volunteer group or a small charity, you usually don’t.
Law has Te Ara Ture, which connects people in need with pro bono lawyers. As far as I can find, technology has nothing like it in Aotearoa. Small organisations deserve someone who can calmly tell them when a simple spreadsheet or shared folder is better than a costly new platform.
A calm, independent sounding board
So the clinic is simple. I listen first, help you work out the right question, and then help you find a clear, practical way forward — without selling you anything.
15 years of technology leadership
“Technology should lighten your organisation’s administrative burden, not create a new one.”
I’m a New Zealand citizen, a technology architect and an innovation leader, with 15 years across banking, health, energy, government and consulting in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.
- EY New Zealand — built and led the emerging-technology practice, growing the team to 30 and working with banks, utilities, retail and government, including a secure document-approval system for Auckland Council and Watercare.
- Austin Health — led systems and digital innovation for a public health unit, with privacy-by-design governance for health data.
- ASB Bank — led innovation and emerging technology, helped build Kauri ID (a digital identity prototype developed with more than 15 New Zealand organisations), and spoke regularly at universities and industry events.
- Jemena and WEL Networks — designed data and automation platforms for electricity networks in Victoria and the Waikato.
- Today — I lead enterprise AI strategy for a large organisation.
- Earlier — software engineering in Singapore, Kuwait (Ministry of Health), the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
- Education — postgraduate degree in Information Technology, University of St Andrews (Scotland); Computer Science degree, Bharathiar University (India). Databricks Certified Platform Architect (Azure and AWS).
Why this matters for your organisation: the habits that keep large, regulated organisations safe — good governance, privacy by design, sensible AI adoption and teaching teams to do it themselves — are exactly what small organisations need, just at a smaller, simpler scale.
The clinic is a personal volunteer programme and isn’t connected to my employer. It will never be a way for me to find clients.
15 years
Banking, health, energy, government and consulting, across five countries.
100% Pro Bono
No fees, no sales and no commissions. Run in my own time.
Skills, not dependence
Years of mentoring teams and lifting technical literacy — the same approach the clinic uses.
How I work with groups
Technology discussions do not need to feel intimidating or rushed. My process is modelled on a trusted community health clinic: diagnostic, gentle, and transparent.
Patient, jargon-free listening
I begin with a no-pressure conversation focused on what your team is actually trying to accomplish in your community, not acronyms or buzzwords. You set the pace.
Radical independence
No affiliate deals, software resale or commissions. If a free tool or a not-for-profit offer from Google or Microsoft solves your problem, that’s what I’ll recommend.
Board-ready documentation
You receive concise, plain-English architectural summaries and actionable step-by-step guides that volunteer boards and funders can easily read.
Ready for an unhurried conversation?
Whether you are evaluating a database overhaul, worried about data backups, or confused by conflicting software quotes, apply for a clinic session. Applications are reviewed based on fit and available capacity.