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Who is Anu Sharma? Indian engineer sparks online buzz after quitting Google for Palantir

Indian software engineer Anu Sharma has gone viral after leaving Google to join Palantir. Let's take a closer look at her education, career journey, and why her move is drawing buzz online

Anu Sharma, an Indian software engineer, has garnered attention for quitting Google and joining Palantir Technologies. Image courtesy: LinkedIn

FP Explainers|May 05, 2026, 18:25:14 IST

An Indian engineer has gone viral on social media today. Anu Sharma, an Indian software engineer, has garnered attention for quitting Google and joining Palantir Technologies.

The software firm was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Stephen Cohen, Joe Lonsdale, Alex Karp, and Nathan Gettings. It was named after ‘the seeing stones’ in 'The Lord of the Rings'. Now, Sharma’s professional journey is drawing attention from those on social media.

But who is Sharma? What do we know about her?

Let’s take a closer look.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Sharma got her B.Tech at Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.

She did a nearly four-month internship at X in Bengaluru in 2022.

The next year, she did a four-month internship at Google in Hyderabad, as well as worked at Intuit.

Sharma also worked at McKinsey Next Gen Women Leaders. She also contributed to She++, a platform by Uber.

Sharma also worked as a freelance technical blogger and participated in #DevelopHer2021, held by X.

In 2024, Sharma began working at Google as a software engineer. She spent a little over a year and a half at the tech firm.

She quit earlier this year and is now employed as a forward-deployed software engineer at Palantir.

She has 232,000 followers on Instagram and 238,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Her career has been praised on social media.

One user wrote, “Inspiration to all developers, by the way. Not just women. This career progression is phenomenal.”

Another person said, “True leader. She will reach VP of engineering while the rest of you are slogging to get from L4 to L5 in search of tech glory and intellectual satisfaction.”

A third user added, “Cracking Google means you are good with DSA and system design. Not an end-to-end problem solver. And that means you are replaceable. Many hardcore guys came and went. Not a follower of hers, but she shares good and bad experiences.”

Sharma responded to her story going viral with a folded hands emoji.

Palantir has been under the scanner for its links to the US military.

In March, the Pentagon said that Palantir’s Maven artificial intelligence system will become an official programme of record.

The letter by Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg locked in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting technology across the US military.

In the March 9 letter to senior Pentagon leaders and US military commanders, Feinberg said embedding Palantir’s Maven Smart System would provide warfighters “with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains”.

Palantir says its software does not make lethal decisions and humans remain responsible for selecting and approving targets.

Palantir developed its AI system to serve the Pentagon’s Project Maven, which began as a drone-imagery labelling programme in 2017.

In 2024, the Pentagon awarded Palantir a contract worth up to $480 million (Rs. 4,000 crore).

That year, Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar told the House Armed Services Committee that Maven had “tens of thousands” of users and urged Congress to provide more funding.

In May 2025, the Pentagon increased the contract ceiling to $1.3 billion (Rs. 12,368 crore).

FAQs

1. Who is Anu Sharma?

Anu Sharma is an Indian software engineer who recently left Google to join Palantir as a forward-deployed software engineer.

2. Why is Anu Sharma trending online?

Because of her career move from Google to Palantir, as well as her rapid professional growth.

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