Balaji Sreenivasan was eight years old when he got his first ZX Spectrum computer. While most kids were playing games, he was writing code in BASIC. That early fascination with software set him on a path from mechanical engineering in India to aerospace in Florida, and eventually to launching a company that would quietly become essential to how North America builds. Today, as founder and CEO of Aurigo Software, Sreenivasan leads a team whose platform supports more than 300 agencies and over $450 billion in capital programs across North America.
Aurigo began with a clipboard problem. In 2003, Sreenivasan left his job after proposing a digital workflow to streamline construction inspections, and being told to drop it or leave. He chose the latter. His first product replaced manual fieldwork with mobile tools. From there, Aurigo expanded by listening to the people closest to the process—project managers, engineers, and planners—and building what they actually needed. The result is a platform that spans everything from capital planning to construction oversight to AI-driven public engagement.
From the start, Sreenivasan resisted the startup playbook. He avoided venture capital, built a profitable business, and stayed focused on long-term partnerships. By 2023, Aurigo’s software was powering tens of thousands of infrastructure projects, supported by a product stack that included low-code configuration, capital planning automation, and proprietary AI tools—some developed in collaboration to support better, faster decision-making.
Sreenivasan built Aurigo with a clear directive: stay close to the customer, solve what’s overlooked, and earn the right to grow. His mantra: if you want to build a billion-dollar company, start by solving a trillion-dollar problem.
