Meet the Ripplers: How Lavkush builds components that drive Rippling’s growth

Name: Lavkush Kumar

Role: Staff Engineer, Web Platform Team

Location: Bangalore

Rippler since: 2019

Roles + responsibilities

I lead the web infrastructure for internationalization and localization at Rippling. We strive to provide a seamless experience to our global customers by developing intelligent systems capable of detecting time zones and locations and adapting to them. I’m also a key member actively contributing to the Rippling component library, Pebble.

Why did I join Rippling

I was introduced to Rippling by my friend—and now colleague—Sanket. He told me about all the kinds of engineering problems that Rippling is solving. More than just the startup appeal, what truly attracted me was the growth potential and the promising trajectory the company was already on. Rippling's ethos of freeing smart people to work on hard problems aligned well with my own aspirations, making it a compelling opportunity.

My journey at Rippling

I joined Rippling almost four years ago, when the company had a workforce of 60-70 employees and offered around five products. Since then, Rippling has experienced exponential growth—we now have a team of 2,500 employees and an expansive portfolio of over 30 successful products. Throughout this transformative period, I've been an active part of a team that tackles complex challenges on a day-to-day basis. Working at Rippling is exceptionally inspiring because it allows me to witness the tangible impact of my efforts on a global scale. For example, in my earliest days at Rippling, I built a component library that now serves as the foundational engine driving every product at Rippling. What sets this experience apart is the remarkable degree of ownership and autonomy I have, which empowers me to shape our projects and strategies in a way that is truly distinctive compared to other work environments.

What keeps me going at Rippling?

It's the impact created by the work I am doing here at Rippling. Here are three examples:

1. Internalization and localization: The internalization framework powers every text within Rippling’s UI—and that lays the foundation for our expansion into global markets. With over 500,000 strings across 4,000+ pages and 100,000+ total users, the framework ensures proper string display and translation based on the user's language, enhancing the overall user experience. In parallel, to prioritize a positive developer experience, we’ve established a robust infrastructure with essential tooling such as IntelliSense, a strings dashboard, screenshot capturing, and more. Building this framework has provided a great learning experience.

2. Building a design system library: I was given the challenging task of building Rippling's component library from scratch. I’ve spent the first two years building UI components, and as of today, we have over 100 high-quality UI components in our design systems powering 30+ products at Rippling. These components come with more than 90% code coverage and detailed documentation.

3. DateTime library: This is another piece of work that I built from scratch. Writing a library that serves as the foundation for all date and time operations on the web, including date, time, date range, and calendar components is something I am really proud of. This library comes with built-in internationalization and localization support.

The keys to my success at Rippling

1. Ability to tackle hard problems head on: At Rippling, I’m consistently exposed to complex engineering challenges that require ingenious solutions. The dynamic nature and intricacy of the engineering problems we encounter have significantly contributed to my growth as an engineer. The need to stay a step ahead and ensure our platform is well-equipped to tackle and scale for any challenge helps cultivate my proficiency and adaptability as a problem solver.

2. Exceptional team dynamics: The Web Platform team is one of the most diverse teams I have ever seen in terms of knowledge and skill sets. This has cultivated a dynamic  culture where you not only get guidance and support for growth, but also different perspectives and clarity on the decisions being made. This gives me a much clearer vision on how our work will help our customers.

3. Manager's trust in my abilities: My leadership has consistently believed in my capabilities. The freedom to work at my own style and pace has been a key element in my success.

Memorable Rippling moments

1. My first ever trip at Rippling was to Goa with the frontend team in 2020. Many of us had joined the team while working remotely, so meeting each other in person and forging those personal connections was truly exceptional.

2. The Coorg trip with the frontend team in 2021 was a unique experience because it doubled as a workstation for us. We spent a week in Coorg and conducted our hackweek from there. A fun fact is that I was one of the winners of that year's hackweek, where we built a Figma to UI-kit plugin. 

3. React India 2022 in Goa was full of learning experiences. Anoop Raveendran from Rippling presented an informative talk on end-to-end testing, and we engaged with many enthusiasts who visited the Rippling booth to learn more.

4. React India 2023 in Bangalore was a memorable and confidence-boosting experience. I had the privilege of presenting Rippling's translation infrastructure to a substantial and attentive audience, leaving an indelible mark on my journey.

Outside of my Rippling responsibilities...

I find joy in working out at the gym, playing sports like cricket and badminton, engaging in chess matches, watching a variety of movies, and indulging in meme wars with my teammates. In my free time, I also make YouTube videos and write Medium blogs about frontend topics.

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