Sakshi Dubey is a Technical Program Manager at Amazon, global Robotics Leader, NASA Citizen Scientist Astronaut candidate and TEDx speaker.
The suborbital space suit weighed far more than I expected on my shoulders. Standing inside a training facility at NASA Kennedy Space Center for a suborbital mock mission, one thought surfaced: Do I really belong here?
I grew up in Moradabad, a small city in northern India known for its brass handicrafts, not its aerospace engineers. Nobody handed me a map. There was no blueprint, no industry mentor who had walked this road before me. And yet, there I was, suited up and preparing to operate at the edge of space research.
Today, I build autonomous robotic systems that operate across continents, lead enterprise AI and computer vision programs at scale, and present robotics research across the U.S. and internationally in innovation hubs like Tokyo and Barcelona. As a NASA Citizen Scientist astronaut candidate, I train for suborbital missions in the gaps between engineering sprints. I also lead an initiative that has guided hundreds of young women from underserved communities into technical fields. I know precisely what it feels like to stand at the threshold of a room and wonder if you are allowed inside.
That journey taught me a fundamental lesson: Belonging in high-tech fields is something you actively engineer. Here is what building complex, uncertain robotic systems taught me about belonging, leadership and what it means to be the edge case yourself.
1. Shift From Validation To Craft
Imposter syndrome rarely announces itself loudly. It shows up quietly when you are the only woman in a meeting room, when your proposal is evaluated differently depending on who restates it or when you feel the pressure to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously.
People have told me to just wait. Wait for someone to validate the work. Wait to feel ready. But validation can be fleeting. What works far better is focusing on craft. When you build expertise so deep, applied and rigorous that your work speaks for itself, the question of whether you belong becomes irrelevant. Eventually people stop asking if you belong. They just start asking what you’re building next.
2. Your Perspective Is Your Asset
The first time I developed a robotic vision system designed to perceive its environment, I realized something fundamental: Vision is not about the camera sensor; it is about how the algorithm handles uncertainty.
Processing a rigid cardboard box requires a fundamentally different algorithmic approach than handling a deformable plastic bag. A robot either works in the real world or it doesn’t. There’s no partial credit for an algorithm that only handles the easy cases. In robotics, these unpredictable inputs and uncommon scenarios are known as “edge cases.” That’s usually where the real engineering breakthroughs happen. Not in the clean cases. In the messy ones.
The same principle applies to team leadership. Being an outsider to a field, culture or legacy background is not a barrier; it is a research advantage. When you approach an engineering or business problem from a perspective the room has not considered, you bring original value to the table. Don’t minimize your unique vantage point; use it to solve problems others cannot see.
3. Embrace Discomfort As An Operational State
Simulated suborbital training prepares you to operate in environments where every ground-level assumption becomes unreliable. The people who thrive under those conditions aren’t the most certain. They’ve just made peace with not knowing.
We often wait until we feel entirely ready before raising our hand for high-stakes projects. We wait for an unfamiliar culture to feel safe before deciding we belong. But zero gravity teaches a valuable lesson: You don’t get comfortable first and then walk in. You walk in, and comfort shows up later, if it shows up at all.
4. Create Mirrors For The Next Generation
Through my work coaching young women in technical disciplines, I’ve observed a consistent pattern across communities: Potential is everywhere. I’ve met plenty of talented young women. What they haven’t seen is someone who looks like them already doing it.
They need to see someone who shares their background operating at the highest levels of the field. Being in the room isn’t the finish line. If you don’t hold the door for someone else, you’re just occupying space, not changing who gets to be there.
The Real Definition Of Belonging
Nobody in tech, robotics or leadership is going to hand you a permission slip. Belonging is built one project at a time, one room at a time. You don’t wait for advanced fields to make room for you. You show up, you keep showing up and eventually the room adjusts.
The door is open. It always was. All we need to do is stop doubting and take the first step.
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