Kiran Kodithala

As a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Kiran Kodithala worked closely with the enterprise architecture, functional stakeholders, quality insurance teams and others to integrate systems at three campuses. During this time, Kodithala realized that most institutions struggle with common integration issues to connect student information systems with parking, housing, identity and access management systems.

In response, Kodithala launched N2N Services Inc. in 2010 with the explicit intent to build a software platform that seamlessly connects critical student information with SaaS products using the best practices he learned during his formative time in graduate school.

N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application and data integration for higher education. The company’s platform is a cloud-based SaaS platform providing standards based, turnkey integration enabling organizations to plug-in new SaaS applications in a matter of minutes to meet strategic institution goals. The API integration platform is used by more than 200 institutions to enable organizations to meet strategic integration objectives.

It is his humble beginnings that drives Kodithala forward as a leader. “Mr. Kodithala has overcome personal and professional shortcomings over the last decade to reach this current stage,” said his staff. “He came to the USA to pursue his higher education with less than $3,000 from India. He received a full tuition waiver the day after he entered the States and decided to commit himself to the service of education over the years.”

In addition to leading N2N and higher education organizations, Kodithala runs a podcast called Illuminate Higher Education that features the industry leaders in higher education. “Mr. Kodithala does not stop at integrating data for education,” said his staff. “He seeks to transform education by integrating the best ideas, visions and leaders toward a common mission to make education accessible and affordable for all so that future students don’t need to mortgage their childhood homes to pursue higher education.”

His holistic commitment to education makes him uniquely positioned to be a Titan in an industry that focuses on bottom lines and profit margins and nothing else, said his colleagues.

In the future, Kodithala strives to be an investor to serve his passions. “I want to build an investment firm that transcends financial returns and also delivers returns on the future of our planet, social justice and other systemic issues like hunger, education and child labor,” he said.