Are you making decisions with metrics, or starting conversations?
Software industry metrics frameworks measure how you compare to arbitrary vendor benchmarks, but never tell you why they matter to your business. Skip the benchmark conversation. Instead, measure what you need to solve for your concrete pain points, right now.
I'm Dr. Krishna Kumar
I help software companies design measurement systems that model their operations as they actually are. I work with product, engineering, sales, and operations teams to analyze their processes and find opportunities for improvements, both within and across functions.
My practice is grounded in The Presence Calculus, a rigorous mathematical approach rooted in stochastic process theory. It produces deterministic, inspectable, context-specific metrics—and lets you reason about cause and effect with confidence. No other approach to measurement in the software industry can claim that.
Through The Polaris Advisor Program, I work directly with function leaders and teams to solve complex measurement problems and design systems to manage your specific operational challenges.
You bring deep knowledge of your business; I bring expertise in measurement design and custom tooling. Together, we create measurement systems your leaders and teams can trust.
Custom Measurement Models
I don't sell dashboards or metrics tools, though I've built plenty of them.
I design measurement systems specific to your operational flows—built from your reality, not statistics.
Your context determines the model, not a tool vendor's template.
Deterministic Measurement
My approach uses sample-path analysis—a technique rooted in calculus not statistics. It's backed by 50 years of mathematics from operations research.
It produces deterministic measurements and transparent cause-effect explanations, and that leads to better, faster decisions.
You can skip the endless debates about what the data might be saying.
Advisory-First Delivery
Sophisticated tools built over years of R&D enable the work. But you're buying advice and expertise, not software.
My deliverables are insight, a fit-for-context measurement system, instrumentation guidance, and decision processes.
There is a learning curve to these techniques. I flatten it significantly, giving you actionable advice faster.
Why Work With Me
I Work in the Open
The underlying theory and tooling behind my practice are published openly. The Presence Calculus Project provides the mathematical foundation; the open-source tools let you pressure test the ideas on your own, if you choose. My goal is to help clients who see what these ideas can do—and want to apply them with confidence and expert guidance in their context.
I Explain the Why
The Polaris Flow Dispatch explores my philosophy of measurement, modeling, and analysis of operational processes. Often unorthodox and counter to conventional wisdom in the software industry, but always backed with reasoning and mathematical proof. Rigorous thinking, shared publicly.
Your Expertise + Mine
I bring expertise in measurement design and tools. You bring deep knowledge of how your business operates. Together, we build measurement systems that explain why your operational processes behave the way they do, and what you need to do to improve them.