Building India’s PostgreSQL scene – a chat with Hari Kiran 

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Pat Wright sits down with PostgreSQL veteran Hari Kiran – founder of OpenSource DB and co-organizer of PG Day Hyderabad, where this episode was recorded. They talk community building, mentoring the next generation of PostgreSQL contributors, and how a coffee chat with a friend turned into one of India’s biggest PostgreSQL events. 

For more on PG Day Hyderabad and the Hyderabad PostgreSQL Group, head to https://2026.pghyd.in/ 

Listen or watch to every episode of the Redgate Simple Talk podcast at 
https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts/ 

Episode overview: Hari Kiran on building the PostgreSQL community in Hyderabad

Don’t have time to watch or listen? Here’s an overview of this episode, recorded on-site at PG Day Hyderabad, featuring Pat Wright’s (PostgreSQL Advocate at Redgate) conversation with Hari Kiran.

Disclaimer: AI was used to generate this overview.

From Oracle to PostgreSQL

Hari traces his path into the PostgreSQL world back to his early work testing Slony replication code (pre-dating PostgreSQL 8.3/8.4/9.0), after starting his career as an Oracle developer. He describes falling in love with both the software and the community, and going on to build PostgreSQL implementations for FinTech and healthcare clients around the world, as well as setting up PostgreSQL Centers of Excellence inside several enterprises.

Founding OpenSource DB

After years at companies including Oracle, GE, 2ndQuadrant, United Health Group, and EnterpriseDB, Hari founded OpenSource DB in 2021. He recalls starting with just 1.5 clients (including a charity project) and scaling to a 25-person team by 2026, which he describes as a group of dedicated “Postgres fanatics.”

Mentoring students and new contributors

A recurring theme is Hari’s investment in growing the next generation of PostgreSQL contributors. He half-jokingly tells students that correctly pronouncing “Postgres” is step one, but the real bar is curiosity about C#, the PostgreSQL source code, and the hackers mailing list. He partners with Postgres Women India on bootcamps and orientation sessions — including a recently completed 16-week cohort — to help students build a foundation in open-source databases.

Building PG Day Hyderabad from scratch

Hari and fellow contributor Bharat founded the Hyderabad PostgreSQL user group at the end of 2022, right as COVID restrictions were lifting. Their first meetup drew 34 people; by 2023 they’d settled into a quarterly cadence with 50–60 attendees, with early support from AWS and PostgreSQL-focused companies who hosted meetups at their offices. By 2026, the group has run its third annual two-day conference, holds meetups every two months around rotating themes (HA, migrations, etc.), and pulled in 350+ registrations for this year’s event.

Looking ahead

Hari’s priorities going forward are twofold: continuing to turn students into genuine PostgreSQL source-code contributors, and sustaining the partnership with Postgres Women India’s bootcamps. He closes with a direct ask to the community — sponsor speakers’ travel and back people who want to get involved, since it’s that kind of support (like Pat’s trip from the US) that lets events like PG Day Hyderabad keep growing.