Form Name:
Unique ID:
Boards and Commissions Applicat ion
1450816432
Applicant Information
Name
Are you a Sunnyvale resident?
How long have you lived in
Sunnyvale?
Madhu Kashyap
Yes
36 years
Madhu Kashyap
Description Area Residence Notice:Unless otherwise noted , your principal place of residence must be in Sunnyvale . You must live in Sunnyvale at the time of appo intment and at all times during serv ice on a board or comm ission.
Current Main Residence
Email
Phone
Description Area Employment NoticeCity of Sunnyvale emp loyees may not serve on a board or comm ission.
I am a current City of Sunnyvale No
employee.
Have you ever served on a City of No
Sunnyvale board or commission?
Have you attended a meeting of No
the City Council, or a board or
commission?
Have you attended meetings of No
the board(s) or commission(s) for
which you are applying?
Board or Commission Selection
First Choice
Apply for another board or
commission?!
Second Choice
Applicant Qualifications
Planning Comm ission (R)
Yes
Sustainability Commis sion
What motivated you to apply for
this board or commission?
I am at a stage of my life where I want to give back to my community. I came as an immigrant 36 years ago and made my life here in Sunnyvale. I got married and had kids in this community. I have seen this community grow and thrive over the years and I want to apply my time and expertise to ensure the city continues to thrive and prosper.
Throughout my career in product leadership, my core passion has been human-centered design-the practice of building complex systems that genuinely serve user needs. I view city planning as the ultimate human-centered design challenge. I am highly motivated to transition my experience from architecting cloud and data systems to helping architect our physical community.
I also participated in the Leadership Sunnyvale program sometime ago and was impressed with how the city is run.
Sunnyvale is undoubtably the best managed city in the Bay Area and I would be honored to be part of it's governance and advisory process.
Madhu Kashyap
What skills or attributes can you
bring to this board or
commission?
I have a strong product background having spent the last 20+ building bridges between complex technical solutions and real business value. At its core I am a problem solver and can bring the same resourcefulness to solving city governance issues. My entire professional life has been working for large, well-know technology companies in the Bay Area such as Cisco, HPE, Brocade etc. I also spent time working in startups and have quite a few scars from those failures.
AI is shaping every industry and even how government works. I just went back to graduate school and got my Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence. I built a machine learning project based on the effectiveness of broadband expansion to bridge the digital divide. The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) is a significant United States Government initiative monitored and run by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As part of this initiative the FCC has earmarked $20.4 billion fund to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small
businesses that currently don't have access to high-speed internet. My project provides valuable insights that can enhance the effectiveness of broadband expansion efforts.
The Bay Area is the epicenter of AI and city governments should be proficient in the use of AI in their daily tasks and activities. I believe I can provide significant expertise and guidance to shape how the Planning commission or Sustainability Commission operates in the future as it incorporates AI.
Madhu Kashyap
The primary role of a board or
commission member is to provide
advice to City Council on policy
issues that are within the scope
of the board or commission. What
steps would you take to
effectively exercise this specific
board or commission role?
To effectively exercise the role of advising the City Council, I would apply the same strategic framework I use as a Business Technologist advising C-suite executives on complex initiatives.
My approach would be grounded in data-driven analysis,
stakeholder alignment, and clear communication.
1. Conduct "Discovery" through Human-Centered Design.
My first step is always to deeply understand the problem space by applying human-centered design principles . In the context of the Planning Commission, this means actively listening to the diverse needs of Sunnyvale residents, local businesses, developers, and city planning staff. Just as I rely on direct customer engagement and discovery workshops to inform
product strategies, I would thoroughly review staff reports and public comments to ensure any policy advice reflects the community's real-world needs.
2. Apply Data-Driven "Value Engineering".
To provide sound, objective advice, I would evaluate planning and zoning proposals through rigorous, data-informed analysis .
Drawing on my experience calculating risk-adjusted ROI and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for complex enterprise systems, I would look beyond the immediate appeal of a development project to assess its long-term systemic impact on the city. This involves weighing the benefits of a project against its long-term infrastructure load, environmental impact, and potential risks, ensuring the advice given is structurally sound and sustainable.
3. Act as the "Bridge" Translating Complexity.
Throughout my 20+ year career, my core capability has been serving as the primary bridge between highly technical
engineering realities and executive strategic vision. For the City Council, I would utilize this skill to take complex, dense technical documents-such as environmental impact reports or intricate zoning codes-and synthesize them into clear, actionable, and objective recommendations. My goal would be to reduce noise and provide the Council with a well-structured case that makes the complex understandable for decision-makers.
Madhu Kashyap
Education – List college degrees,
majors and any relevant training
or experience that demonstrates
your ability to effectively serve
on this board or commission.
- MS in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Texas at Austin
- MBA from the Haas School, University of California at Berkeley - MS, Computer Information Systems, Boston University
- BS, Statistics, Bombay University
- Leadership Sunnyvale Alumni
Describe your involvement in
community activities, volunteer
and civic organizations.
Historically, my community involvement has been focused on building global, collaborative ecosystems within the technology sector. Throughout my career at companies like HPE and Netsia, I actively represented my organizations in major industry consortia and open-source initiatives.
In the past I have mentored many young graduates and interns at my companies. I have also represented the local Indian-American community to raise funds - for example the Covid pandemic was a prime example where I participated in many such local civic activities.
Description Area The City has a Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials and an Attendance Policy (7.2.19), 2 G (II) that appointed members are required to follow.
Do you have any concerns related
to the above code and policy?
No
Are you willing to accept a
temporary appointment for the
remainder of an unexpired term?
Yes
Board or Commission-Specific Questions
Planning Commission
Madhu Kashyap
Sunnyvale has limited vacant
land for new development. This
could increase pressure for
redevelopment of existing
developed areas. How can
Planning respond to this
situation?
To address the challenge of limited vacant land and the resulting pressure for redevelopment, I would approach this issue by combining human-centered design with predictive machine learning (ML). This ensures that the Planning Commission provides the City Council with recommendations that are both data-driven and community-focused.
1. Apply Machine Learning for Identification - Redevelopment shouldn't happen randomly. The first step is identifying which existing developed areas are truly the best candidates for transformation (e.g., underutilized strip malls, aging industrial zones, or excessive surface parking). Drawing on my expertise in advanced data technologies and ML , I would advocate for using predictive models to analyze city data. By feeding an ML model data on transit proximity, current land use, and building age, the city can objectively identify "high-leverage" zones where redevelopment would provide the maximum housing or
commercial benefit with the least disruption.
2. Adapt "Strategic Investment ML Models" for Urban
Infrastructure - A major concern with redevelopment is whether the existing infrastructure (roads, water, schools) can handle increased density. During my AI specialization at UT Austin, I built a Strategic Investment ML Model specifically designed to evaluate infrastructure investment decisions and improve ROI prediction accuracy for capital allocation. I would recommend applying a similar predictive framework to Sunnyvale's planning. Before rezoning an area, we can use ML to model the "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) and "Risk-Adjusted ROI" of the
redevelopment-predicting the strain on traffic and utilities versus the projected increase in tax revenue and housing supply.
3. Utilize NLP to Scale "Human-Centered" Community Feedback - Redevelopment often causes community friction, and analyzing town hall feedback manually can be overwhelming. Drawing on my background in Natural Language Processing (NLP), I would suggest using NLP tools to synthesize public comments, surveys, and neighborhood feedback at scale. This allows the commission to move beyond the loudest voices in the room and objectively identify the core concerns (e.g., parking, building height, green space) across different districts. This ensures our redevelopment policies are guided by true human-centered design.
Madhu Kashyap
Planning Commissioners are
often asked to consider social,
economic and environmental
issues when reviewing proposals.
How do we achieve a balanced
community?
I can only talk to this by drawing parallels from my own professional experience.
Achieving a balanced community requires moving beyond
single-metric decisions-like immediate tax revenue or basic housing counts-and instead adopting a systems-thinking
approach. In my 20+ years as a Business Technologist, I have learned that true value is only realized when we balance hard economic data with human sentiment and long-term risk. I would approach community balance across these three pillars:
1. Economic Balance: Applying "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) and ROI - When evaluating the economic aspect of a proposal, I would look beyond the immediate financial benefit and assess its long-term viability. During my AI specialization, I built a machine learning model specifically to evaluate infrastructure investment decisions and improve ROI prediction accuracy for capital allocation. I would bring this exact analytical rigor to the Commission. We must evaluate the "total cost of ownership" of any new development-measuring the long-term strain on city utilities and services against the projected economic growth. True economic balance means ensuring development pays for itself over its entire lifecycle.
2. Social Balance: Human-Centered Design and Community
Sentiment - A city is not just infrastructure; it is the people who live there. Throughout my career, I have relied heavily on "human-centered design" to ensure products actually meet user needs. In technology, we measure the "soft side" or "squishy ROI" of a project, which includes tracking sentiment, usage rates, and user trust. I would apply this to the Commission by prioritizing community feedback and ensuring that proposals foster social equity and neighborhood cohesion. A project only succeeds if the community has buy-in and feels their quality of life is improved.
3. Environmental Balance: Utilizing "Impact Chaining" - To balance environmental issues, we must look at downstream consequences. I would advocate for evaluating proposals using a concept called "impact chaining"-a framework originally borrowed from climate research that traces how one change influences a series of downstream effects. For the Commission, this means thoroughly reviewing environmental impact reports to understand how a single zoning change might incrementally affect local traffic emissions, water runoff, or green space over the next 20 years.
Madhu Kashyap
What do you see as the greatest
land use challenges facing the
City? How do you propose
addressing them?
I believe the greatest land use challenge facing Sunnyvale is managing sustainable growth in a fully built-out
environment-specifically, balancing the intense pressure for redevelopment with the capacity of our infrastructure and the character of our neighborhoods. As a Business Technologist, I view this as a complex systems-engineering challenge. To address it, I would propose a three-pillar approach based on data, design, and consensus-building:
1. Data-Driven Infrastructure Alignment (Measuring the True TCO) - The immediate challenge with high-density redevelopment is whether our existing transit, water, and school infrastructure can support it. To address this, I would advocate for moving beyond traditional forecasting and applying advanced predictive analytics.
2. Human-Centered Design for Community Buy-in The second greatest challenge is community friction; changes in land use often make residents feel unheard. I would address this by applying 'human-centered design'-a principle I have used for 20 years to build successful products. In the enterprise world, long-term success depends heavily on 'squishy ROI'-metrics like sentiment, trust, and user perception. For the city, this means we must proactively measure community sentiment. Drawing on my background in Natural Language Processing (NLP), I would advocate for using modern tools to objectively synthesize broad community feedback from surveys and town halls, ensuring our land-use policies reflect the needs of the whole community.
3. Ecosystem Consensus Building - Finally, addressing land use requires managing competing interests between developers, residents, and environmental advocates. Throughout my career at companies like HPE and Netsia, I led cross-industry collaborations and represented my organizations in highly complex open-source communities like ONAP and O-RAN. My role was to build
consensus among highly diverse stakeholders and even direct competitors. I propose bringing this exact ecosystem-building approach to the Commission.
Description Area View the Housing Element
Have you read the Housing
Element?
Yes
Madhu Kashyap
What are your thoughts on the
Housing Element? How should it
be implemented?
The Housing Element is structured around several key goals designed to meet the diverse needs of the community:
- Adequate Housing: Assisting in providing housing for all income levels and encouraging diversity in housing types, such as single-family homes, townhomes, and transit-oriented
developments.
- Affordability and Maintenance: Maintaining and enhancing the condition and affordability of existing housing, including the preservation of mobile home parks.
- Minimizing Constraints: Reducing governmental impacts on housing development, such as monitoring regulations and fees that may affect housing costs.
- Adequate Sites: Identifying and providing appropriate land use and zoning to accommodate new housing development,
particularly near transit and employment centers.
- Equal Opportunity: Promoting fair housing and addressing the special needs of seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused.
- Sustainability: Fostering sustainable neighborhoods with quality infrastructure and green building design.
Implementation involves a collaborative approach between the City and private developers to meet a target of 11,966 new homes by 2031, of which 6,709 must be below market rate (BMR).
The document highlights significant hurdles that the City must navigate to achieve its goals:
- Financial Feasibility: Current market conditions, including high interest rates and construction costs, make it difficult for many projects-particularly condos and rental apartments-to remain financially viable under current inclusionary requirements. - Governmental Constraints: State agencies and housing
advocates have identified exorbitant impact fees, such as park-in-lieu fees, as a major barrier to housing production in Sunnyvale.
- Land Availability: Because there is no vacant land remaining in Sunnyvale, every site identified for the current housing cycle is "non-vacant," requiring substantial evidence to prove
redevelopment is viable.
This goes back to how to identify which land should be
redeveloped based on a number of factors outlined earlier.
Madhu Kashyap
Sustainability Commission
Category One: I’m a Sunnyvale
resident.
Yes
Category Two: I’m a Sunnyvale
business community member.
No
Sustainability is a new and
emerging concern in many
communities. What do you think
are the primary sustainability
policy issues this commission will
be addressing over the next few
years?
I believe the Sustainability Commission will be addressing sustainability through three primary policy lenses over the next few years: Building Decarbonization, Transit-Oriented Urban Form, and Data-Driven Resource Management.
1. Building Decarbonization and 'Reach Codes' Sunnyvale has established ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 56% by 2030. A primary issue for this Commission will be implementing the City's Reach Codes, which require all-electric new construction, and the Climate Action Playbook's targets for retrofitting existing building. As a member, I would evaluate how we can balance these mandates with development feasibility, ensuring that our green building incentives-such as the 5% density bonus for GreenPoint ratings-effectively drive the adoption of heat pumps and EV infrastructure without creating insurmountable hurdles for new housing.
2. Transit-Oriented Development and the '15-Minute City' Sustainability is inextricably linked to our land-use patterns. A key issue will be implementing the Moffett Park Specific Plan, which envisions an 'ecological innovation district' based on a '15-Minute City' design. This requires policy decisions that prioritize mixed-use developments to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and create walkable, bikeable neighborhoods. I would advocate for using 'impact chaining' to understand how single zoning changes incrementally affect local traffic emissions and green space over the next 20 years.
3. Data-Driven Resource Management (The TCO Approach) - Finally, sustainability requires that our growth is supported by resilient infrastructure. With no vacant land remaining, every new project adds load to existing water and sewer systems. I propose applying a 'Total Cost of Ownership' (TCO) framework to sustainability policies. Using my background in predictive analytics, I would help the Commission look beyond simple metrics to evaluate the long-term ROI of infrastructure investments, ensuring that sustainable growth actually pays for itself over its entire lifecycle
Description Area View the Climate Action Playbook
Madhu Kashyap
Have you read the above version
of the Climate Action Playbook?
Yes
Madhu Kashyap
What are your thoughts on the
Playbook? How might the actions
("Plays") be improved?
The Climate Action Playbook Update and Game Plan 2028 is a comprehensive, data-driven framework that positions Sunnyvale as a leader in municipal climate policy. By setting a local target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 56% by
2030-exceeding the state's 40% mandate-and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045, the Playbook establishes an ambitious roadmap for transforming the city's infrastructure and behavior.
Strengths of the Playbook
- Adaptive 5-Year Cycles: The Playbook is designed to be dynamic, with "Game Plans" revised every five years to account for evolving technologies, regulatory changes, and community needs. - Sector-Specific Targeting: It correctly identifies that transportation and natural gas use in buildings account for over 75% of Sunnyvale's emissions, focusing the most aggressive "Plays" on these high-impact areas.
- Transparency through Data: The use of the Climate Action Scoreboard and annual GHG inventories ensures community accountability and allows for real-time tracking of progress.
Opportunities for Improving the "Plays"
1. Accelerate Decarbonization of Existing Buildings
While Sunnyvale has successfully implemented "Reach Codes" for new construction, the primary challenge is the existing building stock.
- Potential Improvement: The current Play 2.2 aims for a 44% reduction in residential natural gas use by 2030. This could be improved by faster implementation of "replace-on-burnout" ordinances, which require all-electric replacements when a gas appliance fails, rather than waiting for voluntary retrofits.
2. Enhance Transportation Mode Shift (VMT Reduction)
Sunnyvale remains largely car-dependent, and current goals for reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) are ambitious but difficult to achieve.
- Potential Improvement: Improvements could focus on more robust "first- and last-mile" (FLM) strategies. The City could advocate for more frequent regional transit and implement a permanent "dockless e-bikeshare" system to help residents travel to transit hubs without a car.
3. Quantifying and Maximizing Carbon Sequestration
Currently, Play 4.3 (Enhance natural carbon sequestration) is listed as a "supportive" rather than a "quantitative" Play because its direct impact is difficult to measure.
- Potential Improvement: The City could improve this by developing more precise tracking metrics for the urban forest. By Madhu Kashyap
quantifying the exact carbon-carrying capacity of new tree canopies, this could move from a supportive action to a quantitative one that contributes directly to the 2045 carbon neutrality goal.
4. Leveraging Large Commercial "Direct Access" Customers Large corporations in Sunnyvale often procure electricity independently (Direct Access) rather than through Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE).
- Potential Improvement: Improving Play 1.1 would involve more aggressive collaboration with these large entities to shift them to 100% renewable electricity. The City could consider "differential Utility Use Taxes" that provide financial incentives for companies that choose carbon-free power over natural gas.
5. Streamlining the Regulatory "Friction"
A recurring theme in community feedback is the complexity of the permitting process.
Potential Improvement: The City has already identified
"streamlining the permitting process" as a Move for water conservation. This could be expanded into a "Universal Green Permit"-a single, expedited track for any project that combines solar, battery storage, and electrification upgrades to reduce soft costs for residents.
Madhu Kashyap
Fair Political Practices Commission Statement of Economic Interests Description Area If you are appointed to the Arts Commission, Heritage Preservation Commission, Housing and Human Services
Commission or the Planning Commission, you must electronically file the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700), which will be a public
record.Statement of Economic Interests - Form 700Understanding of Filing RequirementI understand and agree that if I’m appointed to the Arts Commission, Heritage Preservation Commission, Housing and Human Services Commission or Planning
Commission I must electronically file the Fair Political Practices Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700). This form reports my economic interests and those of my spouse or domestic partner, if applicable. I understand this will be a public record.
Radio Button Yes
Voter Registration Requirement
Description Area If you are a applying for the Board of Library Trustee, Heritage Preservation Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, Personnel Board or the Planning Commission, you must be a registered voter in Sunnyvale.
Are you currently a registered
voter in Sunnyvale?
Yes
When was the last time you
voted? Month/Year
Presidential Elections, Nov 2024
Your Agreement
Madhu Kashyap
Description Area IMPORTANT NOTICE – READ BEFORE SIGNING:By selecting both “Yes” and “Submit Form” below I am adding my digital signature to this application. I am also agreeing with the following statements:All statements I have made on this application are true and correct.I authorize the City of Sunnyvale (City) to investigate the accuracy of this information.I release the City from all claims and liabilities arising from such investigation.I acknowledge that any false statement on this application will be grounds for the City to deny my appointment. A false statement discovered later, will be grounds to dismiss me from my appointment at any time.I acknowledge that any false statement on this application could lead to criminal charges. Charges could fall under California Penal Code, Section 115 or other applicable law.
I agree Yes
Your full name Madhusudan Kashyap
Date Apr 13, 2026
Madhu Kashyap