At Wayfair, the customer journey begins with account authentication, and that’s where Jheel Soni comes in. As a Software Engineer focused on frontend development, Jheel works on the systems that power login and account access, building experiences that customers interact with every day while ensuring they remain reliable and secure.
In this role, Jheel partners closely with teams across product, design, analytics and backend engineering to improve how customers access their accounts. From supporting authentication replatforming to enabling experimentation through feature toggles, she helps build a smooth, scalable login experience.
Read on to learn more about Jheel’s work and the impact of building systems that millions of customers rely on, often without ever noticing.
What project or accomplishment are you most proud of during your time at Wayfair?
One of the accomplishments I’m most proud of is being part of the authentication replatforming initiative. Replatforming isn’t flashy, users don’t wake up excited about a migrated login system, but it’s foundational.
We modernized legacy flows, improved scalability and built the flexibility to support experimentation through feature toggles. Since authentication is the very first touchpoint for customers, even the smallest change can have large-scale impact. Rebuilding it while maintaining stability, performance and security required careful planning, cross-team collaboration and phased rollouts.
What makes me proud is knowing that we didn’t just “move code,” we improved the architecture, enabled future experimentation and set the foundation for more agile iterations moving forward. It’s the kind of work that’s invisible when done right, and that’s exactly the goal.
What’s something about your team’s work that you wished more people knew about?
I wish people knew how much strategy and care goes into something that looks “simple.” A login screen may seem straightforward, but behind it is a complex system: security considerations, experimentation logic, fallback handling, edge-case management, rollout planning and much more.
If authentication works perfectly, no one notices, and that’s the win.
We’re essentially building invisible guardrails that keep the customer journey smooth from the very first click.
What do you enjoy most about working at Wayfair?
I love the ownership and collaboration available at Wayfair.
Because authentication touches multiple systems, I get to work closely with product, analytics, backend and design teams. It gives me visibility into both the technical and business impacts.
I also enjoy contributing beyond my immediate role like mentoring interns, organizing frontend initiatives for Wayfair India and presenting at internal sessions. There’s a strong culture of growth and initiative here, which I really value.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I didn’t know I’d grow up to build authentication systems, in fact, younger me probably wouldn’t even know what that meant, but I always loved figuring things out.
I was the kind of person who enjoyed solving puzzles, understanding how things worked and creating something from scratch. Looking back, engineering feels like a natural evolution of that curiosity, just on a much bigger scale.
Today, I get to build experiences that millions of people interact with, and that still feels a little magical.
Where do you call home and what does “home” mean to you?
Home is where my family is, but beyond that, it’s the feeling of being understood without having to explain yourself.
For me, home means comfort, grounding and the people who remind me who I am beyond work and deadlines. It’s the space (and the people) that keep me grounded no matter how chaotic things get. It’s the place where I can fully recharge and just be myself.
Home is my reset button.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
I’d love to explore Europe. The idea of walking through centuries of history one day and visiting cutting-edge technology hubs the next day really excites me.
From the architecture and art to the food and culture, Europe feels like a blend of creativity, structure and storytelling — and I love places that carry layers of history while still evolving. Plus, the thought of hopping between countries by train sounds like an adventure in itself.