In partnership with
Lekhi Choden, Founder and CEO of Dragon Coders, a software and digital solutions company based in Bhutan. She graduated from VIT in India with an electrical and electronics engineering degree, launched 3G networks for Bhutan's most prestigious telecom company, earned a Japanese government scholarship for her master's, worked in Japan for three years and then made a decision that most people in her position wouldn't. She went home.
Not for safety. Because she saw a gap no one was filling.
‘‘The software was being imported from outside Bhutan."
When Lekhi returned to Bhutan in 2017, she noticed something that bothered her deeply. Businesses and government agencies were adopting technology but the development work was almost entirely outsourced to offshore vendors. Local talent was being overlooked. Local capability was being underestimated.
"I wanted to develop a team, a local team, and provide professional software tech solutions to all these businesses. I wanted to really bridge that gap."
So in 2019, she founded Dragon Coders. There was a quiet, deeply rooted belief in Bhutan at the time: that local developers couldn't do the work. That homegrown talent wasn't good enough.
I asked Lekhi directly what was harder? Building the business or building trust?
"Building the trust factor was even more challenging. There was this notion that our local team cannot do such work, cannot deliver software development, cannot do coding. It was so difficult to gain a project. Clients would rather keep aside millions of budget for a small project that we could have already delivered at competitive prices."
When Every Bank Said No
Here's the part of Lekhi's story that stood out the most to me.
When she went looking for funding to start Dragon Coders, she walked into the banks. she walked out empty-handed not because she wasn't capable, but because the system wasn't built for her.
"The banks didn't have metrics or provisions to give out loans to such a business model. They wanted to see tangible assets or mortgage as collateral. Whereas as a tech company, we don't have that. Ours is all intangible code, IP. They didn't have those SOPs to support tech companies like us."
No VCs. No angel investors.
So she invested her own savings. And then she did something unexpected she went to the King's office. His Majesty the King of Bhutan has championed Bhutan's tech future publicly. His office happened to be looking for a woman in tech. Lekhi walked in. She was welcomed. She received seed funding.
"When every door was closed for me, His Majesty's office came to rescue. I feel so lucky and privileged."
I asked Lekhi the question I always want to ask women leaders and rarely do, what is the weight you carry that nobody acknowledges?
She walked me through a morning.
Ctrl.Alt.Thrive.Podcast
What Bhutan Brings to the AI Table
I asked Lekhi what perspective Bhutan could offer at a global AI conversation surrounded by the biggest names in Indian tech, policy, and innovation at Bharat Mandapam.
Her answer was the most grounding thing I heard all summit.
"What we can propose from Bhutan is the development of AI solutions with mindfulness with the concept of Gross National Happiness. Whatever happens, we must develop AI for common well-being, to benefit others."
In a room full of scale, speed, and disruption someone from a small Himalayan kingdom reminded us that the point was never the technology.
The point is the people it serves.
What I Took Away From This Conversation
Lekhi's story isn't just inspiring because she succeeded. It's inspiring because of how she succeeded without the infrastructure, without the safety nets, without anyone having a playbook for what she was building.
Every bank in Bhutan rejected Lekhi. No SOP existed for a tech startup. She funded herself, knocked on every door, and eventually the King's office opened one nobody expected.
Clients doubted local Bhutanese developers could deliver. Dragon Coders didn't argue. They showed up, delivered, and repeated.
Before Lekhi runs a company, she runs a household. 5:36 AM. Cooking, prayers, school runs, family group chats. What the world sees on stage is only half the story.
When hiring, Lekhi sees women who are skilled but hesitant. Society routes them toward safety. Parents, relatives, culture they all whisper: don't take the risk.
Bhutan's gift to the global AI conversation is Gross National Happiness. Lekhi's message from the world stage: growth only means something if it serves everyone, not just the privileged few.
If this conversation moved you, pass it on. Subscribe to Ctrl. Alt.Thrive podcast and help us bring more women's stories like Lekhi's to the world.
Lekhi Choden the Founder and CEO of Dragon Coders, Bhutan.
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