Steve Jobs' former intern shares his experience of working near the tech magnate: "I was situated 20 yards away from him daily."

Steve Jobs was Chet Kapoor's dream job as a teen.

Jobs founded NeXT, and one day, Kapoor became an intern there.

Kapoor, CEO of DataStax, told CNBC Make It that he was an iconic individual whom he didn't know, and he was the guy who got coffee for the guy who made coffee.

"I was one step below the person who opened doors, but that didn't matter because I worked 20 yards away from him every day."

As CEO of cloud software company Apigee, Kapoor made his mark in Silicon Valley and was later acquired by Google in a $625 million deal in 2016. He has since held leadership positions at firms including Google and IBM.

He attributes much of his achievements to his time as Jobs' intern in the early years.

Kapoor revealed that he would prioritize addressing the questions Jobs would pose during all-hand meetings above all else, as it offered a glimpse into his mindset.

"My first two or three years at NeXT were absolutely phenomenal," he said. "That exposure played a large role in my success."

'This is who I want to go and work for'

Kapoor, 57, was born in Kolkata, India, and remembered his mother taking him to the British Council library so he could read books while she went shopping.

"In 1983, I read a book titled "A Little Kingdom" written by Michael Moritz. The book focused on two Steves, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and their time at Apple. As I was 15 or 16 at the time, I was easily influenced by the content."

"I knew I wanted to work with Steve Jobs and it was clear to me that I wanted to come and hang out with him," he said.

In 1986, Kapoor landed at Arizona State University after taking computer classes and applying to colleges in the United States.

In 1985, Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, providing an opportunity for Kapoor to pursue his dream.

In 1988, Kapoor was hired as a part-time Campus Consultant by NeXT, a program that employed students from colleges to work for them.

A select group of students, including Kapoor, were invited by the company to join as interns after graduation and were assigned to different jobs on rotation.

Five years after I imagined working for Steve, I began working for NeXT, according to Kapoor.

Jobs cultivated a 'strong engineering culture'

According to Kapoor, NeXT fostered a highly "product and design-focused" atmosphere.

Kapoor stated, "The user experience is the starting point. The user's interaction with the product is crucial. This focus on the user experience was exceptional and made all the difference in the world."

Apple's culture is similar to Jobs' statement in a 1985 Newsweek interview where he said he enjoyed "making things."

"Jobs stated that his philosophy is that everything begins with a great product, and he excels at assembling a team of skilled individuals to create it."

Behind the scenes of the new iPhone interface is a lot of "hardcore engineering," Kapoor explained.

"A strong engineering culture is essential for everything to begin," he emphasized. "He adhered to a strict schedule, leaving no room for procrastination. He was highly motivated in this aspect."