The Tech Trek

Jesus Martinez, Senior Engineering Manager of  Machine Learning at Planet, walks us through how the ML product was built at Planet. He also talks about balancing R&D and Delivery Teams in the ML space. Challenges in building machine learning products. R&D techniques, processes, and challenges. Skill set needed from a software engineer. New Territories. New People (the hiring process)...

On this episode of the Tech Trek, we have Ty Lunsford, Senior Manager at Instacart. Ty discusses the process of maturing analytics org. He provides a first-hand account of how they split their function into two parts ( analytics & business intelligence ) and then reorganize them based on what’s needed for delivery. Key Takeaways:  When the intake process isn’t understood by those both int...

In this episode, we talk with Dean Sapp, the Vice President of Information Security, Risk, and Compliance, from Filevine. He discusses prevention tactics for ransomware and other cyber threats that businesses need to be aware of, as well as preparation techniques to prepare themselves against these types of events if they happen at some point   Key Takeaways:  Importance of having a cybe...

Whether you are a startup, a small, or a large company, you can have different models in your organization. On today’s episode, we have our special guest, Oliver Bandte, the VP of Data & Analytics at Wellframe, to tackle what are the different organizational models and find out when you should reevaluate your org structure.   In this episode, we cover the following: Different data org mod...

On the show, I have on with me Bren Briggs, the VP of DevSecOps at Hypergiant. Bren talks about some of the realities of moving into a role in management, what happens if you decide to move back into an IC role, and managing with empathy. In this episode, we cover: Moving into a management role Management skills should be equal to expertise. Indicator when to step down from management role. Having...

Today Yash Desai is on the show, the Head of B2B Machine Learning @ Wayfair. He’ll be diving into how he manages a team that stretches across multiple business units. In this episode, we cover: Ways to manage a team that stretches across multiple business units Organizing a team into sub-teams or pods Business leaders will often expect you to know about the business. Importance of blocking times I...

Nurturing engineering talent is an art, not science. My guest, Rajeev Nanda, the Director of Engineering Operations at Unlearn.ai. dives in to talk about career growth and exploration. He will share what he has learned in his managing career, including his tips and tricks. In this episode, we cover: The concept of nurturing talent — career growth &  talent growth. Importance of having a m...

In today’s show, we have our guest, Quentin Hartman, VP of Infrastructure and DevOps Engineering, at Velocity Global, LLC. We cover a lot of DevOps ground... In this episode, we cover: What historically has been called the DevOps team. Balancing the DevOps engineers team and the value of splitting them. DevOps team structure Differences between tooling and operations DevOps pillars  What’s ne...

Our guest is Terry O'Daniel, the Director of Security Governance, Risk, and Compliance at Instacart. Terry talks about building high-performing engineering-focused GRC functions. Key Takeaways: Unnecessary overhead on the engineering team Importance of focusing on operational hygiene and security risks. Risk as the common language between security and compliance. Dealing with risk and your enginee...

In this episode, Grant Reveal, the Director of Identity and Access Management at Micron Technology , talks about how we can demonstrate the business value of Identity and Access Management and how we get away from being viewed as the department of “NO” to “more SECURE”.  Key Takeaways: From the department of “no” to “more secure” Three components of IAM (People, Process, and Technology) Why d...

In today’s episode, Matthew Clemente talks about the product and engineering scaling challenges working in the biomedical industry. Key Takeaways: An overview of the Biomedical Industry Understanding the Biomedical regulatory overhead on the product roadmap Testing and regulatory issues. Acceleration and efficiencies in the development process. Understanding the team’s role & risk management....

What Is Data Governance and why does it matter? On the show, we have Solomon Madadha, the SVP of Data Analytics & Governance Wealth Management at Regions Bank. We talk about the increasing complexity of data, data collections, data democratization, and so much more….Tune in to the full episode. In this episode, we cover Solomon’s responsibilities at Regions Bank. What are the challenges for Da...

Today’s guest is Philip Gollucci. Philip is an Executive Engineering Leader, a servant leader focused on building high-performing teams. Listen to the full episode as we discuss Predictability vs Forecasting  analytics that empowers your decision making In this episode, you’ll discover: Difference between Forecasting and Predictability Metrics of Forecasting and Predictability Metric: Calcula...

Today’s guest, Cory Thomas, is a  VP of Engineering at Secureframe. A highly effective Leader with the ability to engage and inspire Software Development Teams to achieve the best results in the least amount of time. In this episode, Amir & Cory talks about how to help teams become more autonomous and the key metrics and guardrails that are must-haves. Click play, take good notes, and enj...

We’re very excited to welcome our special guest for today’s episode, Jordan Stone, the VP of Engineering at Paytient, a company on a mission to make paying for and accessing health care easier for everyone. Before that, Jordan led Product and Engineering teams at Panasonic, Deloitte, and Notion (a Comcast company). In this episode, we talk about documentation and how this can help your team effect...

Highlights of my conversation with Raj: Allowing teams to make decisions at the lowest possible level Empowerment is coupled with responsibility Make sure only the necessary stakeholders are in a meeting Always do the right thing for the customer and stakeholders Building out a learning culture Agile mindset shift Failing faster requires empowerment Focusing on measuring outcomes and not activitie...

Highlights of my conversation with Clarence: Moving from a lead IC role to a co-founder Leading through influence Giving up the building hat Realizing that you need to let go earlier than you think Look at processes when you see a law of diminishing returns Trial by fire when you don’t know when to ask for help Finding peer groups were a great resource to help deal with similar problems When you s...

Highlights of my conversation with Clay: What does a full stack DevOps Developer do Managing SW engineers as a non-SW engineer Engaging your employees to maintain a high degree of performance and innovation Helping people stay focused on their core competencies Managing different types of engineers/skillsets on a team Being transparent about your own weaknesses with the team Making sure that every...

Highlights of my conversation with Ana: The intersection of SRE/business Complex systems always fail Reliability is a feature of the system SLAs are a partnership with the customer Managing SLAs in proactive and reactive situations Measure everything Impact of outages and communicating to business Collaboration with Security Involving SRE at the beginning of the implementation is important Plannin...

Highlights of my conversation with Moitree: Building an analytics team to support the company's digital transformation initiatives  The skill sets of an analytics team have become diverse Investing in emerging technologies and using them Evaluating resourcing to be able to get the most out of your investment Business vs technical chops Finding hybrid skills is a challenge to growing teams Def...

Highlights of my conversation with Laku: Aligning work to the broader company goals Engineers like to work on things that actually get used CTO should focus on customer success channels Focusing on what impact we can bring to the customer Translating that to daily motivation Distilling the message into the simplest form Not using release dates as motivation Explaining technical debt to the broader...

Highlights of my conversation with Cindy: Starting as the only female engineering hire in a startup Bring up diversity hiring plans before you are hired Transparency is at the center of inclusivity Putting women on interview panels is important, but making sure it’s not just a check box Be careful not to reward the wrong traits Advice for female engineers looking to move into management Ask for th...

Highlights of my conversation with Alonzo: Drivers for leaving a large public company for a startup Moving into the blockchain information space Trying to maximize time zone overlap in a remote-first strategy Avoiding information lag for remote employees Innovating the hiring process to fit your needs Throwing out the 2-week sprint and redesigning the process Building autonomous teams and trust Me...

Highlights of my conversation with Jeff: An idea can come from a one-off problem or a long-term strategic issue to tackle Relationship between research and product management Impact on roadmaps Investment grows as you prove the value Moving from research to POC When a hypothesis doesn’t work out (building corporate memory) Finding the balance in an engineer between implementing and researching Nur...

Highlights of my conversation with Fabian: Hiring the best talent vs a specific seniority level Hiring “scrappy” technologists Allowing your senior engineers to grow Calibrate team mix based on organizational goals Find a balance as you need to shift your hiring needs (avoid whiplash) A roadmap update shouldn’t require a complete alteration of the hiring plan Revisiting interview questions quarter...