The Tech Trek

Host Amir Bormand speaks with Leadership Coach Taha Hussain in Episode 226 of The Tech Trek. Taha started his career as a software engineer who made his way into management. Now, he helps teams and individuals improve their leadership skills. Highlights: 2:05 - How can you motivate someone to try something they’re initially uncomfortable with?  5:34 - Can a blameless culture help or hinder growth? 9:11 - Making time to learn new skills. 14:04 - How can leaders overcome their own fears? 22:36 -  Best practices for motivating people via 1 on 1’s. Guest: Taha Hussain is an accomplished executive leader with 20+ years of experience leading teams and delivering billions in value. He's a visionary leader with a philosophy on leadership and teamwork that's popular in the personal development community. Taha has held key leadership positions at companies such as Microsoft, Walmart, Yahoo, and startups. He holds a master's in software management from Carnegie Mellon University. As an executive coach, Taha helps individuals grow their leadership skills and transform their careers. His ultimate goal is to empower everyone to become the best version of themselves and make the world a better place. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Host Amir Bormand speaks with Indy Khare, the Head of Engineering at Convex. Indy previously worked with Google to reach 1 billion users for Google Photos. Transitioning back to a startup has a host of challenges and opportunities that Indy is happy to discuss. Highlights: 2:25 - Indy shares how he landed his position with Google. 8:26 - How to know if you should leave a large company for a startup. 11:04 - Learning which organization is right for you. 14:39 - Readjusting to a work environment with fewer resources. 17:03 - Why do talented people leave large companies in the first place? Guest: Indy is the Head of Engineering at Convex, a modern application platform with a database and backend. Before Convex, Indy helped build and grow Google Photos from 0 to 1 billion users. Indy is passionate about building great human experiences and how products fit into people’s lives. Contact Indy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indrajitkhare/ https://twitter.com/ikhare ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Host Amir Bormand sits down with Paul Kocan in this episode of The Tech Trek. Paul is the Senior Director of Infrastructure Services at CCC Intelligent Solutions. Today, he shares his experience with promoting a culture of accountability on a company-wide scale. Highlights 04:29 - Paul explains how “the power of focus” can strengthen infrastructure. 10:34 - Transparency makes all the difference regarding accountability. 18:00 - Here’s how leaders can support their teams when tackling new challenges. 20:43 - Can leaders increase their tolerance for mistakes and failures? 25:32 - How to effectively keep track of what works and doesn’t work for your team. Guest: Paul Kocan When they’re not at CCC, Paul is a devoted family man and loves spending time learning and discussing history, philosophy, and political theory. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-kocan-68b995/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Is it possible for a team to think and act quickly without sacrificing quality? This episode of The Tech Trek delves into this ever-divisive topic. Host Amir Bormand asks Ross Desmond, Head of Software at Butlr, to share his insights and experience on building fast and functional teams. Highlights: 03:57 - Here’s how to start building fast teams the right way. 06:55 - Ross recommends asking yourself this question before broadening your scope. 12:54 - How can you keep your teams focused as they separate and expand? 17:59 - Building confidence and trust with your team. 20:03 - Ross shares his insights for dealing with the errors and mistakes that your team might make. Guest: Ross Desmond is currently Head of Software for Butlr, previously a manager, robotics engineer, and software engineer at Amazon. His professional passion is developing people while delivering difficult projects. He finds we grow the most when working on hard problems together, and enjoy the challenges of management in these scenarios. In his spare time, he paraglides, snowboards/skis, and generally enjoys the outdoors. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossdesmond/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ross.desmond ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In today’s episode of The Tech Trek, host Amir Bormand talks with Atul Tulshibagwale, the Chief Technology Officer at SGNL. Amir and Atul discuss Open Standards and the various factors that contribute to the creation of new standards. Highlights 03:39 - Atul explains what Open Standards are. 06:56 - How to determine if a phenomenon could be an Open Standard 11:35 - How can you encourage more people to support your ideas? 15:49 - What are some of the best ways to join in on a project, even if you have little experience? 20:17 - Atul shares his best practices for finding the right Standards body to contribute to. Guest: Atul Tulshibagwale is a federated identity pioneer and the inventor of CAEP. He provides technical leadership at SGNL. He conceptualized the Continuous Access Evaluation Protocol (CAEP), which forms the basis of the Shared Signals and Events working group in the OpenID Foundation. Prior to joining SGNL, he was a technical leader at Google where he focussed on access security. He was a co-founder and the CEO of Trustgenix (acquired by Hewlett Packard), where he defined the federation server, a concept that was later adopted by almost all identity vendors. He helped define open standards such as the Liberty Alliance and SAML 2.0. He continued with HP as the Director of the Federation. Prior to joining Google, Atul was at MobileIron as an Identity Architect. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tulshi/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Host Amir Bormand interviews Dr. Lauran Star on this episode of The Tech Trek. Dr. Star is a Workplace Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Psychologist. She and Amir explore virtual diversity and inclusion. Highlights: 03:08 - Dr. Star explains why your organization needs both diversity and inclusion. 08:50 - Here’s how D&I can improve your workspace both culturally and productively. 17:59 -  What are some of the limits of inclusion in the workplace? 24:09 - How can you practice D&I at every level of your organization? 28:09 - Is it possible to stay connected with your employees as your company grows? Guest: Dr. Lauran Star’s known for transforming leadership and organizational culture, by pushing the edge of the status quo to achieve greater employee engagement, culture, inclusion, and diversity. Being the first Inclusion & Diversity Psychologist in the United States, Dr. Star’s focus is Evidence-Based Inclusion, Diversity & Equality (ID&E). As a Senior HR leader with 20+ years of success driving high-performing organizational cultures and employees, Dr. Star is raising the ID&E bar while driving measurable change within organizations through data-driven strategies. Known for uncovering blind spots to achieve optimal performance and enhanced retention, she dives in where others tread lightly yet is insightful, warm, and approachable. Her own affinities go beyond being a woman, as she is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces, serving in Desert Storm, has a learning disability and was raised in a multicultural family. Prior to her corporate life, she performed on and off Broadway. Dr. Star holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology specializing in Inclusion, Diversity & Equity. A bestselling author and well-known media expert, her thought leadership touches many.  She is an extinguished researcher and practitioner in the field of inclusion, diversity & equality.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauranstar/ Website: https://www.drlauranstar.com/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Ben Rothke, Senior Information Security Manager at Tapad, is the featured guest on this episode of The Tech Trek. Host Amir Bormand asks Ben to share his insights about Cyber Security and employee burnout. Highlights: 2:09 - Ben gives us an overview of burnout in the Cyber Security industry. 6:43 - Which signs should managers look for that indicate burnout? 10:32 - How can people get into the Cyber Security industry? 16:55 - The relationship between security and information technology. 19:18 -  Ben offers his perspective on the near future of Cyber Security. About: Ben Rothke, CISSP, CISA is a Senior Information Security Specialist at Tapad and has over 20 years of industry experience in information systems security and privacy. His areas of expertise are in risk management and mitigation, security, and privacy regulatory issues, design & implementation of systems security, encryption, cryptography, and security policy development. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrothke/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

In this episode of The Tech Trek, host Amir Bormand speaks with Asish Soudhamma. Asish is the Vice President of Platform Engineering at PIMCO. He and Amir delve into the topics of Cloud Security and Developer Experience. Show Notes 05:08 - Asish shares his outlook on developer experience. 07:53 - Here’s how leaders can effectively improve the developer experience. 10:50 - Can products clash with customer experience? 15:00 - Asish discusses how he effectively gathers customer feedback. 18:53 - How can you serve every developer in your team equally? Guest: Asish Soudhamma is an engineering leader passionate about building teams that develop secure cloud infrastructure and applications while optimizing the developer experience. He has a minimalist mindset. As Vice President of PIMCO's Platform Engineering group, Asish oversees Cloud Platform and Developer Experience and simplifies application security. Before this, he held engineering roles at several Fortune 100 financial companies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asishrs/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Host Amir Bormand speaks with Jack Kora in this episode of The Tech Trek. Jack is the Vice President of Engineering at dscout. He and Amir talk about the various ways organizations can drastically improve their software development process. Highlights 3:00 - Jack recounts his early experience with dscout. 6:41 - How do you decide on a process when two or more different teams are working together? 9:14 - Look out for factors when deciding when it’s time to change a process. 13:45 - Best practices for implementing process changes. 16:50 - Do process changes always come with velocity hits? And are they worth it? 22:30 - Jack shares some of the big lessons he’s learned throughout his career. Guest: Jack Kora is currently the VP of Engineering at dscout. He is a business-focused technology executive with a focus on building high-performance teams and delivering customer-focused products and experiences. Jack is also an engineer with a passion for learning organizations, lean/agile/DevOps, and scalable distributed systems. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackkora/ ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

This episode of The Tech Trek explores the field of Information Security. Host Amir Bormand sits down with Rohit Parchuri, the Chief Information Security Officer of Yext, to discuss Rohit’s background, experiences, and insights concerning the world of Cyber Security. Highlights 02:09 - Amir and Rohit briefly discuss the history of the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) role. 06:23 - Rohit explains his strategies for building out Security Information teams. 10:14 - How do Security Architects fit into the Cloud Security pipeline? 14:12 - Rohit shares his insights on dealing with human issues versus technical issues. 21:52 - How to meet the needs of your team by anticipating potential challenges that may arise later. Guest:  Rohit Parchuri is an accomplished Information Security executive with an established record building, structuring, and institutionalizing Cyber Security principles and disciplines in a variety of organizational domains. He is currently leading the Cybersecurity program at Yext, a bleeding-edge AI Search platform. In this role, Rohit is responsible for building and executing Cyber Security and Compliance program. In addition to his day job at Yext, Rohit serves as a Board Advisor for a multitude of technology companies and educational institutions. As a part of these roles, he assumes the responsibility of advising on Cybersecurity matters, market penetration, and product strategy while educating and assisting in curriculum building for the Cybersecurity executive degree program/s at CSU, California. Rohit graduated from Depaul University at Chicago with a Master's degree in Computer and Network Security Assurance, specializing in Application Security. He has also achieved a Master in Business Administration degree. Originally from India, Rohit is an avid hiker and tries his hand at tennis every chance he gets. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-parchuri/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitparchuri ___ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)