The Tech Trek

In this episode, Rob Phillips talks about making an impact through data transformation at a large public company. Key takeaways: Becoming a more data-driven company Using data to predict what’s going to happen What does that mean to the company? How far down the maturity path do you look to build your roadmap Benefits of moving quickly to prove your MVP Focus on testing out new capabilities Give the team a problem to solve and allow them to figure out how How do you compete and attract the type of talent you need Innovation garage and teams share About today’s guest: see below ⬇️ Rob Phillips was the Director of Technology at CarMax. He was responsible for creating their Master Data Management, Data Science, and Machine Learning technologies, enabling CarMax to continue to be the leader in both in-person and digital car buying experiences.  Before CarMax, he was responsible for all applications and data at a healthcare company in Atlanta.  Rob is currently the Vice President of Software Engineering at UDig in Richmond, Virginia.  When not at work, Rob would prefer to spend his time with his family sailing the Chesapeake Bay.  He holds a B.S. in IT Management from the University of Richmond and studied Computer Science at Virginia Tech. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rophilli/ ___ 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, Shweta Saraf, Head Of Engineering, Edge Infrastructure Services Engineering at Equinix, talks about how she handles hiring for a niche skill set and things you can do to help find the right talent. Key takeaways: Focus on optimizing the talent pipeline Removing the requirements friction Have existing staff find opportunities to grow skill sets Training from within What happens when you can't check the boxes Everything is now engineering About today’s guest: see below ⬇️ Shweta Saraf is the Head of Engineering for Edge Infrastructure Services at Equinix. She leads the teams responsible for two of the highest-growing digital products - Equinix Metal and Network Edge. Shweta was recognized on Silicon Valley Business Journal's 40 under 40 list for 2022. She actively mentors tech leaders to give back to the community. She has previously held leadership positions at Packet, DigitalOcean, and Cisco. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwetasaraf/ Twitter: @shwetahari ___ 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, Mark Isham, VP of Engineering at FullStory, talks about how he handles planning across the engineering organization. Key takeaways: Identifying the top 2-3 priorities Tips for effective planning. Building a product security team. Dealing with different personalities/styles Flexibility is important in teams. Running effective one-on-ones About today’s guest:  Mark Isham has led engineering teams for over 25 years, focusing primarily on hyper-growth Enterprise startups in e-commerce, web performance, and digital analytics. Mark is VP of Engineering at FullStory, where he leads up the Channels Engineering group responsible for its developer API and massive data ingestion platform. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mtisham/ ___ 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, Dan Kador, VP of Engineering at Clockwise, walks us through how and where engineering teams spend (and "waste") their time! Meetings and coordination “tax” “Focus time” What activities do companies spend the most time on? Learn to implement no-meeting days Ways to run a team effectively Productive one-on-one meeting structure Pros & cons of asynchronous stand-up meetings Different kinds of one-on-one meetings About today’s guest:  Dan Kador currently runs the engineering teams at Clockwise. Clockwise optimizes your team’s calendars to create more time in everyone’s day. Before that, Dan helped run engineering @ Handshake to change college recruiting and get more economic opportunities for all students. Earlier in his career, he helped run the teams @ Lyft that worked to make things even more real-time for its passengers and drivers and founded and served as CTO at Keen IO. Link to report: https://www.getclockwise.com/eng-meeting-benchmarks ___ 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, Zeeshan Khadim, Head of Security at Panther Labs, discusses how to improve security adoption by building security into an engineer's workflow. Key Takeaways: Security and privacy are part of the core product, not an overhead Security implications from the design phase Empower users to start with security in mind Make sure you triage before involving other teams Understand what the “Crown Jewels” are to put things in perspective Treat the root cause and not the symptom Instead of alerting in production, leverage the tools to warn for issues sooner When it comes to tooling, ask what capabilities the team is missing Moving away from plug and play Managing your resources Pushing work left is too easy…don’t About today’s guest:  Zeeshan Khadim is the Head of Security at Panther Labs. With over 13 years of professional experience, Zeeshan has worked with global companies, including his last roles as the Security Engineering Manager at Facebook HQ and Senior Security Engineer at Google HQ. Zeeshan did his Bachelor's in Computer Systems from GIKI, Pakistan, and Masters in Computers & Information Sciences from the University of Delaware. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeeshanalikhadim/ ___ 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, Selim Onal, the Director of Engineering at Ladder Life, talks about managing in a fast-growing environment. Challenges involved in managing rapid growth. Being intentional in the people systems you implement. The power of “putting people first” Balancing a people-first culture with delivery. People systems should support career growth Benefits of hiring non-traditional people How do internships prepare you for your career? About today’s guest: see below ⬇️ Selim Onal was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated from Sabancı University with a major in Computer Science and Engineering in 2008. He then moved to the US to do a Ph.D. in Computational Biology at Brown University, but left his Ph.D. and joined Oracle in June 2010. After working at Oracle for one year, he worked at Google Search from June 2011 to January 2016 and at Palantir from January 2016 to June 2017. He joined Quip, Salesforce in July 2017 and worked at Quip until May 2022. He joined Ladder Life Insurance as a director of engineering in May 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/selimonal/ https://www.facebook.com/selimonal ___ 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, Claude Jones, an engineering leader, talks about how to build a high-performing team. At the time of this recording, Claude was the SVP of Engineering at Strava. Key takeaways: How to ramp up as a new leader? Tips for planning smooth transitions. Learn how to scale engineering teams. Steps to build a high-performance culture What is envisioned as engineering excellence? Strategy to measure the progress of your team Ways to evaluate team performance. 3 tips to becoming a great team leader. What should be the end goal of a leader? About today’s guest: Claude Jones is a seasoned technical leader with over 20 years of experience. He has a passion for creating opportunities to help others succeed. And for over a decade, his life’s mission has been to encourage, inspire, and motivate others through his words and actions. In his spare time, Claude runs the Elevate Foundation (http://elevate.foundation), an organization he started focused on giving back to the community by helping others in need. The Practical Leadership Guy (http://thepracticalleadershipguy.com) offers services for motivational speaking, life coaching, and his leadership thoughts on common sense leadership techniques through his blog, encouraging others to be the best they can be. He is also the CEO of San Diego Tech Hub (http://sandiegotechhub.com), an organization focused on connecting businesses, organizations, and individuals, leveraging their resources, passions, and talents to build a stronger San Diego tech community through collaboration. Recently, Claude created a series of children’s picture books to foster the development of leadership skills in children ages 5-8, helping them cultivate a mindset of equity and inclusion.  More information on the series can be found at https://astrothemonster.com  Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudejones/ practicalleadershipguy.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)

In this episode, Mike Bennett, Head of Data Governance at Bayer Crop Science, discusses starting and growing a data governance strategy. Key takeaways: Access and control Touches on security and compliance Compliance is just one aspect of governance Treat data as a physical product Start with a minimal process, then evolve and mature it Embracing data privacy as it’s not going away Build an adaptive model About today’s guest:  Mike Bennett Head of Data Governance, Bayer Crop Science An accomplished leader with extensive experience across multiple technical disciplines, biotechnology, and digital agriculture. Proven ability to define vision and strategy through implementation, spanning various business models from Silicon Valley start-ups to Global-500, multidivisional corporations. Bayer Science and Technology Fellow recognized for contributions to digital agriculture and early gene sequencing technologies. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsbennett ___ 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, Omar Turner, Managing Director of Cloud Security at Microsoft, discusses data privacy and protection. Key takeaways: Data protection and privacy Evaluating smaller vs. big companies Stakeholder buy-in Data protection/privacy divergence from security Classifying data Privacy defines who has access Being aware of the data you have Understanding data sovereignty About today’s guest: Omar A. Turner is a Managing Director of Cloud Security for Microsoft. He brings over 25 years of experience supporting, deploying, architecting, and securing solutions for startups and globally recognized organizations. He holds numerous certifications, including the CISSP, CCSP, CRISC, CISA, CDPSE, and CISM, and holds B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. Omar is passionate about cybersecurity enablement and training and career mentoring for those looking to start their journey in the fantastic and important field of cloud security. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarturner/ ___ 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 podcast, Eddie Flaisler, Head of Products Engineering at Lob, talks about managerial strategies for frontline managers. What frontline managers do Making sure the team is delivering high business value Conveying the problem statement, not the strategy Balancing constraints and business priorities Delegation Strategies for Leaders and Managers Importance of asking the right questions A key to delegation is people that can resolve dependencies and break down tasks About today’s guest: Eddie Flaisler heads Products Engineering at Lob - A YC-backed API company. Lob revolutionizes direct mail by introducing intelligence and sustainability to one of the traditional industries. Eddie has had a longstanding diverse career in engineering. He served as Box's head of Enterprise Engineering, was a leader in Security and Compliance Engineering at Uber, spearheaded the development of Video Network Management and Transcoding products at Harmonic, and even dabbled in money transfers to federal prison facilities. Eddie led teams in Israel, the US, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, and Ukraine. He is an avid cook and a new paw-rent to a 4-month-old pug. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-flaisler-660a9039/ ___ 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)