The Tech Trek

In this episode, I have on Nate Lee, the Chief Information Security Officer at Tradeshift, a B2B SaaS platform specializing in digitizing supply chain financing. He talks about how to grow and establish a security program. Key takeaways: Preparing a security plan for your business. Avoid process for the sake of process Security program priorities Tools that you can use to help - SQL injections, static code analysis, vulnerability management When do you make your first security hire What you need to look for when hiring your security personnel. How to introduce a security person into your program. Benefits and value of having a “security champion” Dealing with security later will just cost more down the road About today’s guest:  Nate Lee is currently Chief Information Security Officer at Tradeshift, a B2B SaaS platform specializing in digitizing supply chain financing. With over 25 years in the tech industry, Nate has a wide variety of experience in engineering and management roles at startups, as a consultant, and in the Fortune 50. Nate led at various points platform operations, site reliability engineering, and IT. Subsequently, he started the security program at Tradeshift, building the security team from the ground up with a heavy focus on automation and driving business value through partnerships across internal business units. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-lee-2179302/ ----- 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)

On this episode, Luis Bruder, the Director of Data Science, Machine Learning, and Advanced Analytics at Foot Locker, talks about managing experiments and how these experiments drive decisions.  Key Takeaways: Definition and Classification of experiments Moving from experiments to project evaluation Who owns the experiment Metric evaluation Experimentation to Production Life Cycle Aligning your team with new experiment opportunities. Balancing project and maintenance work About today’s guest:  Luis Bruder brings over 11 years of experience in Data Science and Analytics, with his most recent work in the marketing and retail industries. His background is in computer engineering, and he holds a master's in business administration.  He is passionate about leveraging data science, AI, and Machine Learning to create impactful products and results. He lives in Washington, DC. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbruder/ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and if you enjoyed this episode,  please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review on the Apple podcast app! 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)

Kanat Bektemirov, the CTO at Supplypike, let’s talk about his involvement in sales during the early days and leveraging his engineering expertise to define the sales process. Getting to the first million dollars of revenue Personalize beyond the basics and automate it Reaching out to other experienced founders to get help. The idea of doing Personalized landing pages Playing the pre-sales roles Context switching - managing sales and engineering Aligning the Sales, Product, and engineering teams. Hiring a Sales SVP and taking a step back from the process About today’s guest: Kanat Bektemirov is the CTO of SupplyPike, a 120-person tech company on a mission to make the supply chain easier to navigate for CPGs and retailers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bektemirov/ 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)

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) The vision of  “Help Life on Earth Using Space” R&D spending and monetization Balancing Research Development and Delivery Importance of communication within the company. About today’s guest: Jesus is originally from Sevilla, Spain. He studied physics and then moved to the US to become an astronomer. His research focused on analyzing infrared images from deep space to measure the clustering pattern of galaxies and infer how much dark matter exists around them. After his Ph.D., he moved to San Francisco and transitioned to a career in data science. Today, he leads the applied ML team at Planet, which is a leading company in the Earth-observation space. His team builds core machine vision feeds that transform global streams of images into maps, alerts, and insights. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmartinezmanso/ ___ 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)

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 internally and externally, it may be time to restructure the team. Jira or Trello can help improve the intake process. It is important to make sure processes are understood not only internally but also by external stakeholders. Creating a vision or mission statement can help address accountability and ownership issues.  Striking the right balance of ownership and avoiding silos is key.  Envisioning the team in Venn diagrams can be helpful!   Even after taking all these steps, it may still be necessary to deliver results. About today’s guest: As Senior Manager of Analytics Engineering and Data Product Management at Instacart, Ty Lunsford has been responsible for balancing business needs with technical solutions development. As a result, he's proven to be an effective provider who can deliver services efficiently across different functions within the company. His sales/marketing and business knowledge allow him to deliver effective solutions efficiently. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylunsford/ ___ 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, 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 cyber breach policy in place.  Educate your people about the human element in cybersecurity and how to stay protected.  When a breach does occur, make sure you have a plan in place and know who to contact for help.  The cost of prevention is less than the response, so it's important to be proactive about security threats. Breached Double Impact  About today’s guest: Dean is the Vice President of Information Security, Risk and Compliance for Filevine, the Operating Core for Legal, providing case, matter, investigation, and project management software for thousands of attorneys, law firms, and businesses across the globe. Dean is also a security researcher, author, public speaker, and practitioner with two decades of experience implementing cost-effective and robust cybersecurity programs for clients. He has given dozens of presentations at the Utah State Bar, ABA, LegalSEC, ILTACon, Inns of Court, UAJ, Public Defenders & Trial Lawyer events, Infragard, ISACA, UtahSec, IR 18, SaintCon, and many other security and privacy conferences. Dean is a security nerd at heart, but in his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and six awesome kids, weight training, competing in Spartan races, and other ridiculously crazy and challenging things. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deansapp/ ___ 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)

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 models and structures Pulling apart the team's capabilities to help them best excel Tips to create strategic guidance for your org team. When do you re-evaluate the team's structure Ways to build collaborative teams Having strong managers to support each team allows you to separate functions Impact on hiring Know your own weaknesses  Benefits of having a ring fence model. About today’s guest:  Data & Analytics Executive with over 2 decades of experience in data science and analytics. Currently, Oliver is the VP of Data & Analytics at Wellframe, a digital care management company offering care management programs delivered through a digital platform. He runs Wellframe's Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, Data Science, and Business Intelligence teams. Oliver is also a part-time lecturer at Boston University, teaching a Business Analytics class on Competing with Analytics and a Capstone Project. He spent 7.5 years building and running analytics capability for the Boston Consulting Group, ran his own company prior, and started his career as a data scientist with a niche analytics consulting firm building advanced optimization and agent-based models. Oliver received a Master and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgie Tech. https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliverbandte/ ________ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and if you enjoyed this episode,  please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review on the Apple podcast app! 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)

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 the most successful leaders and successful hierarchical structures. Having a culture of leadership that values feedback is a must. Psychological safety is essential. How does the org handle an employee that moves back into an IC role Manager empathy Management is a duty you perform Having someone run a tiger team About today’s guest:  Bren is a hacker of things, smoker of meats, father of a brood of loud and often unruly children, and husband to his high-school sweetheart. When he's not playing music or working on a project, you can find him building, securing, and attacking cloud-native systems for Hypergiant. https://twitter.com/0xfraq https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenbriggs/ ________ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and if you enjoyed this episode,  please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review on the Apple podcast app! 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)

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 Importance of relationship for your business Creating a strategy-based team roadmap Using data to influence stakeholders Having a simple alternative solutions Understanding your roadmap timelines. Having a mindset shift is really important. Transition from consulting to production. Tips for building a cohesive team culture. About today’s guest:  Yash Desai is a seasoned Machine Learning (ML) leader driving business impact and innovation at top organizations globally. Armed with a Bachelors & Masters in Electrical Engineering and Applied Statistics from IIT Bombay, his ML journey began when it was just an esoteric buzzword. He joined McKinsey right after school and served clients for AI transformation across Asia, Europe, and North America in Energy, Finance, and Healthcare sectors. Post consulting, he took up leadership roles at healthcare giant CVS Health and the home goods e-commerce leader Wayfair. He passionately engages in the ML community by mentoring budding data scientists from under-represented backgrounds and participates in conference panels. Outside work, Yash loves exploring beer gardens, playing cricket, and binge-watching Marvel movies. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yashjdesai18 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whydesai ________ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and if you enjoyed this episode, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review on the Apple podcast app! 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)

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 mentor in your organization. How to lead a technical organization: Manager responsibilities Technical versus Organizational growth path, what you need to know. Lesson Learned: Skills you need to manage people or technical teams effectively. Soft skills are much more difficult to master than hard skills. The Importance of communication between managers and their team members. Understanding your team's motivations is core and key to helping them grow. Dealing with a misalignment of employee aspirations and skills Building trust is a cornerstone of nurturing talent A Good Manager is Like a Gardener About today’s guest:  More than three decades of hi-tech industry experience split between consulting, startups, and captive IT.  Rajeev has successfully delivered software applications and solutions across multiple domains and platforms in leadership and management roles.  He has managed and actively contributed to projects with business values ranging from $0.5M - $20M+.  Built and managed cross-functional and cross-geo organizations sized 5 – 350+ with a motivated workforce and minimal attrition. Rajeev has worked with CIOs and staff on strategic programs for technology and business transformations.  He is a published author of books and articles on technology, strategy, management, and leadership in topics including AI, IoT, Cloud Computing, and innovation.  His most recent book is RISE: Essential soft-skills for career management, which was released in Oct 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeevnanda/ https://rnanda.com/ ________ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and if you enjoyed this episode, please take a minute and leave a quick rating and review on the Apple podcast app! 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)