The Tech Trek

Kunal Haria, Data Engineering Manager at StyleSeat, shares tips for data engineer interviews and transitioning to management. He discusses the skills and criteria he looks for in resumes, the importance of quantifying results and communicating the why in data engineering projects, and the decision-making process of whether to build or buy products. He also talks about effective team building and coaching in a remote setup.

Meet: Phillip Schafer leads the data science team at IronNet. He has a PhD in physics from Penn State, where he developed voice recognition algorithms modeled on the human brain's processing of speech. He previously worked on algorithms for pricing and dispositioning returned retail goods at retail startup Optoro. At IronNet, he has implemented machine learning models to help enterprises defend themselves against sophisticated cyber attacks. He lives in Columbia, Md., with his wife and two-year-old son. What you’ll learn: Moving from academia to the business world Data science challenges within the cybersecurity industry Transitioning to a management role and moving away from being an individual contributor If you would like to reach out to Phillip about anything he discussed on the podcast, please reach out to him via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-schafer/

Meet: Ryan Scolnik, the Head of Data Science at FortressIQ. He was employee #4 and currently leads the company's data science, computer vision and AI strategy. Ryan holds a PhD in Statistics from Florida State University and enjoys Kaggle competitions and long bike rides in his spare time. What you’ll learn: Being the 1st Data hire - lessons learned and finding data vs simulating data Transition to being a manager - be prepared for more meetings, less coding and lots of communicating Ego and Coding - trusting your team and letting your ego go If you want to follow up with Ryan, please connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-scolnik-5718193a/

Meet: Michael Weiss has spent the past 16 years in information security. While at Microsoft, he managed the Security Assurance Program for Windows 7. His latest role is as Chief Information Security Officer at Funding Circle, a fintech small business lender based in London. What you’ll learn: Look to security adjacent roles to find your next security hire natural interest in security is one of your best paths to getting hired for your first security role Security takes a back seat if you don’t have a champion You can connect with Michael via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weissmichaela/

Meet: Shailvi Wakhlu, the Head of Analytics at Komodo Health. She loves to volunteer, mentor, and inspire within the data and analytics community. What you’ll learn: Resume and Interviewing - tips for analysts Women in Data - how to share your achievements Women in Data - job promotion advice The best way to connect with Shailvi is on Twitter - @ShailviW

Meet: Daniel Barber is the CEO & Co-founder of DataGrail. In the new age of privacy, DataGrail is the only purpose-built privacy management platform that ensures sustained compliance with the GDPR, CCPA, and forthcoming regulation. Prior to DataGrail, Daniel led revenue teams at DocuSign, Datanyze (acquired by ZoomInfo), ToutApp (acquired by Marketo), and Responsys (acquired by Oracle). He also advises several high-growth startups including Chorus.ai, Outreach.io, and SignOnSite. What you’ll learn: - Privacy is not optional and how to protect yourself - The manual complexities around handling privacy requests resulting from CCPA and GDPR - The benefits of automating privacy deletion requests and the risk of something slipping through the cracks If you would like to reach out to Daniel about anything he discussed on the podcast, please reach out to him via LinkedIn or Twitter: https://twitter.com/gaijindan https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-barber/

Meet: Chris Byington is VP of Data at Updater, where he leads the Data team in partnering with stakeholders to bring data to bear on the company’s toughest problems.  Before Updater Chris led Analytics at Heroku, a Salesforce company, where he used data to deeply understand software developers and help them be more successful.  A recovering stats nerd, Chris’s favorite statistical technique is bootstrapping.  He holds a bachelor's degree in French and Economics from Pomona College What you’ll learn: Mentoring - if you have ever wanted to become a mentor we have great tips Mentees - are you looking to find a mentor? Professionals - so you are a senior IC or a manager and you might want to find a mentor If you would like to reach out to Chris about anything he discussed on the podcast, please reach out to him via his LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-byington/

Meet: Mahesh Ramasubramanian is the co-founder and CEO of Loom.ai, a San Francisco-based company that has developed an end-to-end deep learning platform for deploying personalized 3D avatars for enterprise applications. With over 15 years of experience leading visual effects for several blockbuster movies at DreamWorks Animation, Mahesh is also a voting member of the Oscars Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. What you’ll learn: Simplifying - leveraging AI and deep learning to bring a complex Hollywood technology to individual consumers Deep learning - Loom.ai went from 7 minutes to process an image into an avatar to just seconds LoomieLive - creating your own personalized 3D avatar You can reach out to Mahesh via LinkedIn Give LoomieLIve a try!

Meet: Lisa Mirkovic, VP of Data Engineering at Capital Group. Lisa has been at the Capital Group for over 20 years and is passionate about paying it forward whenever possible, especially within the data and engineering community. What you’ll learn: Career Advice - how to be self-aware and be happy in your career Data Engineering - the key attributes it takes to be a good data engineer Leveling Up - creating an internal training academy for your organization If you would like to connect with Lisa please message her on LinkedIn.

Meet: Mike Doll is the Head of Data at Udacity, an online education platform dedicated to training the world's workforce in the careers of the future. Mike is responsible for the functions of data engineering, data science, BI, and analytics. What you’ll learn: Nontraditional path - transitioning to data science without having the hard skills Lean into the curiosity and opportunity - build connections within your organization Coming up to speed - focused on the longterm, but providing value in the short term If you want to connect with Mike, please reach out via LinkedIn