The Tech Trek

The Tech Trek

By ElevanoTechnology
Download on the App Store

The Tech Trek episodes

  • Engineering Leadership Changes You - And Changes With You

    In this episode of The Tech Trek, host Amir Bormand speaks with Amit Gulati, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Angi. Amit reflects on his 20 years of experience as an engineering leader - sharing the ups, downs, ins, and outs of the various roles he’s taken on.

    Highlights

    00:02:51 - Amit discusses some of the changes that he encountered while he progressed as an engineering leader.

    00:05:33 - How do you develop and refine your leadership skills when you’re promoted to a new position?

    00:08:05 - What’s the best way to establish your priorities in a new role and prevent yourself from being spread too thin?

    00:13:11 - Why it’s important to cultivate a supportive workplace culture where people feel comfortable asking for help.

    00:16:24 - Learning when and how to ask for help.

    00:21:24 - Amit shares how he’s built confidence and established trust with his teams as he advanced through his career.

    00:26:00 - The benefits and importance of supporting your team as they fail and learn.

    About the guest:

    Amit Gulati is a seasoned engineering leader with over 20 years of experience delivering software and leading teams to create business value through the intelligent use of technology. He believes in empowering his teams to own not only the software they deliver but also the business outcomes they enable. In his current role as the SVP of Engineering at Angi, he oversees a team of approximately 300 engineers working to help people love where they live by connecting homeowners and service providers for all of your home maintenance and home improvement needs.

    Prior to working at Angi, he spent the first half of his career working as a consultant where he delivered custom solutions for a diverse set of clients including ExxonMobile, NJDOT, Verizon, FRBNY, and Rolling Stone magazine. In the past decade, he transitioned into working on in-house product development across the FinTech, digital music, and now home services sectors.

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amit-gulati-he-him-5a7b33/

    ___

    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)

    28 min
  • Leaders Need Two Things: Time to Learn and Time To Fail

    In this episode of The Tech Trek, our host Amir Bormand speaks with Lee Eason, the Director of Digital Branch Experience at Edward Jones. Amir and Lee share insights about working with distributed/remote teams, supporting new leaders, and prioritizing team health.

    Highlights:

    00:05:35 - Lee shares his experience with adapting to leading a distributed/mostly remote team.

    00:12:55 - What’s the link between team health and team performance?

    00:19:05 - Strategies to support new leaders taking on their roles for the first time.

    00:21:39 - How can autonomy strengthen the confidence and effectiveness of a team?

    About Lee Eason:

    “Do you know much about computers?” After a moment of consideration, desperate for a job, Lee Eason replied, “I can do anything you need with computers.”  As a just-graduated History Education major, he knew almost nothing about computers.  But he made up for what he lacked in experience with determination and curiosity.  That first job at a small furniture plant in Raleigh, NC, launched a 20+ year career that would take Lee through roles as an IT manager, software developer, architect, Agile and DevOps leader, entrepreneur, Chief Technology Officer, and now Director of Digital Branch Experience at Edward Jones.  Those roles have spanned several industries including marketing, education, healthcare, and financial technology.  His passion for learning and teaching has been central to his success as a leader and change agent.  You can read more about Lee at https://eason.blog.

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leejeason/

    ___

    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)

    31 min
  • Phases of Growth in Engineering Management

    In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir Bormand speaks with Shruthi Murthy, the Executive Vice President of Engineering at Modern Treasury. Amir and Shruthi discuss the various phases of growth that companies like Modern Treasury and WhatsApp experience. They also discuss how businesses and entrepreneurs can choose the right growth strategies for their needs.

    Highlights:

    00:01:47 - Shruthi breaks down her role and responsibilities as the Head of Engineering at Modern Treasury.

    00:04:53 - What were the phases of growth for Modern Treasury? How can an organization determine the right approach for itself?

    00:09:25 - Shruthi discusses her time working at WhatsApp and how the company adapted to an incredibly uneven user-to-employee ratio.

    00:13:46 - Can the same strategies that large companies use to be applied by smaller businesses and start-ups? If so, how?

    00:23:04 - How can organizations make better decisions as they transition through different growth phases?

    Guest:

    Shruthi Murthy is EVP of Engineering for payments operations software provider Modern Treasury. Modern Treasury’s platform automates each step of the money-moving process, enabling companies to instantly close books with continuous accounting, manage payments via dashboard or API, and automatically reconcile cash across multiple bank accounts versus having to spend hours or days doing so with more legacy or even manual systems.

    Before joining Modern Treasury, Shruthi was with messaging giant WhatsApp for eight years, where she served as Director of Engineering, leading the zero-to-one product and engineering teams.

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruthi-murthy-abb731/

    ___

    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)

    21 min
  • Leadership’s core function is facilitation

    In this episode, Hadi Radwan, Co-founder at Asteya, talks about leadership and the core function of facilitation!

    Key takeaways:

    • Executing the strategy
    • The leader should not be the bottleneck
    • 2-way communication
    • Wearing different hats when communicating
    • Fail fast, learn fast
    • Lines of communication: remove yourself from the centerpiece
    • Thinking frameworks - how do you structure problems
    • Dunning-Kruger effect
    • Shape the culture
    • You always don’t have the answer unless you have seen the situation before

      • About today’s guest:

      Hadi Radwan is an industry-leading expert in insurance technology, product, and operations.

      Hadi has conceptualized, designed, and developed Asteya’s state-of-the-art cloud-based insurance platform, leading Asteya from conceptualization to its launch and post-launch performance. Hadi holds an MBA from IE Business School and a BA in Accounting from the American University of Beirut. He also graduated from the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School. In addition, he is an avid biohacker who is big on wellness.

      Hadi is passionate about traveling, martial arts, and music in his free time. In addition, he is obsessed with productivity and likes to find solutions to problems simply and efficiently.

      Hadi is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and a Certified Financial Consultant (CFC).

      Hadi is also the host of the Podcast “The First 100”, a podcast about how successful entrepreneurs acquired the First 100 paying customers.

      LinkedIn Hadi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hadiradwan/

      Podcast: https://thefirst100.buzzsprout.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)

      25 min
    • Tech debt - SW is short lived anyways, why over engineer

      In this episode, Ozan Bilgen, Co-founder and CEO at base64.ai, talks about technical debt and why you should avoid over-engineering!

      Key takeaways:

      • Tech debt is a conscious way of something things can wait
      • Knowingly you under-engineer certain parts where you can afford to
      • Focusing on the thing that does 99% of the job
      • SW is short-lived anyways, so why over-engineer
      • Scale and compliance are drivers for revisiting the architecture
      • Tech debt is the delta between MVP and V1
      • When to decide to through away your MVP and restart
      • The tradeoffs between over or under engineer something - the tradeoffs
      • To get sizing correct, it takes time (and over-analysis)

        • About today’s guest: 

        Ozan Eren Bilgen is the CEO of Base64.ai, the artificial intelligence solution that can process all types of documents worldwide. Ozan has BSc and MSc degrees in computer sciences. He previously worked as a software engineer and manager in top tech companies such as Microsoft, Netflix, PayPal, Uber, and Palantir. Some of his notable works include Netflix's credit card payments system, PayPal's online gateway, and Uber's vehicle leasing services. Ozan is a Turkish American who is also an airplane pilot and a scuba diver in his free time.

        LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozanerenbilgen/

        ___

        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)


        24 min
      • Data Transformation at a Large Public Company

        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)


          25 min
        • Hiring for a niche skill set

          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)


            29 min
          • Planning across the engineering org

            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)


              26 min
            • Software Engineering Team Performance Metrics and Report

              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)



                25 min
              • For better adoption, build security into your engineer's workflow

                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)


                  26 min

                About The Tech Trek

                From the publisher's feed

                The Tech Trek is a podcast about how founders, operators, and technology leaders build and scale technology companies.