CTO Confessions Brought to you by IT Labs

Welcome to the start of a special series – in this series, we’ll be talking to techies and tech leaders who have worked at Amazon – the Amazonians – and how it has shaped their futures in the world of IT. And the one hosting this series will be Charles Griffith, CTO at MileZero, a Capstone Company. Each of the individuals that will come on this series will bring their own unique brand of leadership and experience! In this one, you’ll have the honor to meet Charles, as a nice intro in what we’re sure you’ll enjoy! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesgriffith/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Sustainability – it's the thing we hear more than once every day, in regards to human relationships, the way we work, and how we interact with the world around us and consume products. It all began as we started looking for ways to lower our impact on nature. One of the tech leaders driving us towards a more sustainable future is Ali Bouhouch, CTO & Digital Strategy Executive at SZENTIA, a company looking to revolutionize the skincare industry. TC sat down with Ali to learn more about what drives him, how he got to where he is now, and how he leads his teams. Key takeaways from this episode: • How to nurture curiosity without becoming engulfed by it • Why being your whole-self at work can be beneficial • Why it’s important for leaders to make the first step in initiating contact with their teams Our Guest: Ali Bouhouch LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-bouhouch-4774372/ Website: https://www.szentia.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Worldpay is a service that many of us have used, sometimes knowingly, sometimes through other vendors, but the truth is, it’s everywhere. But how does one company get to this level? We got Usman Bashir, Head of Engineering at Worldpay, down for a chat with our TC Gill, in which he got down to sharing his amazing journey to becoming a tech leader, as well as all the cool and amazing tech he’s into right now at Worldpay. After honing his skills as an engineer, Usman then had the chance to learn from more experienced heads and hone his leadership skills, which is something he has taken to as a duck to water – everything from then on, as they say, is history. He has developed into a leader that drives teams with passion and support, enabling them to express by delivering high-quality services and products. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • Why you should look for people who add to your culture, not the ones who like to align themselves to it • Why teams need to be integrated into the feedback loops and how this helps the whole process of improving a product or a service • How to lead people by letting go of control and still get the best results Our Guest: Usman Bashir LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/usmanbashir80/ Website: https://online.worldpay.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/UzmanB Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

The open-source world is a wonderful democracy and meritocracy of innovation, software elements, and applications. Its creativity is incorporated into countless (if not all) major applications across the tech arena. But with it comes complexities. And in this podcast, we get to speak to Brian Fox, the CTO & Co-founder of Sonatype, about those complexities. In particular, the worrying world of security. Sonatype runs the central repository of Maven, where the world gets its open-source Java. A kind of Center of the open-source universe. Or at least one of them. Sonatype also focuses on developing a smarter, faster, and more secure software development for the open-source world and its clients. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • The new attack vectors that hackers are using to get their grubby hands on your systems and data • Visual analogies for software development and the software supply chain and how they create clarity on the mistakes that are being made in the tech industry • The impact that the SolarWinds attack is having on the regulation and practices for the software development industry (especially for critical systems) Our Guest: Brian Fox LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianefox/ Website: https://www.sonatype.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonatype Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Tech leaders are committed to solving problems that pester man on a daily basis while also focus on improving the livelihoods of people – but what about the ones that have no access to tech? To the internet? To the millions of gigabytes of content on the internet? Enter Andrew McCaughan, CTO at BuffaloGrid. This techie is hell-bent on bridging the gap between developed and emerging economies, by working on a tech solution that will allow people to connect and gain access to the amazing world of the internet, or as he likes to put it “connecting the next billion”. TC sat down with Andrew to learn more about his goals, his journey from techie to tech leader, and how he manages his teams and makes sure they feel they’re in the right place, doing the right thing. Key takeaways: - How being straight with what you can and can’t do breeds trust and support - Why it’s okay to ask for help, even as a leader - Why leaders should sometimes see themselves as facilitators Our Guest: Andrew McCaughan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amccaughan/ Website: https://www.buffalogrid.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amogram Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Efficiency starts with leadership, and the best kind of leadership is the one built around the needs and capabilities of your teams. Meet Skyler Seamans and Shane Emmons, the two techies from TeamSnap – a company that provides spots management solutions. What got us really interested into these two and their company is their unique management method they invented, called Shape Up – a mixture of known Agile and Scrum methods which has made them a force to be reckoned. TC sat down with them to learn more about what they do, what drives them, and how their Shape Up method has helped them get to where they are now. Key takeaways from the episode: • How assessing the size of problems can help you in finding solutions • Why it’s important to get people behind ideas before implementing them • Why methods that allow and encourage your employees to grow will always be a resounding success Our Guests: Skyler Seamans and Shane Emmons LinkedIn: Skyler Seamans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skylerseamans/ Shane Emmons: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-emmons/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

We have this idea of data that it’s a bulk of information that helps us make decisions in the virtual world, but can it be used for something like renovating buildings and improving the efficiency in the construction world? Enter Japjit Tulsi, the CTO at Matterport, a company which is dedicated to making spatial data a bit more likeable, and the world a bit better. Japjit’s journey is one that’s filled with many companies, both startups and large corporations, all which have helped him diversify his portfolio, and gain vast experience. He’s been in the industry for a quarter of a century now, and is one of the most impressive tech leaders we’ve had on our podcast: Key takeaways from the podcast are: • How having a list of dos and don'ts regarding leadership can help you become more consistent • Why hiring right is more about time, rather than approach or skill • How visualization of data can help spur the next big thing in tech Our Guest: Japjit Tulsi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/japjittulsi/ Website: https://matterport.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

There’s tons of payment methods and processors out there, but how many of them actually have their focus on transactions that are a make or break for users? Could be many, but one that really stands out is Flywire. And on the doings of this company, we have its CTO, David King, who sat down with our TC Gill to share the story of Flywire, and of course, his own journey in the world of tech. From his beginnings in academia, through his start in IT, all the way to him becoming a tech leader, there’s simply not much that David King hasn’t done. He became a leader with no leader-training, but has grown into the role, learning how to delegate and trust teams, and through it, grow and develop brands. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • How transforming from techie to leader is all about getting away from the single contributor mindset • How customer feedback can help you drive products and services forward • Why alignment at the top is more important than alignment at the bottom Our Guest: David King LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidking14/ Website: https://www.flywire.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dking307 Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

Learning, we were taught, was all about having access to material, to content, to courses and all that – and while that’s true, with the ever-increasing availability of study materials now new questions arise – what about the process of learning? And one of the people looking to answer this question is Stepan Suvorov, CTO at Studytube, a company that offers courses to employees of companies, as well as offering services such as organizing learning activities, so everything one would need to get their game to the next level. Here, TC picks Stepan’s brains on his road to becoming a CTO, his experience as a leader, and the change he has experienced along the way in terms of changing skills, changing titles, and roles. From his humble starts, all the way to what he’s doing right now, Stepan’s story is one that will definitely inspire many techies to the top. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • How to pivot from B2C to B2B, without nosediving to disaster by missing opportunities • Why maintaining the resilience of the product helps scalability and maintainability • How micromanagement does more harm than good in management Our Guest: https://stepansuvorov.com/blog/follow-me/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stepansuvorov/ Website: https://www.studytube.nl/en/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevermeister?lang=en Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)

End-of-life is a challenging time for loved ones. The bereavement process is difficult at the best of times, adding further challenges when the legal and financial questions arise from the event. Well, the guest we have on this podcast is working hard to make this smoother. John Catnach, the CTO of Exizent, is working hard with his team to create a smoother and more efficient process. It reduces time to find information, provides it to all the relevant parties, and eliminates duplication of information. This solution that Exizent is providing is a great example of how technology can make people's lives easier, even in the most trying of times. Key takeaways from the podcast are: • Just how complex the bereavement process can be and how Exizent is providing a solution to that. • The art of over-communication when working remotely (especially in the COVID-19 era) • The importance of making yourself expendable so you can be agile, nimble, and free in your career with ease and elegance (not being so important you become pigeon holed into a project) Our Guest: John Catnach LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncat/ Website: https://www.exizent.com/ Intro and background music: Craig MacArthur - Power Shutoff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74iB_jtauw)