Meeting Title: Brainforge People and Culture Check-in Date: 2026-03-09 Meeting participants: Ashwini Sharma, Kaela Gallagher
WEBVTT
1 00:00:42.940 ⇒ 00:00:44.980 Kaela Gallagher: Hi, Ashwini, how’s it going?
2 00:00:46.280 ⇒ 00:00:47.259 Ashwini Sharma: Very killer.
3 00:00:47.760 ⇒ 00:00:49.029 Ashwini Sharma: I’m good, how are you?
4 00:00:49.550 ⇒ 00:00:53.670 Kaela Gallagher: Good! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, appreciate it.
5 00:00:53.750 ⇒ 00:01:13.430 Kaela Gallagher: I recently started at Brainforge a couple weeks back, and I’ll be, doing everything kind of people, culture, recruiting related, so, just wanted to meet with… with the entire team, and, yeah, see how your experience has been so far.
6 00:01:14.040 ⇒ 00:01:16.409 Ashwini Sharma: It’s been good. I, I…
7 00:01:16.860 ⇒ 00:01:22.930 Ashwini Sharma: I think it’s been how many months since I’ve been with Brainforce? About 3 months or so.
8 00:01:23.370 ⇒ 00:01:24.410 Kaela Gallagher: Oh, okay.
9 00:01:24.410 ⇒ 00:01:25.150 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah
10 00:01:25.570 ⇒ 00:01:32.319 Ashwini Sharma: I think I started sometime in December, so December, January, February, yeah. It’s been a little over 3 months, I think.
11 00:01:32.850 ⇒ 00:01:35.800 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, and how did you find Brainforge?
12 00:01:37.780 ⇒ 00:01:44.240 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, so I was looking for some jobs, and then I posted a message in the channel, and then Utham reached out.
13 00:01:44.400 ⇒ 00:01:47.730 Ashwini Sharma: And, yeah, that’s how it started.
14 00:01:48.490 ⇒ 00:01:50.470 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, through, like, a Slack channel or something?
15 00:01:50.470 ⇒ 00:01:52.600 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, through a Slack channel, yes.
16 00:01:52.810 ⇒ 00:01:58.460 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool. And are you, like, working…
17 00:01:58.880 ⇒ 00:02:01.920 Kaela Gallagher: 40 hours a week with us, or what does your schedule kind of.
18 00:02:01.920 ⇒ 00:02:04.390 Ashwini Sharma: Yes, I am 48.
19 00:02:04.870 ⇒ 00:02:11.380 Ashwini Sharma: But sometimes it’s not 40 hours, sometimes it is more than 40 hours, so yeah, that is how it’s been going on right now.
20 00:02:11.380 ⇒ 00:02:14.510 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. Where are you currently based?
21 00:02:14.870 ⇒ 00:02:16.139 Ashwini Sharma: I’m based out of India.
22 00:02:16.980 ⇒ 00:02:22.670 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, got it. So are you working… Nighttime for you, then?
23 00:02:22.670 ⇒ 00:02:29.430 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, so I generally log off at around this time. Today I’ll log off after our meeting.
24 00:02:30.140 ⇒ 00:02:30.590 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
25 00:02:30.590 ⇒ 00:02:33.419 Ashwini Sharma: But I’m working during my daytime as well, so…
26 00:02:33.780 ⇒ 00:02:36.120 Ashwini Sharma: Fair enough. The hours are compensated, right?
27 00:02:36.750 ⇒ 00:02:43.600 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, got it, got it. How… how have you been liking it so far? I know, like.
28 00:02:43.600 ⇒ 00:02:44.270 Ashwini Sharma: Oh, God.
29 00:02:44.270 ⇒ 00:02:44.859 Kaela Gallagher: murdered with us.
30 00:02:44.860 ⇒ 00:02:51.830 Ashwini Sharma: It’s okay. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to stretch if there are late night meetings, but fortunately, there are no
31 00:02:52.100 ⇒ 00:02:53.729 Ashwini Sharma: such meetings,
32 00:02:54.990 ⇒ 00:03:00.489 Ashwini Sharma: It, almost like, what is the time in ETC right now? It might be 3? 3.30?
33 00:03:01.020 ⇒ 00:03:01.570 Kaela Gallagher: We have to…
34 00:03:01.570 ⇒ 00:03:03.319 Ashwini Sharma: Something like that, right? Yeah.
35 00:03:03.550 ⇒ 00:03:05.609 Kaela Gallagher: Right, right. So yeah, just kind of…
36 00:03:05.610 ⇒ 00:03:06.400 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah.
37 00:03:06.400 ⇒ 00:03:08.880 Kaela Gallagher: Having the meetings in the morning is better.
38 00:03:08.880 ⇒ 00:03:16.180 Ashwini Sharma: No, like, evenings is better, but if there is something, some meetings, like, at 4…
39 00:03:16.340 ⇒ 00:03:20.690 Ashwini Sharma: PM in the EST, then that becomes difficult for me.
40 00:03:20.920 ⇒ 00:03:22.450 Ashwini Sharma: Okay. Okay.
41 00:03:22.500 ⇒ 00:03:26.110 Kaela Gallagher: That makes sense, that makes sense.
42 00:03:26.330 ⇒ 00:03:33.919 Kaela Gallagher: You are working in what kind of capacity? Like, are you on the data team, or the AI team? Data team, yeah, I’m a data engineer.
43 00:03:34.230 ⇒ 00:03:39.259 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. What kind of… like, which one of our clients are you partnering with the most?
44 00:03:39.260 ⇒ 00:03:44.599 Ashwini Sharma: Magic Spoon and CTA, and partially with, Eden.
45 00:03:45.730 ⇒ 00:03:47.300 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay.
46 00:03:47.440 ⇒ 00:03:50.960 Kaela Gallagher: Magic Spoon, is that a newer client to us?
47 00:03:51.120 ⇒ 00:03:54.209 Ashwini Sharma: Yes, it’s relatively new.
48 00:03:54.580 ⇒ 00:03:56.149 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, what do they do?
49 00:03:56.440 ⇒ 00:04:00.380 Ashwini Sharma: They sell this, called cereals.
50 00:04:02.130 ⇒ 00:04:05.670 Kaela Gallagher: Oh, oh, like, like, actually…
51 00:04:05.670 ⇒ 00:04:06.270 Ashwini Sharma: I see this.
52 00:04:06.570 ⇒ 00:04:10.300 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Cool.
53 00:04:10.300 ⇒ 00:04:17.419 Ashwini Sharma: They’re a cereals company, I think. They make their own cereals and then sell it, not like a retailer or something like that. Okay.
54 00:04:18.149 ⇒ 00:04:20.709 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, and what about CTE?
55 00:04:20.709 ⇒ 00:04:32.449 Ashwini Sharma: CTA, CTA is a… is an event, organizing company, right? They have the CES, or something. These big events, tech events, they organize it.
56 00:04:32.450 ⇒ 00:04:32.940 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
57 00:04:32.940 ⇒ 00:04:33.680 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah.
58 00:04:34.280 ⇒ 00:04:35.500 Ashwini Sharma: Okay, okay.
59 00:04:35.500 ⇒ 00:04:37.780 Kaela Gallagher: And then Eden is, like, healthcare, right?
60 00:04:37.780 ⇒ 00:04:39.230 Ashwini Sharma: Indian is the healthcare, yes.
61 00:04:39.500 ⇒ 00:04:46.039 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. I’m always trying to, like, learn a little bit more about our clients, because as I’m talking to…
62 00:04:46.150 ⇒ 00:04:57.829 Kaela Gallagher: potential candidates, people that are interested in joining Brainforge, they’re always asking, like, oh, what kind of clients do you work with? So it’s helpful to, like, have an idea of the people that you’re partnering with, yeah.
63 00:04:57.950 ⇒ 00:04:58.880 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
64 00:04:59.060 ⇒ 00:05:04.639 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome. And who on the team are you working with the most? Is it Jamie, then?
65 00:05:04.870 ⇒ 00:05:09.760 Ashwini Sharma: Yes, it’s Demi, Avish, what I’m…
66 00:05:11.960 ⇒ 00:05:16.579 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Yeah, mostly Zoran, sometimes on the Eden side.
67 00:05:17.470 ⇒ 00:05:22.629 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, it’s mainly Demi, Avish, Utam, and Zoran.
68 00:05:23.460 ⇒ 00:05:24.860 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Okay.
69 00:05:24.860 ⇒ 00:05:25.250 Ashwini Sharma: Hmm.
70 00:05:25.250 ⇒ 00:05:40.280 Kaela Gallagher: I’m curious, since I’m gonna be, like, working on a lot of, like, people initiatives and culture initiatives, do you have any, like, feedback for me, or advice, or frustrations.
71 00:05:40.280 ⇒ 00:05:40.820 Ashwini Sharma: Things…
72 00:05:40.820 ⇒ 00:05:42.570 Kaela Gallagher: Going on in the company?
73 00:05:42.570 ⇒ 00:05:47.260 Ashwini Sharma: No, I don’t have anything. It’s going cool, no issues.
74 00:05:47.870 ⇒ 00:05:52.780 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. Anything that you’d like to see, like, improved at all?
75 00:05:53.850 ⇒ 00:05:59.409 Ashwini Sharma: No, I think things are getting more systematic.
76 00:06:01.160 ⇒ 00:06:06.400 Ashwini Sharma: And, yeah, Utam and team has been working a lot to make it more, you know.
77 00:06:06.850 ⇒ 00:06:15.279 Ashwini Sharma: organized, right? It was a bit ad hoc when I just joined. Everything, everyone was doing everything kind of thing.
78 00:06:15.450 ⇒ 00:06:18.859 Ashwini Sharma: Right now, you have dedicated people for doing
79 00:06:19.080 ⇒ 00:06:25.949 Ashwini Sharma: Certain things, and then that gives engineers more time to focus on technical stuff, right?
80 00:06:26.910 ⇒ 00:06:30.280 Ashwini Sharma: So, yeah, that thing has improved.
81 00:06:32.430 ⇒ 00:06:32.830 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
82 00:06:33.170 ⇒ 00:06:35.230 Ashwini Sharma: That’s all, I don’t have anything.
83 00:06:35.590 ⇒ 00:06:49.059 Kaela Gallagher: I guess from, like, from the people and culture side as well, is there anything that I can do to support you? Like, would you like regular, you know, check-ins, or, you know, anything I can do to help at all?
84 00:06:49.060 ⇒ 00:06:52.039 Ashwini Sharma: No, all good right now. Okay.
85 00:06:52.120 ⇒ 00:07:08.370 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. What about from, like, the recruiting side? Like, recruiting and hiring is a huge focus for me right now. Curious if you have any, like, recommendations of what I should look for in candidates, or what you think makes, like, a good
86 00:07:08.860 ⇒ 00:07:10.910 Kaela Gallagher: team member for Brainforge.
87 00:07:12.040 ⇒ 00:07:18.119 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, obviously, if you’re looking for candidates on the other side of the world, right?
88 00:07:18.430 ⇒ 00:07:22.600 Ashwini Sharma: You might want to check them if they can do night shift or not.
89 00:07:23.450 ⇒ 00:07:32.459 Ashwini Sharma: Especially over here, I’ve seen that there is a lot of context switching that gets involved with working with multiple clients same day, right?
90 00:07:32.710 ⇒ 00:07:33.610 Ashwini Sharma: So.
91 00:07:33.610 ⇒ 00:07:34.210 Kaela Gallagher: No.
92 00:07:34.350 ⇒ 00:07:37.349 Ashwini Sharma: So… I think you might want to…
93 00:07:37.670 ⇒ 00:07:42.800 Ashwini Sharma: Get a clear picture from the candidates on how they can manage this kind of a thing, right?
94 00:07:43.700 ⇒ 00:07:44.410 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
95 00:07:44.410 ⇒ 00:07:47.329 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, that’s one of the challenging parts.
96 00:07:47.790 ⇒ 00:07:48.220 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
97 00:07:49.390 ⇒ 00:07:54.219 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Did you come from, like, a consulting background, or, like, similar.
98 00:07:54.220 ⇒ 00:08:00.700 Ashwini Sharma: No, no, I was working with one plant only at a time. I never used to work with multiple plants.
99 00:08:01.260 ⇒ 00:08:02.050 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
100 00:08:02.480 ⇒ 00:08:03.309 Ashwini Sharma: Oh, yeah.
101 00:08:03.940 ⇒ 00:08:17.749 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, so that might be helpful. Yeah, as I’ve been, like, trying to scout out certain people, I’ve been trying to look for people that have maybe the consulting experience, because that would obviously be, helpful here.
102 00:08:17.750 ⇒ 00:08:18.530 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, yeah.
103 00:08:18.530 ⇒ 00:08:20.039 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Okay.
104 00:08:20.800 ⇒ 00:08:31.149 Kaela Gallagher: Cool! I think those are all kind of the main questions I have for you. I know it’s getting long, so I won’t hold you any longer, but I do appreciate your time, and
105 00:08:31.150 ⇒ 00:08:44.559 Kaela Gallagher: If you ever have, you know, anything, any questions or concerns, or need anything people-related, anything like that, I’m always open. Slack, or even setting up a call, like, happy to hop on… on Zoom.
106 00:08:44.560 ⇒ 00:08:45.670 Ashwini Sharma: Sure, sure.
107 00:08:46.020 ⇒ 00:08:57.760 Ashwini Sharma: So, like, you’re a full-time employee of Rain Forge, or are you, like, contract… contractors? Like, most of the data engineers are contractors over here. I guess all of them are contractors.
108 00:08:58.150 ⇒ 00:09:04.240 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I think technically everybody’s, like, A contractor right now, legally.
109 00:09:04.240 ⇒ 00:09:04.850 Ashwini Sharma: Oh, okay.
110 00:09:05.760 ⇒ 00:09:11.019 Kaela Gallagher: but I’m full-time, you know, At least 40 hours a week, like, here’s.
111 00:09:11.020 ⇒ 00:09:11.690 Ashwini Sharma: Oh, hell.
112 00:09:11.690 ⇒ 00:09:12.160 Kaela Gallagher: Repeat.
113 00:09:12.160 ⇒ 00:09:13.979 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, got it, got it, yeah.
114 00:09:16.350 ⇒ 00:09:16.890 Kaela Gallagher: Alrighty!
115 00:09:16.890 ⇒ 00:09:18.150 Ashwini Sharma: Alright, yeah.
116 00:09:18.150 ⇒ 00:09:20.210 Kaela Gallagher: Thanks so much for your time, I appreciate it.
117 00:09:20.210 ⇒ 00:09:24.420 Ashwini Sharma: Thank you, Kayla. Is that your pronunciation? How do I pronounce your name? Kayla, okay.
118 00:09:24.420 ⇒ 00:09:24.940 Kaela Gallagher: Yes.
119 00:09:24.940 ⇒ 00:09:25.380 Ashwini Sharma: Cool.
120 00:09:25.380 ⇒ 00:09:27.760 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, great to meet you, thank you for your time.
121 00:09:27.760 ⇒ 00:09:28.860 Ashwini Sharma: Yeah, thank you.
122 00:09:28.860 ⇒ 00:09:29.480 Kaela Gallagher: Alrighty.
123 00:09:29.480 ⇒ 00:09:30.099 Ashwini Sharma: Have a nice day.
124 00:09:30.600 ⇒ 00:09:32.010 Kaela Gallagher: You too. Bye.