Meeting Title: Brainforge Delivery Lead Interview Date: 2026-03-27 Meeting participants: Johnathan’s iPhone, Kaela Gallagher


WEBVTT

1 00:00:56.930 00:00:58.820 Kaela Gallagher: Hey, Jonathan, how’s it going?

2 00:00:58.820 00:01:01.270 Johnathan’s iPhone: Good, how are you? Is it… is it Kayla?

3 00:01:01.420 00:01:02.870 Kaela Gallagher: Kayla, yeah, nice to meet you.

4 00:01:03.170 00:01:04.319 Johnathan’s iPhone: Nice to meet you.

5 00:01:04.560 00:01:15.980 Kaela Gallagher: Thanks for taking some time. I know you’ve, had probably quite a few conversations with Brainforge people at this point, so appreciate you chatting with me, but,

6 00:01:15.980 00:01:25.870 Kaela Gallagher: for some context, I joined about, like, a month ago to lead, like, people in recruiting efforts, so, yeah, just always excited to meet really cool talent.

7 00:01:26.220 00:01:26.960 Johnathan’s iPhone: Nice.

8 00:01:28.030 00:01:42.640 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, Utom gave me some context that you guys have been discussing, like, a delivery lead position. Sure. So, yeah, I guess curious to know, like, a little bit more about your background, and then what has, like, made you interested in Brainforge so far?

9 00:01:43.290 00:01:45.130 Johnathan’s iPhone: Sure, so,

10 00:01:45.970 00:01:52.589 Johnathan’s iPhone: Prior service, served in the Marine Corps for just shy of 9 years. Didn’t do anything too technical, I was in the infantry.

11 00:01:52.700 00:02:06.190 Johnathan’s iPhone: When I left, I was a senior… I was a staff NCO, so an E6. And after I left, I went back to school to learn how to be a civilian and an adult at the same time, it felt like.

12 00:02:07.470 00:02:18.849 Kaela Gallagher: Can I just say, first off, thank you for your service. But secondly, my dad is active duty Air Force, so I’m very familiar with this world he’s been in for 25 years, and I’m like.

13 00:02:18.850 00:02:19.170 Johnathan’s iPhone: No.

14 00:02:19.170 00:02:23.439 Kaela Gallagher: gosh, how’s he gonna go to civilian life? I totally get that.

15 00:02:23.440 00:02:27.380 Johnathan’s iPhone: It was a… it was a really interesting challenge, transitioning, but.

16 00:02:27.380 00:02:28.050 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.

17 00:02:28.050 00:02:35.469 Johnathan’s iPhone: you know, I… I attribute a lot of it to, just the Marine Corps kind of teaching me how to evolve and adapt, so…

18 00:02:35.650 00:02:41.460 Johnathan’s iPhone: Thankfully, you know, I was able to transition fairly well. There was some…

19 00:02:41.630 00:03:00.969 Johnathan’s iPhone: changes, I would say, that I had to adapt to, but after I left, went back to school, got my degree in management science, which is supply chain logistics, route optimization, really. I went to work at USAA for some time. I got hired through an intern program called VetFit, which is Veterans for IT.

20 00:03:01.090 00:03:06.520 Johnathan’s iPhone: They taught me Java development, and how to do software development in their world.

21 00:03:06.670 00:03:16.609 Johnathan’s iPhone: And then after that, I did a variety of different jobs there, and I fell in love with data science, got my master’s in data science, and then…

22 00:03:16.910 00:03:21.520 Johnathan’s iPhone: They were primarily transitioning from a waterfall to an Agile.

23 00:03:21.740 00:03:40.480 Johnathan’s iPhone: So I started doing a lot more certs and doing a lot more, agile leadership roles and things like that. And then after, USAA, I joined Booz Allen, back in 2020, where I was hired as a, data manager for, the local region to create a.

24 00:03:40.550 00:03:53.179 Johnathan’s iPhone: data engineering sell for the San Antonio markets, as well as those regional markets around us. And, been doing that ever since. My official title is Digital Transformation Architect.

25 00:03:53.340 00:04:08.060 Johnathan’s iPhone: Which covers a large span of things within Booz Allen. But I am a people leader, so I have a direct, report admin team, but I also manage cross-functional teams, on a variety of different contracts across,

26 00:04:08.220 00:04:18.049 Johnathan’s iPhone: I would say primarily in cyber security, but also, the Navy Marine Corps market, which is mostly in the data space.

27 00:04:19.279 00:04:26.950 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, that’s my professional career. I would say, for me, the interesting thing about Brainforge, so Clarence and I went and did our EMBA together.

28 00:04:27.070 00:04:36.469 Johnathan’s iPhone: Utsa. Yeah, and so we’ve been friends for quite some years now, in the trenches of MBA work, but

29 00:04:36.580 00:04:46.759 Johnathan’s iPhone: you know, he… he and I stay pretty, close in touch, and, you know, I’m always interested in what he’s doing. And I think the current state of,

30 00:04:47.240 00:04:50.240 Johnathan’s iPhone: Technology and the evolution of it, it’s…

31 00:04:50.460 00:04:57.739 Johnathan’s iPhone: time where things are gonna be faster, and it’s gonna kind of flip the paradigm, I think, from traditional consultancies.

32 00:04:57.840 00:05:09.980 Johnathan’s iPhone: And he had told me about Brainforge, and I had been interested. I’m not as technical anymore, I would say. I don’t do hands-on keyboard for, programmatics as much as I used to.

33 00:05:10.060 00:05:20.259 Johnathan’s iPhone: Now I do a lot more strategic and tactical decision… or strategic with some tactical decision-making, on a grander scale.

34 00:05:21.030 00:05:37.170 Johnathan’s iPhone: And I do a lot of work for business development, currently, where I do client relationships captures, as well as submissions of federal, federal, proposals through, a variety of different venues, that way.

35 00:05:37.760 00:05:39.020 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, that was a… sorry.

36 00:05:39.020 00:05:39.680 Kaela Gallagher: Excellent.

37 00:05:39.770 00:05:43.029 Johnathan’s iPhone: Hopefully I touched on everything and kind of gave you what you were looking for.

38 00:05:43.030 00:05:50.510 Kaela Gallagher: Yes, super, super great context. Curious, like, how many, direct reports do you have right now?

39 00:05:51.860 00:05:57.480 Johnathan’s iPhone: So this is a little bit unique. I have about 80, 86 right now.

40 00:05:57.590 00:06:12.969 Johnathan’s iPhone: That’ll change a little bit. Once I get another contract up and going, I’ll spin off some of those individuals and set up some new leadership groups, and then they’ll… I will lead them, and they will lead the others. But my direct report count is about 80.

41 00:06:13.120 00:06:14.770 Johnathan’s iPhone: 88, so…

42 00:06:14.770 00:06:17.310 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, wow.

43 00:06:17.440 00:06:29.370 Kaela Gallagher: I guess, how do you see that transition being then going from, like, a large company and having so many direct reports to Brainforge, which we’re currently about 25?

44 00:06:29.790 00:06:44.030 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, no, and this is a… so I’ve interviewed with some small, organizations, and this is a common theme, right? Going from big to small. It’s a big transition, and the style is different. So, I would say,

45 00:06:44.800 00:06:53.779 Johnathan’s iPhone: everything’s scalable, in my mind. And so everything that I do starts off with small team leadership, and it expands because it’s scalable. So if I was to say.

46 00:06:53.950 00:07:08.680 Johnathan’s iPhone: You know, I started off working, and I’ll use the Marine Corps as the easiest way of doing it, right? So, the Marine Corps is really big on small, small team ownership and leadership, where it focuses on a subset

47 00:07:08.760 00:07:11.350 Johnathan’s iPhone: To build out an autonomous unit, really.

48 00:07:11.400 00:07:30.779 Johnathan’s iPhone: And then they’re able to be self-governing, and then you scale up, right? So now you have multiple teams of small teams, and then you go a little bit further. So the way I focus on it is identifying leaders across a large scale. So, I don’t see that being a challenge. Those direct reports I have right now, a lot of it is, is they’re new to the firm.

49 00:07:30.780 00:07:35.440 Johnathan’s iPhone: I have to introduce the… I would say the firm’s…

50 00:07:36.490 00:07:44.450 Johnathan’s iPhone: company culture, have to get them established, and working through getting them, getting their feet under them, so…

51 00:07:44.550 00:07:46.539 Johnathan’s iPhone: It’s a little bit more cumbersome.

52 00:07:46.650 00:07:54.199 Johnathan’s iPhone: But I’ve already started to, segment into, logical groupings with leadership.

53 00:07:54.310 00:07:59.149 Johnathan’s iPhone: So now I primarily focus on getting those people,

54 00:07:59.890 00:08:09.739 Johnathan’s iPhone: ownership and responsibility. So, I think the… the transition from going from a big to a small, I think it’s,

55 00:08:09.740 00:08:20.499 Johnathan’s iPhone: absolutely something that I’m used to doing, if I’m being honest, right? I think the challenge, of the unknowns is the only thing I don’t know, right? So I don’t know…

56 00:08:21.130 00:08:23.969 Johnathan’s iPhone: But I don’t know. Yeah. If that makes sense, so…

57 00:08:24.280 00:08:35.829 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah. Cool. Well, I think, like, I’ve… I’ve taken a look at the job description that Utom kind of put together, like, this delivery lead, role. Have you seen, kind of, the initial.

58 00:08:35.830 00:08:36.320 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah.

59 00:08:36.320 00:08:37.530 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool.

60 00:08:37.530 00:08:38.379 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, yeah.

61 00:08:38.380 00:08:39.210 Kaela Gallagher: Excellent.

62 00:08:39.210 00:08:43.050 Johnathan’s iPhone: I had sent them a version as well, so… and I saw it on that working doc, so…

63 00:08:43.059 00:08:51.709 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool. Yeah, I think that seems, like, really relevant to your experience, and I think you being in that role, like, you would bring us a lot of…

64 00:08:51.779 00:08:57.779 Kaela Gallagher: Much needed structure, but also… Utom and Robert are…

65 00:08:57.779 00:09:20.669 Kaela Gallagher: still very, very hands-on. They’re, you know, leading weekly service lead meetings, and, like, trying to, you know, raise the bar on culture, and trying to deliver, a structure that makes sense and works for the company, and they’re so hands-on in that way, and I think you coming in would really, like.

66 00:09:21.259 00:09:26.779 Kaela Gallagher: help support… help support them, and I think a lot of our hires right now are kind of strategic to

67 00:09:26.889 00:09:31.879 Kaela Gallagher: start taking things off of Robert and Utom’s plate. So,

68 00:09:32.509 00:09:39.399 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I think… I think this would be a great position. I’m curious, like, for you to make a move to

69 00:09:39.719 00:09:46.829 Kaela Gallagher: Brainforge, and for this role to be a very exciting yes to you. Like, what would you need to see on our end?

70 00:09:47.770 00:09:51.420 Johnathan’s iPhone: And that’s a great question.

71 00:09:51.590 00:09:56.820 Johnathan’s iPhone: You know, I think if I was to categorize your question as, you know, what would I need

72 00:09:57.300 00:10:04.500 Johnathan’s iPhone: As far as environmentally, and then, of course, we talk about benefits separate, as well as, kind of the…

73 00:10:04.950 00:10:10.780 Johnathan’s iPhone: the roadmap forward, right? Those are the three areas I would bucket it. For environment.

74 00:10:10.790 00:10:22.099 Johnathan’s iPhone: I think you guys have a great company culture now. I think the structure, without making it cumbersome, and I liked what you had put in the working doc.

75 00:10:22.100 00:10:34.549 Johnathan’s iPhone: Where it’s not to, to, you know, be a bottleneck, really, but it’s really to create efficiency and optimization. I love that, right? So, I think the…

76 00:10:35.260 00:10:54.030 Johnathan’s iPhone: the biggest challenge that I think I would need in order to kind of make this a good yes is the confidence, obviously, from Robert and Utam, as well as his leadership group to understand that sometimes it’s painful, right? Change is always painful, and then the opportunity to

77 00:10:54.540 00:11:00.400 Johnathan’s iPhone: iterate through things. So, as much as things are painful in the beginning, you know.

78 00:11:00.680 00:11:08.250 Johnathan’s iPhone: We learn at a young age not to touch a hot stove, but sometimes we kind of have to touch the stove to understand why

79 00:11:08.360 00:11:13.459 Johnathan’s iPhone: Right? So I think an environment that is conducive for,

80 00:11:13.850 00:11:19.859 Johnathan’s iPhone: you know, iteration, which would mean that it was also supporting failure, right? Yeah.

81 00:11:20.250 00:11:32.469 Johnathan’s iPhone: hey, we tried this, it didn’t work, what do we want to take out of here and reuse, and what do we just want to scrap, right? That type of collaborative environment, I do really well in, right? And then as far as,

82 00:11:33.170 00:11:42.919 Johnathan’s iPhone: I would say, kind of the roadmap forward. So I think, you know, Brainforge is in a unique position right now in a market that is,

83 00:11:43.460 00:11:59.470 Johnathan’s iPhone: it’s gonna grow fast, and I just want to be able to, you know, be part of a growth where the sphere of influence is going to grow as well. Meaning, you know, if we’re doing delivery, or if my primary focus and the way that I’m being engaged is delivery, great.

84 00:11:59.480 00:12:03.639 Johnathan’s iPhone: You know, I did bring up to Utam the idea of federal contracting.

85 00:12:04.140 00:12:10.990 Johnathan’s iPhone: And identifying, you know, areas where I can, you know, really bring work

86 00:12:11.280 00:12:22.969 Johnathan’s iPhone: Brain Forge to a new market, right? So, ownership of a market is something where I think it would be exciting for me, as far as a roadmap forward. As well as,

87 00:12:23.190 00:12:26.259 Johnathan’s iPhone: You know, for me, a lot of my…

88 00:12:26.600 00:12:34.529 Johnathan’s iPhone: excitement in life is helping people get better, right? So, grow and progress and look at what’s next for them.

89 00:12:34.610 00:12:47.610 Johnathan’s iPhone: While also, I tell my developers there’s 3 things that I really enjoy, is working with cool people, building some cool stuff, and getting paid well to do it. That’s kind of how I boil down my…

90 00:12:47.610 00:12:48.490 Kaela Gallagher: be fair.

91 00:12:48.490 00:12:49.470 Johnathan’s iPhone: My,

92 00:12:49.880 00:12:58.279 Johnathan’s iPhone: my approach on things, so… As far as benefits go, that one’s kind of tricky. Obviously, you know.

93 00:12:58.540 00:13:07.109 Johnathan’s iPhone: We haven’t really talked about any benefits, thus far. I did an interview for a previous position that they felt I wasn’t the best candidate for.

94 00:13:07.170 00:13:26.959 Johnathan’s iPhone: Primarily because it was heavily technical, and I’m not as technical as I used to be. But that, you know, they did express that there was a salary band for that. I don’t understand, necessarily, any bonus structure, and I would presume with the small, you know, the benefits as far as healthcare and things like that would probably be different than what I’m doing now.

95 00:13:28.370 00:13:34.210 Johnathan’s iPhone: So, I would say from the benefits perspective, there’s a lot of things I don’t know what’s the norm for you guys to really.

96 00:13:34.210 00:13:34.700 Kaela Gallagher: them.

97 00:13:34.700 00:13:37.869 Johnathan’s iPhone: kind of say, here’s what I’m looking for.

98 00:13:38.270 00:13:44.619 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, okay, that’s fair. Yeah, I will say, like, this is not,

99 00:13:44.830 00:13:57.409 Kaela Gallagher: a position that we had a JD already built for, and a salary range already decided, and, like, all those things. But for some context on, like, pay and benefits.

100 00:13:57.410 00:14:08.029 Kaela Gallagher: Currently, our entire team is on a 1099 basis. So independent contracting, either on, like, an hourly or monthly,

101 00:14:08.390 00:14:09.450 Kaela Gallagher: rate.

102 00:14:10.140 00:14:28.429 Kaela Gallagher: That being said, one of the reasons I was brought in is to kind of lead the charge for, like, converting people to W-2 and being able to offer benefits, and that’s definitely something that we would, you know, prioritize for leadership first before transitioning, like, the rest of our team over.

103 00:14:28.430 00:14:33.099 Kaela Gallagher: So, I would imagine you’d be included in one of those, like, first batches, but…

104 00:14:33.100 00:14:42.799 Kaela Gallagher: For a timeline to actually be, like, W-2 and benefits, I would say we’re looking at, like, Q3. We’re still probably a few months away from that.

105 00:14:44.310 00:14:50.290 Kaela Gallagher: So, hopefully that gives you a little bit more insight into, like, where we are right now, there.

106 00:14:51.490 00:14:53.329 Kaela Gallagher: And then we do have, like.

107 00:14:53.560 00:15:09.549 Kaela Gallagher: Other benefits, like, we pay out referral bonuses, we pay out bonuses for completing certifications, so there are other ways to earn more, but curious, like, what range you’re looking for? I don’t know if you and Tom have already discussed that.

108 00:15:10.020 00:15:22.879 Johnathan’s iPhone: No, we haven’t discussed it. You know, to be, you know, upfrank, frank and upfront, so, like, I just got a 4%, for my performance bonus, which brought me to $199.

109 00:15:23.000 00:15:27.340 Johnathan’s iPhone: 9, and that’s an annual salary. So…

110 00:15:27.500 00:15:37.659 Johnathan’s iPhone: Booz Allen doesn’t do any bonuses, they primarily just stick with base pay, and that’s why, you know, I was curious on your bonus structure and those different venues, right? So…

111 00:15:38.030 00:15:57.469 Johnathan’s iPhone: if salary doesn’t match 100%, you know, that’s understandable. I’m definitely willing to have a conversation around additional benefits and how that can be structured in order to make it, one, a benefit for you guys, to, as well as, you know, for myself, right? So…

112 00:15:57.470 00:15:57.850 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.

113 00:15:57.850 00:15:59.230 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah.

114 00:15:59.830 00:16:17.669 Kaela Gallagher: So, in terms of bonus structure, for some of the leads on the team, I do know that that has been built out. I would imagine for this role, we would be building that out as well, but the way that it’s structured is we set quarterly OKRs, objectives, and key results.

115 00:16:17.670 00:16:24.139 Kaela Gallagher: And for each one that is hit, like, a bonus is kind of tied to that and paid out, so…

116 00:16:24.140 00:16:42.179 Kaela Gallagher: I know I was really impressed, like, coming into a startup, and, like, I think it was even on my offer letter, like, these are your Q1 objectives, and if you hit them, we’ll pay you a bonus. So, that’s kind of a cool, cool thing that they’ve done, and I would imagine for this role, that would be part of it, too, so…

117 00:16:42.230 00:16:45.980 Kaela Gallagher: We can definitely, like, take that into consideration with the base.

118 00:16:46.510 00:16:47.130 Johnathan’s iPhone: Okay.

119 00:16:47.530 00:16:48.530 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, that’s fair.

120 00:16:48.700 00:16:53.600 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, awesome. Any, like, questions that I can help answer about Brainforge in general?

121 00:16:54.050 00:16:59.290 Johnathan’s iPhone: I think I’ve gotten quite a bit from, not just Uten, but also…

122 00:16:59.480 00:17:12.509 Johnathan’s iPhone: Just some of the other conversations I’ve had thus far. Really, just looking at timing, and I mean, obviously we talked about drafting that JD and what it would look like, understanding that’s in the…

123 00:17:13.640 00:17:19.310 Johnathan’s iPhone: I would say the infancy, just curious what you think a potential timeline would look like for something like this.

124 00:17:20.500 00:17:27.200 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I would say… We could have an offer maybe as early as next week?

125 00:17:27.410 00:17:34.220 Kaela Gallagher: Or the following, would you be giving, like, 2 weeks notice to booze, or what does your timeline look like there?

126 00:17:34.220 00:17:42.820 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, I would… I would need maybe, like, 2, maybe 3 weeks, just so that way I could give plenty of time to transition some of my leadership ownership.

127 00:17:42.970 00:17:45.330 Johnathan’s iPhone: To the right people, kind of thing.

128 00:17:45.660 00:17:52.170 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, that makes sense. I forgot to ask you, but, like, what’s your biggest motivator in looking for something new right now?

129 00:17:52.530 00:17:59.659 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, that’s a great question. So, and the way that I kind of… Frame it is,

130 00:18:00.210 00:18:01.870 Johnathan’s iPhone: I’ve never worked at a small.

131 00:18:02.490 00:18:20.339 Johnathan’s iPhone: or a mid-sized, company. I’ve only worked at Fortune 500 or large, you know, 30,000 plus employee organizations, and I’ve really excelled. But I find that there are, challenges, because when you have such a large

132 00:18:21.070 00:18:38.350 Johnathan’s iPhone: staff, you can’t… you don’t have that much mobility across things… getting things done. So, in a small, you can help build the foundation for those things, and Brainforge aligns with kind of where I see myself developing, too. Yeah. So it kind of…

133 00:18:38.780 00:18:42.299 Johnathan’s iPhone: It was a good… I think it’s a good alignment.

134 00:18:42.810 00:18:44.830 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, agreed. Cool.

135 00:18:44.990 00:18:49.630 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome. Well, I… have you talked to Robert yet, or is that today?

136 00:18:50.140 00:18:56.090 Johnathan’s iPhone: I didn’t see an invite to… like, you had sent me one, I might have missed it,

137 00:18:56.400 00:18:57.450 Johnathan’s iPhone: Okay.

138 00:18:58.080 00:19:16.439 Kaela Gallagher: I can ping him after this, too, and remind him to send you his calendar if he hasn’t already. But yeah, we definitely, like, want you to chat with Robert as well, and then, I can keep you posted on any next steps. We can continue working on the JD, and, it was so great to meet you. Thanks for taking the time.

139 00:19:16.590 00:19:27.679 Johnathan’s iPhone: Yeah, absolutely. If you could, if you want to just share my cell phone with him, he can just text me, and I mean, we don’t have to go through the formality if it’s easier for him. Okay. We could literally just text a time.

140 00:19:27.680 00:19:28.430 Kaela Gallagher: memo.

141 00:19:28.710 00:19:31.749 Johnathan’s iPhone: We could just jump on a FaceTime or just a phone call, I mean…

142 00:19:33.580 00:19:36.089 Kaela Gallagher: What is your, phone number?

143 00:19:36.280 00:19:37.189 Johnathan’s iPhone: 2 and 0.

144 00:19:37.500 00:19:38.740 Johnathan’s iPhone: 834?

145 00:19:38.960 00:19:40.280 Johnathan’s iPhone: 2547.

146 00:19:40.650 00:19:43.630 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, I’ll send that over to him as well. Cool.

147 00:19:43.630 00:19:44.180 Johnathan’s iPhone: Awesome.

148 00:19:44.180 00:19:44.960 Kaela Gallagher: Thank you!

149 00:19:45.660 00:19:47.139 Johnathan’s iPhone: It was really great to meet you, yeah.

150 00:19:47.140 00:19:49.660 Kaela Gallagher: Sure, great to meet you, too. I hope you have a great weekend.

151 00:19:49.700 00:19:50.720 Johnathan’s iPhone: Thank you, you too.

152 00:19:50.720 00:19:53.399 Kaela Gallagher: Alright, thanks. Talk to you later. Bye.