Meeting Title: Q2 Kickoff - Awaish Date: 2026-04-02 Meeting participants: Awaish Kumar, Kaela Gallagher, Uttam Kumaran
WEBVTT
1 00:00:32.890 ⇒ 00:00:35.100 Kaela Gallagher: Hey, Wish, how’s it going?
2 00:00:35.610 ⇒ 00:00:37.860 Awaish Kumar: Hello, all good, how about you?
3 00:00:38.330 ⇒ 00:00:39.430 Kaela Gallagher: Good!
4 00:00:39.950 ⇒ 00:00:42.360 Kaela Gallagher: Thanks for hopping on!
5 00:00:44.660 ⇒ 00:00:46.610 Kaela Gallagher: How’s your day been going so far?
6 00:00:48.370 ⇒ 00:00:50.060 Awaish Kumar: Busy.
7 00:00:51.370 ⇒ 00:00:52.370 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
8 00:00:53.060 ⇒ 00:00:58.150 Kaela Gallagher: How has… how has your recent interviews been going?
9 00:00:58.740 ⇒ 00:01:01.749 Kaela Gallagher: Are you seeing, like, anybody that you’re excited about?
10 00:01:03.510 ⇒ 00:01:06.329 Awaish Kumar: Like… I see interesting people.
11 00:01:07.620 ⇒ 00:01:14.069 Awaish Kumar: People… as a person, like, but yeah, like, in terms of technical depth, I haven’t…
12 00:01:14.310 ⇒ 00:01:19.059 Awaish Kumar: I haven’t been, yeah, it’s not been impressive, like, exceptional.
13 00:01:21.290 ⇒ 00:01:26.889 Awaish Kumar: Maybe someone who can learn and grow, but not someone I just say, like, is the one.
14 00:01:28.100 ⇒ 00:01:29.660 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay.
15 00:01:29.950 ⇒ 00:01:30.900 Kaela Gallagher: Got it.
16 00:01:33.120 ⇒ 00:01:43.080 Kaela Gallagher: Do you have anybody that you’ve, like, worked with in the past, or any, like, peers or colleagues that you think could be a good fit for our roles?
17 00:01:46.410 ⇒ 00:01:50.200 Awaish Kumar: Right, the people I’ve worked with mainly kind of…
18 00:01:51.960 ⇒ 00:01:58.480 Awaish Kumar: like, either they are in Copenhagen, or, like, canada…
19 00:01:59.810 ⇒ 00:02:02.430 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I can see… let me find something.
20 00:02:03.080 ⇒ 00:02:12.419 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, that’s totally fine if they’re, you know, located in Europe or in Canada, like, I would still love to reach out and
21 00:02:12.760 ⇒ 00:02:17.879 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, if we can get another Oisha on the team, I think that would be a win.
22 00:02:19.140 ⇒ 00:02:20.080 Uttam Kumaran: Hi, guys.
23 00:02:21.090 ⇒ 00:02:22.270 Kaela Gallagher: Hi!
24 00:02:22.270 ⇒ 00:02:24.090 Uttam Kumaran: How’s everything?
25 00:02:25.390 ⇒ 00:02:26.170 Kaela Gallagher: Great.
26 00:02:26.170 ⇒ 00:02:27.040 Uttam Kumaran: I’m good.
27 00:02:27.610 ⇒ 00:02:28.640 Awaish Kumar: About you.
28 00:02:29.640 ⇒ 00:02:32.850 Uttam Kumaran: Good! I’m, I’m, like, I’m on West Coast.
29 00:02:33.070 ⇒ 00:02:37.920 Uttam Kumaran: It’s always early day, it’s great. I, like… I wait… it’s already noon.
30 00:02:38.250 ⇒ 00:02:55.679 Uttam Kumaran: on the East Coast, or somewhere, and I’m, like, halfway done, I guess. But I don’t… we’ll see, I end up… I feel like when I’m here on the West Coast, I end up just working till 4 anyways. But, no, I’m excited. It’s been a really good week, and I feel like a lot of clients are…
31 00:02:55.910 ⇒ 00:02:59.940 Uttam Kumaran: you know, getting, solidified, and I’m excited for this conversation.
32 00:03:00.100 ⇒ 00:03:07.139 Uttam Kumaran: I guess, yeah, Awash, I think the biggest thing is we wanted to just concretely solidify
33 00:03:07.140 ⇒ 00:03:20.320 Uttam Kumaran: sort of, you know, everybody getting, you know, reappointed or appointed to either SLs or CSOs. We had a conversation yesterday, so really this conversation is just to set the stage on, like, what the expectations are.
34 00:03:21.650 ⇒ 00:03:39.340 Uttam Kumaran: which I feel like you’re pretty aware of, and have been really helpful in framing, and then just answering, you know, any questions about what the quarter is going to look like, in terms of responsibilities, and then just seeing how, like, me and you and the three of us can have, like, a tighter
35 00:03:40.540 ⇒ 00:03:56.649 Uttam Kumaran: you know, communication to make sure you feel supported, and that, like, we’re gonna, you know, we’re all kind of gonna win this quarter. So that’s really the goal. I think Caleb prepared some, notes as well, but any thoughts there so far? Or we can just kind of walk through
36 00:03:57.070 ⇒ 00:03:59.020 Uttam Kumaran: Those notes as well.
37 00:04:00.300 ⇒ 00:04:06.109 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, Nick… So, number one is, like, how this data…
38 00:04:06.370 ⇒ 00:04:19.239 Awaish Kumar: work, like, the… now we have two SLs doing, like, we try to divide between me and Tamilade, but, a lot of work we have been doing is kind of overlapping.
39 00:04:19.610 ⇒ 00:04:20.310 Awaish Kumar: Hmm.
40 00:04:20.779 ⇒ 00:04:24.059 Awaish Kumar: Like, modeling stuff, like, maybe we don’t…
41 00:04:24.480 ⇒ 00:04:35.659 Awaish Kumar: Like, whenever a new client comes in, we might have some of the data engineering work, but then we end up going into doing AE work, which lasts longer than maybe the engineering task.
42 00:04:35.950 ⇒ 00:04:40.520 Awaish Kumar: So, yeah, and, like, how these… there will be lines between…
43 00:04:40.740 ⇒ 00:04:44.920 Awaish Kumar: That I don’t step over what Devonard is doing.
44 00:04:46.610 ⇒ 00:04:49.710 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so on the, so on the data side.
45 00:04:49.830 ⇒ 00:05:01.520 Uttam Kumaran: it’s mainly just because we have so many subservices, and a lot of things that we even do that we haven’t yet written down. So, one is, it’s a great question. I want, basically, for all of us.
46 00:05:01.520 ⇒ 00:05:15.949 Uttam Kumaran: to basically support both of you guys. So one is I want Demi to squarely own analytics engineering. I feel like that’s where his passion is. I think he has a lot of depth there, and I think, like, he wants to run with that. I think similarly, like.
47 00:05:15.990 ⇒ 00:05:32.139 Uttam Kumaran: me and you are really the only two people that can do really complex data engineering and data infrastructure, and I think both are really important. In fact, I think, like, there’s so much depth in both that, like, putting that all on one person would be really, really difficult.
48 00:05:32.210 ⇒ 00:05:48.070 Uttam Kumaran: And so, that doesn’t imply that we’re not each gonna work on those areas, it just gives someone an ownership of that service. And what does ownership of the service mean? Like, I think if we… if you want to open this, I don’t know, Kayla, do you want to share this?
49 00:05:48.280 ⇒ 00:05:51.540 Uttam Kumaran: Doc with, awash?
50 00:05:53.320 ⇒ 00:05:55.719 Kaela Gallagher: Wait, you cut out a little bit. You said…
51 00:05:55.720 ⇒ 00:05:58.150 Uttam Kumaran: So, do you want to share this doc with Awash?
52 00:05:59.160 ⇒ 00:06:02.819 Kaela Gallagher: I think… I shared the agenda, like, in our chat.
53 00:06:02.820 ⇒ 00:06:03.190 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
54 00:06:03.490 ⇒ 00:06:05.710 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, so we don’t have it there.
55 00:06:06.210 ⇒ 00:06:07.719 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, let me pull that up.
56 00:06:09.510 ⇒ 00:06:23.160 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so if we look at that, I mean, the biggest thing that I want to align on is that, one, anything in your area, in your service area, is what you own. So, in that sense.
57 00:06:23.660 ⇒ 00:06:29.359 Uttam Kumaran: like, flipped another way, I would be like, if I looked at it away, said, you’re gonna own everything in data.
58 00:06:29.820 ⇒ 00:06:31.930 Uttam Kumaran: You tell me you think that’s possible.
59 00:06:32.090 ⇒ 00:06:45.810 Uttam Kumaran: like, responsibly, I don’t… like, I just don’t think so, right? So I think looking at how many clients are using our DE-related services, looking at how many clients are using modeling, I think there’s a natural separation.
60 00:06:45.890 ⇒ 00:07:03.950 Uttam Kumaran: it doesn’t mean that we won’t get… we’re not gonna each work on any of those, but, like, ultimately, the service leader is responsible for the fact that those are getting done on time, they’re getting done accurately, and playbooks are getting developed, right? So that’s sort of the… the distinction there. I actually think our business is gonna grow where, like.
61 00:07:03.990 ⇒ 00:07:07.049 Uttam Kumaran: there will be more SLs within data, you know?
62 00:07:07.240 ⇒ 00:07:12.269 Uttam Kumaran: And there will be more SLs within strategy and, AI as well.
63 00:07:13.900 ⇒ 00:07:28.109 Uttam Kumaran: So, I think this is just really setting the ground for, like, what does service excellence, like, look like? How do you wake up every day and say, like, I’m aware of all the tickets that are related to data engineering or data infrastructure? I’m aware of who’s working on them.
64 00:07:28.390 ⇒ 00:07:31.280 Uttam Kumaran: I’m also aware of, like, what tickets are stalled.
65 00:07:31.440 ⇒ 00:07:37.700 Uttam Kumaran: And I’m aware of, like, what tickets have kind of come back, because they… it was… it was done poorly. And then…
66 00:07:37.960 ⇒ 00:07:49.009 Uttam Kumaran: that’s sort of the floor, right? So that’s just, like, at minimum, I’m expecting one person to… across all of our subservices, there is a someone that owns at least each of them.
67 00:07:49.460 ⇒ 00:07:53.120 Uttam Kumaran: The sort of excellence is, like, okay.
68 00:07:53.260 ⇒ 00:08:12.729 Uttam Kumaran: proactively, I understand where the risk is gonna happen, right? Second, I’m working on playbooks, right? So, for example, every time we do Snowflake, it’s not another, where is that script? Like, we’re adding stuff, right? But the… and then, so those playbooks start to get used. The second piece is that you’re like, hey, actually.
69 00:08:13.040 ⇒ 00:08:30.840 Uttam Kumaran: like, we’re really good at migrating from Redshift to Snowflake, why aren’t we selling that, right? Like, why isn’t sales going to every Redshift customer they can find and say, we have a 30-day migration plan that we can run, right? So that’s what excellent is going to look like. And so you’re gonna see, as part of all the standard setting.
70 00:08:30.990 ⇒ 00:08:37.880 Uttam Kumaran: We’re setting the floor, which is, like, someone owns all of the tickets and all the work that’s coming out of the service.
71 00:08:38.080 ⇒ 00:08:56.759 Uttam Kumaran: Own, meaning you’re not necessarily the one executing, but you’re aware, and you are the first point of escalation if it doesn’t happen, or it doesn’t happen properly. And then secondarily, like, are you helping the business sell more of that service? Generating more services? Like, OH, I know you know, like, 5 or 10 more technologies than we do here.
72 00:08:56.940 ⇒ 00:09:11.550 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t, right? And so, if you’re like, hey, why aren’t we doing something in Azure, or why aren’t we doing something in Databricks, or like, why aren’t we doing something in ML? And you can articulate it, and you can be like, I can put together the offer.
73 00:09:11.930 ⇒ 00:09:22.289 Uttam Kumaran: we will go sell it, you know? And, like, I want that to be the cadence. To date, all of the services were just things that Robert and I were aware of, and I want to, like, turn that around now.
74 00:09:22.440 ⇒ 00:09:23.240 Uttam Kumaran: Right.
75 00:09:23.600 ⇒ 00:09:25.810 Uttam Kumaran: And so that’s sort of how I’m thinking about it.
76 00:09:28.390 ⇒ 00:09:29.490 Awaish Kumar: Oh, okay.
77 00:09:30.760 ⇒ 00:09:35.250 Kaela Gallagher: Awash, does that help answer the question of, like, Where you and.
78 00:09:35.250 ⇒ 00:09:35.980 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I…
79 00:09:35.980 ⇒ 00:09:37.340 Kaela Gallagher: Debbies. Okay.
80 00:09:37.340 ⇒ 00:09:38.000 Awaish Kumar: Thank you.
81 00:09:39.200 ⇒ 00:09:45.599 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, there are two things, like, I want… Did that separation… of Tars Hope, like.
82 00:09:45.700 ⇒ 00:09:51.600 Awaish Kumar: obviously, while work… like, while we are working on modeling also, like, we can come across, I mean.
83 00:09:51.760 ⇒ 00:09:57.710 Awaish Kumar: Something that, like, for example, Writing a new model, we might have guidelines or playbook for that.
84 00:09:58.150 ⇒ 00:10:00.310 Awaish Kumar: So, is it something, like.
85 00:10:01.100 ⇒ 00:10:05.430 Awaish Kumar: we can just give a suggestion to Demi, like, you can create something like that, or how…
86 00:10:05.590 ⇒ 00:10:10.100 Awaish Kumar: That will work if we… Come across any ideas, which…
87 00:10:10.460 ⇒ 00:10:17.259 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, there’s two ways, like, you could just do it and be like, I did this, you wanna use it or not?
88 00:10:17.390 ⇒ 00:10:23.349 Uttam Kumaran: Or you can say, hey, can you go build a playbook? Or can we build a playbook together? Right?
89 00:10:23.550 ⇒ 00:10:33.670 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t want… I don’t want to be too heavy-handed on, like, no, no, no, like, you’re not allowed to make playbooks. It’s not gonna be like that, but again, like, the theme here is that
90 00:10:33.770 ⇒ 00:10:36.600 Uttam Kumaran: If playbooks don’t exist, and…
91 00:10:37.040 ⇒ 00:10:43.000 Uttam Kumaran: there are so many issues with analytics engineering, I’m gonna ask, why aren’t we creating playbooks, right?
92 00:10:43.320 ⇒ 00:10:51.960 Uttam Kumaran: But I want this to be a support system. Like, if you’re creating stuff for DE, you should be like, Debbie, can we hop on the phone? Let’s just crotch a couple of these out.
93 00:10:52.030 ⇒ 00:11:09.380 Uttam Kumaran: So we can start using them. Similarly, like, I’m sending him something today. I said, something went wrong on default, we pushed an Omni thing, and it broke a tile. Why… can we just create a CI step that checks? Right? But see, I’m… you’re gonna see me flip from, like.
94 00:11:09.780 ⇒ 00:11:16.469 Uttam Kumaran: can… I’ll… hey, here’s something I did to, like, can you do it? And then, if the answer is, like, I can do it.
95 00:11:16.610 ⇒ 00:11:18.409 Uttam Kumaran: at some point, I’m gonna say.
96 00:11:18.870 ⇒ 00:11:27.219 Uttam Kumaran: well, can you, like, let’s just do it today really quickly, right? And then it’s… but it’s gonna be both of us, or our team of SLs working together on it.
97 00:11:27.390 ⇒ 00:11:36.309 Uttam Kumaran: So, there’s no, like, line on who can work on each service, but there is a line on who is the person responsible.
98 00:11:36.560 ⇒ 00:11:46.019 Uttam Kumaran: Right? Like, if there’s an issue with the playbook, or there’s an issue with AE stuff, I’m calling Demi, right? Similarly, even if you worked on the playbook, I’m calling him.
99 00:11:46.480 ⇒ 00:11:54.500 Uttam Kumaran: it’s not… I don’t… you know, you just kind of see, like, what the distinction is, but it’s, again, it’s more of a team effort to, like, get all of the services
100 00:11:54.620 ⇒ 00:11:59.189 Uttam Kumaran: You know, sort of starting to get aligned and starting to have playbooks and common threads.
101 00:11:59.700 ⇒ 00:12:00.410 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
102 00:12:01.950 ⇒ 00:12:07.240 Awaish Kumar: Okay, and then, like, okay, then also, like, separation of work, in terms of, like…
103 00:12:07.470 ⇒ 00:12:09.610 Awaish Kumar: The data quality, for example.
104 00:12:09.860 ⇒ 00:12:16.340 Awaish Kumar: thing, will that come… how… will that come under AE or DE?
105 00:12:18.110 ⇒ 00:12:23.909 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s, it’s probably worth a debate between us. Like…
106 00:12:24.050 ⇒ 00:12:28.820 Uttam Kumaran: I think there are data quality issues that span beyond just models.
107 00:12:29.320 ⇒ 00:12:37.089 Uttam Kumaran: So, maybe it’s under your purview, and maybe his service is a customer, again, like…
108 00:12:37.780 ⇒ 00:12:46.960 Uttam Kumaran: we should just talk and we’ll resolve it, I think. Like, it’s not entirely clear. Yeah. It could be more fluid, but again, like, put another way.
109 00:12:47.680 ⇒ 00:12:53.580 Uttam Kumaran: If a data quality issue comes up and it affects a ticket in your service, I’m gonna call you.
110 00:12:54.780 ⇒ 00:13:07.169 Uttam Kumaran: it’s not… I’m being really crude, but it’s for me and for the customer, they don’t care who’s the service leader. The fact that, like, there’s something in this issue, it got attributed to a snowflake issue, I’m gonna call you.
111 00:13:07.420 ⇒ 00:13:12.989 Uttam Kumaran: Right? If there’s a dbt model that got pushed that didn’t compile, I’m gonna call Demi.
112 00:13:13.510 ⇒ 00:13:21.529 Uttam Kumaran: Right? He can then say, like, okay, I’m using Oasis thing, blah blah, whatever. But either way, it’s on him, because the issue was in his…
113 00:13:21.960 ⇒ 00:13:31.480 Uttam Kumaran: service ticket, you know? And so this is where, like… but also, I don’t know, everybody should be thinking about more testing, more CI,
114 00:13:31.490 ⇒ 00:13:47.329 Uttam Kumaran: like, I feel like it’s gonna fall under everybody, but also, the faster that you can make sure that your stuff is taken care of, the faster you can unlock bonuses, right? So, in that sense, I’m always gonna take the flip side, don’t wait for people.
115 00:13:47.470 ⇒ 00:14:01.280 Uttam Kumaran: Like, if something is gonna… if something in your service line is affected by their issues, and you’re like, okay, I’m just gonna work on the CI, because it always affects my service when they mess up, just build it and close it out, you know?
116 00:14:01.380 ⇒ 00:14:06.190 Uttam Kumaran: That’s… that’s sort of the advice that I’ll probably give.
117 00:14:06.950 ⇒ 00:14:07.760 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
118 00:14:08.410 ⇒ 00:14:09.150 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
119 00:14:11.830 ⇒ 00:14:19.050 Uttam Kumaran: Do the rest of, like, the things in that message make sense? Like, couple things, like, maybe just to go over.
120 00:14:19.200 ⇒ 00:14:36.860 Uttam Kumaran: One is, like, I want you to make sure that you can own, like, linear for the tickets in your, service. And so the one way that we’re gonna do that is, in the platform, there’s now, like, a clear area for how to name… how to label tickets.
121 00:14:36.940 ⇒ 00:14:42.729 Uttam Kumaran: And there are skills that are gonna help you, say, look through this team and label the ticket based on the service.
122 00:14:43.600 ⇒ 00:14:50.530 Uttam Kumaran: So today, I think one thing that could be helpful is if you want to go try that out, and I think by the end of the day, if you’re like, hey.
123 00:14:50.750 ⇒ 00:14:55.640 Uttam Kumaran: across all of Linear, I know all the tickets that are in my service.
124 00:14:56.680 ⇒ 00:14:58.620 Uttam Kumaran: Right? And there’s a view created for that.
125 00:14:59.040 ⇒ 00:15:12.410 Uttam Kumaran: Like, that’s a really helpful thing, because then you… what you can do is you can create an automation that auto-labels everything once every day. You can have a clear view of everything with the data engine label that is delayed.
126 00:15:12.480 ⇒ 00:15:22.130 Uttam Kumaran: Right? So, a couple of, like, housekeeping things I’m gonna ask all the SLs to start to do. I can do that for you, but I think it’s gonna allow you to…
127 00:15:22.590 ⇒ 00:15:25.750 Uttam Kumaran: Run the skills, and, like, kind of be in linear.
128 00:15:26.130 ⇒ 00:15:34.380 Uttam Kumaran: I already went through and did the first round of, like, of allocations, but that’s also gonna be on your plate for
129 00:15:34.590 ⇒ 00:15:48.440 Uttam Kumaran: like, probably later this month and for next month, which is, like, where are the… where are the team members? For you, it’s mainly just me, you, and Ashwini, right? For anyone doing data engine work. What’s the allocation? And then we’re gonna meet, like.
130 00:15:48.590 ⇒ 00:16:01.489 Uttam Kumaran: at least once a month. And then, as you can see, like, I’m gonna start to ask, like, hey, can we just hop on a quick call with the SLs just to review, like, an issue or talk about a specific case?
131 00:16:01.860 ⇒ 00:16:03.360 Uttam Kumaran: And so that’s sort of, like.
132 00:16:03.740 ⇒ 00:16:09.129 Uttam Kumaran: On a daily level, it’s like, are there tickets in my service that are blocked, or are there issues?
133 00:16:09.270 ⇒ 00:16:27.780 Uttam Kumaran: On a weekly level, it’s like, are the CSOs happy delivering the service? Are they nervous? Do they have… what playbooks do they want? And then on a monthly level, it’s like, okay, did I… how did I… what did my allocation change? Is anyone on my team, like, struggling?
134 00:16:28.050 ⇒ 00:16:30.520 Uttam Kumaran: What other services can we start to offer?
135 00:16:30.630 ⇒ 00:16:35.369 Uttam Kumaran: And we want to, as fast as possible, mitigate active risks.
136 00:16:35.510 ⇒ 00:16:42.999 Uttam Kumaran: have the week and month planned out so that you can start to think about playbooks, and start to think about offers. Otherwise, you’ll never have time
137 00:16:43.230 ⇒ 00:16:53.630 Uttam Kumaran: to do that, you know, or the mind space to do that. And so… and then one other way, one is, like, Kayla and I are partnering to get you more DE support. We’re partnering with
138 00:16:53.950 ⇒ 00:16:58.829 Uttam Kumaran: Demolade to get him more AE support, so that you guys can free up to do that.
139 00:16:59.250 ⇒ 00:17:00.929 Uttam Kumaran: what I’m gonna say is, like.
140 00:17:02.110 ⇒ 00:17:05.290 Uttam Kumaran: by the end of this month, I want us to see a real push
141 00:17:05.359 ⇒ 00:17:24.549 Uttam Kumaran: Against, like, tons of active issues or clarifications needed on the data engineering side. Like, the best thing you can do this month is make sure that by the end of the month or in the end of the next two weeks, you know every ticket that’s coming out of your service, you know the things that are at risk or having issues, and you’ve escalated them.
142 00:17:24.599 ⇒ 00:17:30.069 Uttam Kumaran: Then, once that’s, like, set, it’s gonna be easy for you to start to build the playbooks and things like that.
143 00:17:30.280 ⇒ 00:17:36.780 Uttam Kumaran: What… put another way, if you start building playbooks and building offers, but, like, the house is still on fire, like…
144 00:17:36.940 ⇒ 00:17:47.540 Uttam Kumaran: it’s… those are never gonna go, you know? They’re never gonna get shipped, because the CSOs are gonna be like, well, I still don’t even have clarity on, like, the thing I’m shipping now, you know?
145 00:17:48.820 ⇒ 00:17:49.940 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
146 00:17:50.530 ⇒ 00:17:54.710 Awaish Kumar: And then, like, how… Like, ish.
147 00:17:55.130 ⇒ 00:18:04.660 Awaish Kumar: how the new requests come in for clients where maybe I’m not involved. For example, if some DE work comes in in the Magic Spoon.
148 00:18:05.400 ⇒ 00:18:11.810 Awaish Kumar: So, like, is it from CSO that I will learn, like, in EDE?
149 00:18:12.440 ⇒ 00:18:13.710 Awaish Kumar: Support here?
150 00:18:14.030 ⇒ 00:18:21.079 Awaish Kumar: And then, like, it’s my responsibility is to, like, get that requirement and split it into tickets and lien, you know?
151 00:18:22.460 ⇒ 00:18:27.339 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think, like, again, given that situation, there’s a couple of ways, like.
152 00:18:27.690 ⇒ 00:18:32.469 Uttam Kumaran: The CSO client might ask for something, it’s a DE ticket, the CSO might create it.
153 00:18:33.210 ⇒ 00:18:40.580 Uttam Kumaran: but… and assign it to someone on your team, right? So, this is where I’m gonna recommend that you have, like, really frequent touchpoints with Ashwini.
154 00:18:40.700 ⇒ 00:18:54.830 Uttam Kumaran: like, you should know everything that he’s working on, or at least be, like, 5 minutes from knowing that, right? I’m gonna give the same feedback to all the SLs, is like, start building a close relationship with the people on your team, because
155 00:18:55.040 ⇒ 00:18:59.020 Uttam Kumaran: Your success depends squarely on them succeeding.
156 00:18:59.350 ⇒ 00:19:09.849 Uttam Kumaran: And so, whether it comes from the CSO, whether it comes from a Sweeney, whether you see it in linear, one way or another, you need to have awareness. I… I would say.
157 00:19:09.960 ⇒ 00:19:19.709 Uttam Kumaran: it’s gonna be a tall task to require anybody creating DE tickets to, like, send them to you. It’s also gonna be a tall task for you to go manage every single ticket.
158 00:19:19.770 ⇒ 00:19:26.569 Uttam Kumaran: So, put another way, you can tell the CSO, if you create a DE ticket, I need to… it needs to be in this format.
159 00:19:26.620 ⇒ 00:19:39.939 Uttam Kumaran: you can tell Ashwini, don’t take on tickets that don’t have this format. Or, hey, daily, let’s… me and you meet for 10 minutes and just go through what are the active tickets in a DE service we’re working on, right? So, you have a couple options.
160 00:19:40.110 ⇒ 00:19:44.720 Uttam Kumaran: And so I want to avoid the, like.
161 00:19:44.870 ⇒ 00:19:46.990 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, every ticket goes through a WACH.
162 00:19:47.180 ⇒ 00:19:48.539 Uttam Kumaran: You’re never gonna survive.
163 00:19:48.890 ⇒ 00:20:03.729 Uttam Kumaran: You know, instead, it’s like, what are some of the guidelines that you can set for Ashwini and for the CSOs that are selling your service that help you manage, right? And so you should be opinionated about that, and call them and be like, hey, if there’s a DE ticket.
164 00:20:03.850 ⇒ 00:20:21.609 Uttam Kumaran: It needs to be in this way, right? Or, like, again, you can set up, like, linear notifications anytime there’s a certain label, right? Or, again, you can tell us, Sweeney, hey, if there’s any new tickets that come up, we need to discuss them in the morning. So you’re… you have the… you have the latitude to run it however you want.
165 00:20:22.590 ⇒ 00:20:29.130 Kaela Gallagher: I think this is a really good point, and, like, tying it to recruiting as well, like.
166 00:20:29.170 ⇒ 00:20:47.509 Kaela Gallagher: OH, the person that we’re going to bring in for data engineering, like, they are going to be tied to the success of your service line. So, really important for you to be excited about them. So yeah, if you can think of any peers you’ve had in the past, or anybody you want to partner with again, like.
167 00:20:47.750 ⇒ 00:20:49.500 Kaela Gallagher: Would love to be in touch with them.
168 00:20:51.270 ⇒ 00:21:11.190 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, you’re gonna see, like, it’s… you’re gonna, everybody so far, like, I mean, me and you have mostly interviewed them on the data side and hired them, but now it’s, like, it’s on you. Like, you’re partly inheriting a team, but also, like, your success really, really matters based on the team you have and the fact that you have a tight relationship with them.
169 00:21:11.250 ⇒ 00:21:22.329 Uttam Kumaran: Similar with the CSOs. They’re… they’re worried about their client pod, right? But, awaits, there’s a pretty hot chance we hire another two, three people just under you and,
170 00:21:22.410 ⇒ 00:21:24.280 Uttam Kumaran: Demolade’s stuff.
171 00:21:24.350 ⇒ 00:21:28.440 Uttam Kumaran: So, the people you decide to bring on through recruiting
172 00:21:28.450 ⇒ 00:21:34.429 Uttam Kumaran: make sure there’s someone, like, you’re like, okay, I trust this guy’s gonna, like, hook me up, deliver, and, like.
173 00:21:34.440 ⇒ 00:21:51.800 Uttam Kumaran: actually come to stuff on time and, like, actually communicate, because otherwise, like, what I don’t want to hear is, like, oh, like, you’re a leader, you can never blame the people on your team, right? And so you have to quickly find out whether the team’s gonna work under your guidelines.
174 00:21:52.090 ⇒ 00:21:59.469 Uttam Kumaran: Or, like, you need to make a change, but it’s now your guidelines. So you see how, like, our business is transitioning into, like, a team of teams?
175 00:21:59.580 ⇒ 00:22:05.489 Uttam Kumaran: Right? And so I want you guys… you have the latitude. It’s gonna feel uncomfortable, because you may not know
176 00:22:05.680 ⇒ 00:22:14.830 Uttam Kumaran: Is it a try to do a daily meeting? Is this person really struggling? Is it me? Like, welcome to, like, my world, right? But the benefit is…
177 00:22:14.930 ⇒ 00:22:19.769 Uttam Kumaran: on a daily or every two days, we’re gonna talk as a SL group.
178 00:22:19.850 ⇒ 00:22:37.319 Uttam Kumaran: and talk about, like, hey, I have this situation, like, what should I do, right? And we’ll all sort of be like, yeah, here’s how I’m handling it, here’s how I’m handling it. You can tell, give me feedback that maybe I need to invest in a tool, or when you think about some broad process, but we all are gonna start, like.
179 00:22:37.380 ⇒ 00:22:43.860 Uttam Kumaran: being clients of each other, in terms of CSOs, service leads, heads of delivery, and then the ICs on the team.
180 00:22:44.890 ⇒ 00:22:46.200 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
181 00:22:49.270 ⇒ 00:22:55.830 Kaela Gallagher: Any other questions for us, Awish, as you, like, kind of reviewed the… doc that I sent over.
182 00:22:56.590 ⇒ 00:23:00.159 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I don’t think so I have any more questions, it’s…
183 00:23:00.620 ⇒ 00:23:01.210 Uttam Kumaran: Like.
184 00:23:01.210 ⇒ 00:23:04.029 Awaish Kumar: I understand the… The plant, it’s more.
185 00:23:04.030 ⇒ 00:23:05.779 Uttam Kumaran: What are you wor- what are you worried about?
186 00:23:07.630 ⇒ 00:23:15.470 Awaish Kumar: Like, I don’t know, I’m… it’s like, I’m worried about execution, how you go, like,
187 00:23:15.850 ⇒ 00:23:21.840 Awaish Kumar: like, creating… I’m thinking about, like, creating those linear views that you suggested.
188 00:23:22.470 ⇒ 00:23:23.170 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
189 00:23:23.170 ⇒ 00:23:26.619 Awaish Kumar: One view for all the tickets, and under data engineering, and
190 00:23:27.170 ⇒ 00:23:30.010 Awaish Kumar: How they are coming in, and things like that.
191 00:23:31.790 ⇒ 00:23:35.650 Uttam Kumaran: Is there something today or tomorrow that… yeah, yeah, go ahead, go ahead.
192 00:23:36.830 ⇒ 00:23:40.670 Awaish Kumar: Also, like, the scope of the work, like,
193 00:23:41.470 ⇒ 00:23:49.380 Awaish Kumar: we have seen on Eden OS, like, I think you have received a lot of escalations around, like.
194 00:23:49.380 ⇒ 00:23:50.060 Uttam Kumaran: Yes.
195 00:23:50.520 ⇒ 00:23:56.079 Awaish Kumar: But it’s more like… like, defining the scope, right? The…
196 00:23:56.080 ⇒ 00:23:59.229 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, then, you know me, I’m not, like…
197 00:23:59.560 ⇒ 00:24:10.100 Uttam Kumaran: it’s never really… we’re good at what we do. I’m not worried about, like… I’m not like, oh shit, Oasis dropping the ball. It’s not… it’s not that. In fact, it’s just, like, we didn’t have escalation paths.
198 00:24:10.200 ⇒ 00:24:11.030 Uttam Kumaran: Right?
199 00:24:11.130 ⇒ 00:24:15.670 Uttam Kumaran: And instead, escalation happens late, and it happens… it’s just one path.
200 00:24:15.910 ⇒ 00:24:18.239 Uttam Kumaran: Right? So instead, what I’m trying to do is, like.
201 00:24:18.390 ⇒ 00:24:25.599 Uttam Kumaran: create these structures so the escalations happen early, right? And then also there’s a path, right? Versus, like.
202 00:24:25.790 ⇒ 00:24:28.930 Uttam Kumaran: hey, do this architecture diagram. It’s like.
203 00:24:29.210 ⇒ 00:24:44.390 Uttam Kumaran: when is it due? What is it? Who needs it? I know that those are… there’s probably… you don’t… you didn’t have the answers for that, but again, you can… I hope you see that the way I’m handling it is now, like, let’s meet as a group and discuss what went wrong, versus, hey.
204 00:24:44.390 ⇒ 00:24:50.279 Uttam Kumaran: let’s just solve it right now. I’m not intra- we’re… I feel like, like, knock on whatever, like.
205 00:24:50.430 ⇒ 00:24:55.299 Uttam Kumaran: We’re… our business is working, we’re getting more clients, now is the time for me to, like.
206 00:24:55.520 ⇒ 00:25:06.979 Uttam Kumaran: build leaders in the crew who… we’re talking about situations, and we’re building the intuition, versus, like, issue, let me solve, issue, let me solve. It’s not… we can’t…
207 00:25:06.980 ⇒ 00:25:24.269 Uttam Kumaran: scale that way, and then also the people on… when you start to have a team of 4, 5, 6, like, you’re gonna have to show them how to develop that… that intuition as well. So that’s why you’re gonna see a lot of these issues we’re gonna discuss at the SL group as much as possible. I’m gonna be like, hey, let’s just hop on the phone, we have a case
208 00:25:24.290 ⇒ 00:25:37.209 Uttam Kumaran: let’s walk through. Almost like a medical board, right? Like, okay, we have a case today, we’re looking at, like, what this is, what’s… how do you think you would handle it, how do you think you would handle it? Okay, we’re gonna find the answer, I promise you, because
209 00:25:37.270 ⇒ 00:25:49.840 Uttam Kumaran: I’ve seen this now for years. Each of us has now seen this in our area. The answer is there, and nothing is a technical challenge, like, we can’t overcome. It’s just gonna be communications and process, you know?
210 00:25:50.060 ⇒ 00:26:00.200 Uttam Kumaran: So I think another question for you is, like, if there’s something I could do today or tomorrow to give you more confidence you could hit this, like, what would it be? I know, like.
211 00:26:00.500 ⇒ 00:26:06.350 Uttam Kumaran: I’m still kind of, like, I don’t think I’ve made it clear about how you guys should be doing allocations.
212 00:26:06.730 ⇒ 00:26:11.369 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t think I’ve made it clear on, like, when we’re gonna meet.
213 00:26:12.640 ⇒ 00:26:15.920 Uttam Kumaran: You know, but, like, what else can I, like, try to clear up?
214 00:26:16.670 ⇒ 00:26:18.520 Uttam Kumaran: You know, in the next 2 days.
215 00:26:23.200 ⇒ 00:26:24.050 Awaish Kumar: Boom.
216 00:26:24.540 ⇒ 00:26:25.670 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I…
217 00:26:27.440 ⇒ 00:26:34.639 Awaish Kumar: Like, I’m inclined to, like, try it out, like, maybe give you feedback, and maybe after the next week.
218 00:26:34.780 ⇒ 00:26:40.309 Awaish Kumar: They’re, like… I’m, like, I have to figure out my process as well.
219 00:26:40.590 ⇒ 00:26:46.900 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. And can I ask you, if you figure out a process, can you share with the other 2 and 3?
220 00:26:47.350 ⇒ 00:26:58.239 Uttam Kumaran: Because what I’m… to tell you what I’m… to tell you what I’m worried about, because nobody… nobody asked me, but I’ll ask, what am I worried about? I’m worried about that this group is a quiet group.
221 00:26:59.100 ⇒ 00:27:02.339 Uttam Kumaran: And that we’re a group, because
222 00:27:02.510 ⇒ 00:27:08.169 Uttam Kumaran: I have, like, two halves of me. I’m, like, on the business side, I’m, like, more forward, I’m on the engineering side.
223 00:27:08.570 ⇒ 00:27:15.279 Uttam Kumaran: I feel like we are a group of people that can just go be like, I’ll solve the problem ourselves, right? And I’m worried that
224 00:27:15.600 ⇒ 00:27:23.190 Uttam Kumaran: we aren’t… We… this… the service lead group is gonna continue to do that, versus, like.
225 00:27:23.330 ⇒ 00:27:26.789 Uttam Kumaran: do what I did today, which is like, hey, there’s an issue, can we all talk about it?
226 00:27:27.090 ⇒ 00:27:39.509 Uttam Kumaran: Right? And that’s what I’m… that’s what I need to see, because ultimately, I’m… I’m not gonna be able to flag every issue, and by the time it gets to me, it’s kind of, like, should be pretty… pretty in a bad situation.
227 00:27:39.720 ⇒ 00:27:44.139 Uttam Kumaran: So what I’m… what I’m trying to find out is, like, is this crew…
228 00:27:44.250 ⇒ 00:27:47.510 Uttam Kumaran: Like, can they con- can we get over our, like…
229 00:27:47.760 ⇒ 00:27:58.330 Uttam Kumaran: let me look into it for a few hours and try to solve it myself, versus, like, hey, I’m having this issue, can we huddle for 5 minutes? Like, I really would love to see the latter.
230 00:27:58.730 ⇒ 00:28:01.080 Uttam Kumaran: And I’m worried that, like.
231 00:28:02.270 ⇒ 00:28:15.200 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, me and you call, me and Demi call, me and Sam call, I think Jasmine is maybe more forward, but, like, I’m worried that we’re just a group of engineers, and, like, things may get shoved under the rug. So, like, I don’t know, what do you think about that?
232 00:28:17.080 ⇒ 00:28:23.169 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, like, sometimes it’s… it seems… Like, executing it faster.
233 00:28:23.560 ⇒ 00:28:27.709 Awaish Kumar: Then… then, like, the discussions and trying to make
234 00:28:28.320 ⇒ 00:28:31.060 Awaish Kumar: I don’t understand how this is.
235 00:28:31.200 ⇒ 00:28:36.089 Awaish Kumar: And said, yeah, you just take, like, one hour, and… And do it yourself?
236 00:28:36.090 ⇒ 00:28:36.840 Uttam Kumaran: Rip through it.
237 00:28:37.260 ⇒ 00:28:37.910 Awaish Kumar: Yeah.
238 00:28:39.090 ⇒ 00:28:45.520 Awaish Kumar: But I agree that we need to have team members that can understand what’s going on, and…
239 00:28:46.190 ⇒ 00:28:47.640 Awaish Kumar: And try themselves.
240 00:28:48.930 ⇒ 00:28:52.839 Uttam Kumaran: So that’s where I’m gonna give some feedback, like, if I’m not hearing things.
241 00:28:52.980 ⇒ 00:28:56.289 Uttam Kumaran: like, I’m just gonna be like, guys, I’m not hearing, like.
242 00:28:56.430 ⇒ 00:28:59.009 Uttam Kumaran: People escalate, I’m not hearing people ask for feedback.
243 00:28:59.440 ⇒ 00:29:10.350 Uttam Kumaran: like, I’m doing the same thing on CSOs. Like, I think Greg is doing a really good job, I think Pranav could do a better job, of like, hey, I have a problem, I need help, like, can we meet to discuss?
244 00:29:10.440 ⇒ 00:29:13.580 Uttam Kumaran: Like, that’s what I really want to see a change.
245 00:29:13.600 ⇒ 00:29:32.180 Uttam Kumaran: you’re gonna… you know me, I’ll help, I’ll solve the problem, but, like, if it’s… if it’s induced by me, then I’m the only one that cares, and so that’s what I want to see change, is that because I’ve given you the ownership and responsibility, that you also, like, leverage me, you know, and you leverage, like, hey, I have this case that happened, or, like.
246 00:29:32.390 ⇒ 00:29:36.249 Uttam Kumaran: There’s architecture diagram, I got asked, I had no idea, now it’s blowing up.
247 00:29:36.420 ⇒ 00:29:41.809 Uttam Kumaran: what could we have done differently? Can we meet, right? So, I’m gonna say that to everybody in this group.
248 00:29:42.220 ⇒ 00:29:50.440 Uttam Kumaran: you know, really directly, like, that’s something that I think you’re gonna find accelerates you through all of these KPIs that I’m gonna help you hit, you know?
249 00:29:53.240 ⇒ 00:29:54.280 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, okay.
250 00:29:57.090 ⇒ 00:30:14.669 Kaela Gallagher: Awish, that would be, like, my biggest ask moving forward, like, as you’re running into issues, or, as you have feedback, as you’re developing your workflow, like, we have a thread on Slack, like, just drop any and all thoughts there, like, give us feedback, tell us how it’s going.
251 00:30:14.670 ⇒ 00:30:17.409 Kaela Gallagher: We’re here to support however we can.
252 00:30:18.890 ⇒ 00:30:22.569 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, it’s more like… it’s also… we…
253 00:30:22.890 ⇒ 00:30:29.620 Awaish Kumar: Or no, maybe it’s more like, I don’t know, like, when to escalate to you, for example. Like, if I think…
254 00:30:29.740 ⇒ 00:30:39.680 Awaish Kumar: things are moving, in the right direction. For example, if we talk about Element, and we have…
255 00:30:39.980 ⇒ 00:30:48.430 Awaish Kumar: we ask… we have a channel where we talk about, okay, there is a connector which Polyatomic is building, and we are blocked because it is not built yet.
256 00:30:48.550 ⇒ 00:30:51.430 Awaish Kumar: And it is there, and…
257 00:30:51.760 ⇒ 00:31:04.049 Awaish Kumar: And, like, I don’t feel, then, a need to escalate it, but, like, then I see, like, okay, when I missed this for 3-4 days, then you come back, like, you or anyone.
258 00:31:04.050 ⇒ 00:31:14.229 Uttam Kumaran: But then think about, like, your question there should be, why did we miss… why did you miss this for 3 or 4 days? What part of your process allowed this to slip?
259 00:31:14.580 ⇒ 00:31:24.089 Uttam Kumaran: Mike, you know me, if you call me and you say this is a problem, I’m gonna help you… I’m not gonna think about… I don’t think about blame first. At all, really. I’m like, let’s solve the problem.
260 00:31:24.240 ⇒ 00:31:29.659 Uttam Kumaran: then let’s… I want… but I… really, what I want you to do is, like, Think about, okay.
261 00:31:29.790 ⇒ 00:31:35.510 Uttam Kumaran: Where in our process is it missing that a ticket was sitting there for 4 days, no update?
262 00:31:35.640 ⇒ 00:31:47.400 Uttam Kumaran: okay, like, maybe we should build a view that’s, like, tickets, 4 days, no updates, right? So that’s what I want you to think about. The second piece is, like, you’re never gonna be faulted for escalating early, because I’ll just tell you if it’s…
263 00:31:47.710 ⇒ 00:31:50.120 Uttam Kumaran: If there’s another path, don’t worry.
264 00:31:50.250 ⇒ 00:31:58.249 Uttam Kumaran: Right? What’s gonna happen, though, is if we don’t escalate, a client gets involved, it’s gonna become… it’s just gonna become more intense, you know?
265 00:31:58.400 ⇒ 00:32:16.699 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, my question is more… more regarding, like, I don’t feel that I need to escalate, in a sense that, for example, a connector is… I have a ticket which says Polyatomic is building this connector, and it’s below, we have a select thread, which says it, like, that
266 00:32:16.920 ⇒ 00:32:18.560 Awaish Kumar: It is blocked on them.
267 00:32:18.690 ⇒ 00:32:29.119 Awaish Kumar: then I say, okay, if we are blocked on them, and I have already communicated it, I don’t have to repeatedly say that, like, after every two days, or, like, when.
268 00:32:29.120 ⇒ 00:32:33.060 Uttam Kumaran: Well, then I guess my question would be, do you feel like the client is…
269 00:32:33.770 ⇒ 00:32:38.029 Uttam Kumaran: Extremely aware of the fact that this is in progress.
270 00:32:38.870 ⇒ 00:32:40.160 Uttam Kumaran: You see what I mean?
271 00:32:43.100 ⇒ 00:32:45.640 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, yeah.
272 00:32:45.640 ⇒ 00:32:52.310 Uttam Kumaran: Like, at any moment, at any moment, would you say, like, okay, Shivani is 100% aware that Walmart is on the way?
273 00:32:54.070 ⇒ 00:32:59.659 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, but… yeah, that’s what I’m trying to understand, how we make sure that, because.
274 00:33:00.430 ⇒ 00:33:03.229 Uttam Kumaran: Your first question should be the CSO, right?
275 00:33:04.220 ⇒ 00:33:12.609 Uttam Kumaran: So, your question to me… should be, hey, is Shivani 100% aware? I may say, I don’t think so.
276 00:33:12.710 ⇒ 00:33:17.820 Uttam Kumaran: We should make her really aware, right? And we should say who’s responsible.
277 00:33:18.330 ⇒ 00:33:27.410 Uttam Kumaran: And that’s gonna be a good point, but this is where, like, there’s multiple points of escalation. For me, I’m gonna say, like, okay, it’s been quiet on the data ingestion piece.
278 00:33:27.730 ⇒ 00:33:32.519 Uttam Kumaran: what’s going on. For you, you may also say it’s been kind of quiet, what’s going on?
279 00:33:32.860 ⇒ 00:33:36.610 Uttam Kumaran: Both of us feel that way, one of us has to say something, and, like.
280 00:33:37.460 ⇒ 00:33:48.179 Uttam Kumaran: I would say it should be you, because I’m trying my best, but I’m very busy. I would say, if you have a gut feeling, you should just say it, because worst case, what is it? It’s on… oh, I already told her.
281 00:33:48.790 ⇒ 00:33:57.319 Uttam Kumaran: Simple, right? But if you’re like, hey, it’s been 4 days, we haven’t started anything, like, is she aware of this? I’ll be like, maybe not, we should say something. Let’s say something.
282 00:33:57.460 ⇒ 00:34:02.949 Uttam Kumaran: Versus if it’s 6 days or 8 days, then she’s gonna be like, why didn’t you tell me 4 days ago? See how, like…
283 00:34:03.460 ⇒ 00:34:13.670 Uttam Kumaran: So everybody has a need, and then ultimately, if you think about where this goes with the KPIs, if… one thing I’m gonna be looking for is, like, if you said a certain thing was gonna be done.
284 00:34:14.000 ⇒ 00:34:15.559 Uttam Kumaran: And then it got pushed.
285 00:34:15.870 ⇒ 00:34:22.420 Uttam Kumaran: At the end of the month, we can look at what are all the things that got pushed, how much was in control, in our control versus not.
286 00:34:22.560 ⇒ 00:34:28.810 Uttam Kumaran: So one of the KPIs we’re gonna look at is, like, on time, right? Are people… are things getting out on time?
287 00:34:28.969 ⇒ 00:34:37.410 Uttam Kumaran: when… and is it due to our control or not? And how do we improve the process? So in that situation, you may say, hey, this is not going out on time.
288 00:34:37.929 ⇒ 00:34:41.550 Uttam Kumaran: And it’s Polytomic’s fault, and the client was super aware.
289 00:34:42.370 ⇒ 00:34:43.670 Uttam Kumaran: Simple, right?
290 00:34:45.199 ⇒ 00:34:45.899 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
291 00:34:45.900 ⇒ 00:34:56.629 Uttam Kumaran: So this is where… I’m gonna tell… I’m gonna tell everybody that, like, if you have a gut instinct that something is wrong, or on the path to being wrong, you need to escalate. This team, this group of SLs is not escalating enough.
292 00:34:56.880 ⇒ 00:35:02.160 Uttam Kumaran: I’ll tell you… That’s actually, like, I’ve not seen anybody in the company escalate too much.
293 00:35:02.340 ⇒ 00:35:04.589 Uttam Kumaran: Let’s just put it that way. Like…
294 00:35:04.870 ⇒ 00:35:21.039 Uttam Kumaran: I want people to be like, you know, I think if you… a couple people, like, I think Kayla’s really good at this. I think B is really good at this. I think Greg, Advait, are doing a good job. I think Rico’s good. Like, if there is something wrong, it’s, like, a…
295 00:35:21.040 ⇒ 00:35:36.959 Uttam Kumaran: con… consistent, like, thing about, we need to resolve this. Like, that is what, like, great looks like. If you have something that you’re like, this has to get done, I’m not getting what I need, you have to push. Like, I don’t think this group is doing… I think the group of SLs needs to really
296 00:35:37.040 ⇒ 00:35:40.240 Uttam Kumaran: do that a lot more. Because ultimately, like.
297 00:35:40.620 ⇒ 00:35:49.140 Uttam Kumaran: you guys are, like, one line of defense, right? And I want to see that you’re trusting your gut instinct, and you’re kind of building that motion.
298 00:35:51.610 ⇒ 00:35:52.280 Awaish Kumar: Okay.
299 00:35:54.060 ⇒ 00:35:57.340 Uttam Kumaran: It will, and things… look, I think as we start to add more team.
300 00:35:57.480 ⇒ 00:36:17.189 Uttam Kumaran: like, it will look more like you’re managing a team, you’re also doing some work, versus now, as I know it’s like 80-20. But again, like, we have to put the process in place, because anybody that’s going to join your team needs to figure out what it’s like to work with you and work under your service, right? So I don’t want to wait until you have 3 or 4 people.
301 00:36:17.250 ⇒ 00:36:28.320 Uttam Kumaran: for you to start saying, this is my service. Even service of 2 people is still a service, right? And, like, I want whatever you decide at 2 people to work at 6 to work at 16.
302 00:36:28.540 ⇒ 00:36:32.160 Uttam Kumaran: Right? And, like, you’re… you are…
303 00:36:32.940 ⇒ 00:36:40.020 Uttam Kumaran: who have the gut instinct, just have to turn it up, like, one more notch, right? And I’m giving you the freedom to, like.
304 00:36:40.280 ⇒ 00:36:45.260 Uttam Kumaran: Slack or whatever, but, like, I don’t want to get to the end of the month and say, like.
305 00:36:45.550 ⇒ 00:36:55.770 Uttam Kumaran: all these got missed, why didn’t we escalate? So that’s what I want to just, like… that’s, I think, one piece of feedback that I think you kind of hear what I’m trying to say, but, like, that would be really helpful.
306 00:36:56.290 ⇒ 00:36:57.290 Awaish Kumar: Okay, yeah.
307 00:37:03.760 ⇒ 00:37:04.540 Uttam Kumaran: Cool.
308 00:37:06.550 ⇒ 00:37:07.390 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome!
309 00:37:07.390 ⇒ 00:37:09.260 Uttam Kumaran: I’m excited, I think this is great.
310 00:37:09.440 ⇒ 00:37:17.739 Uttam Kumaran: I’ve always… I… you know, Awes, you’ve managed team before, and it’s mainly been me and you on… on this side of the house for a while, so I’m excited to sort of…
311 00:37:17.840 ⇒ 00:37:19.580 Uttam Kumaran: And more to you.
312 00:37:19.710 ⇒ 00:37:32.529 Uttam Kumaran: what you’re gonna see out of the CSO, though, is they’re not gonna say it as directly as what I said, but they’re gonna… that’s what they’re gonna need to succeed, is they’re gonna need a partner on the technical side. We’re basically creating, like, several different
313 00:37:32.700 ⇒ 00:37:37.920 Uttam Kumaran: It’s like a mix of engineering manager, solution architect, right? Like, tech leads.
314 00:37:38.480 ⇒ 00:37:49.629 Uttam Kumaran: But you have AI, you have me supporting, you have, like, awesome clients with… with not, like, crazy difficult or crazy complex work, like, you have a great shot, so…
315 00:37:52.030 ⇒ 00:37:53.730 Awaish Kumar: Okay, yeah, sure.
316 00:37:55.040 ⇒ 00:37:55.630 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
317 00:37:57.780 ⇒ 00:38:00.249 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome! Thank you guys for your time.
318 00:38:01.000 ⇒ 00:38:02.859 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, thank you so much, appreciate it.
319 00:38:03.140 ⇒ 00:38:04.199 Uttam Kumaran: Have a great day.
320 00:38:05.050 ⇒ 00:38:05.560 Awaish Kumar: Boom.