Meeting Title: Element and Default Project Check-in Date: 2026-04-29 Meeting participants: Kaela Gallagher, Advait Nandakumar Menon
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1 00:00:25.040 ⇒ 00:00:26.879 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Hey, Kayla, how’s it going?
2 00:00:27.050 ⇒ 00:00:29.069 Kaela Gallagher: Good, how are you?
3 00:00:29.570 ⇒ 00:00:32.290 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Doing good, too. Thanks for asking.
4 00:00:32.290 ⇒ 00:00:35.010 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome. Yeah,
5 00:00:35.080 ⇒ 00:00:53.199 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, just wanted to take a couple minutes of your time this morning, now that you’ve reached the one-month mark, and we obviously have you extended, and super excited to have you on the team, but yeah, just wanted to take a few minutes to just kind of see how things have been going for you recently.
6 00:00:53.940 ⇒ 00:00:54.540 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah.
7 00:00:55.330 ⇒ 00:01:01.240 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, how… how are you enjoying your projects and your work right now?
8 00:01:02.010 ⇒ 00:01:08.039 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, it’s going good. I’m deeply integrated into Element and Default now.
9 00:01:08.130 ⇒ 00:01:24.819 Advait Nandakumar Menon: So, it’s been going good, handling both the projects at the same time, switching context. It’s been really helpful to get more used to Omni, and all the different tools we are using, and the automations and workflows within the
10 00:01:24.830 ⇒ 00:01:30.450 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Platform, cursor, open code, and all that good stuff, so… Yeah, so far so good.
11 00:01:30.790 ⇒ 00:01:46.069 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, great. And Element and Default… so I think Element was one that we were planning on having you on since the beginning, but is Default, like, a little bit newer to you? Did you get added recently, or have you been on it for a while?
12 00:01:46.070 ⇒ 00:01:46.970 Advait Nandakumar Menon: No, I.
13 00:01:46.970 ⇒ 00:01:47.440 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
14 00:01:47.440 ⇒ 00:01:59.280 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I believe we had this conversation before. I think I told you that I’ve been added to default since the first week of April, I think. So, over there, I’m coordinating with
15 00:01:59.280 ⇒ 00:02:17.610 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Demi and Greg to build some dashboards in Omni, basically, so that’s what I’ve been doing, and with Element, it’s the same thing, but I’m also working on the topics and underlying modeling as well within Omni, in addition to the dashboard, so there I’m coordinating with Jasmine on it.
16 00:02:18.230 ⇒ 00:02:24.370 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool. Who, like, who has been,
17 00:02:24.930 ⇒ 00:02:32.730 Kaela Gallagher: like, the best partners to you? Like, who do you work the most with, and who, kind of supports you the most in your role?
18 00:02:33.470 ⇒ 00:02:40.629 Advait Nandakumar Menon: When I got onboarded, it was Amber, obviously, since she was my, buddy, but…
19 00:02:40.630 ⇒ 00:02:56.560 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Most recently, I would say, Jasmine, helpful a lot with elements, specifically having someone to brainstorm some of the ideas with, and basically, helping me prioritize what to do and what not to do, and…
20 00:02:56.790 ⇒ 00:03:13.029 Advait Nandakumar Menon: giving me a platform to voice against something when it’s not really possible within the time limit and stuff like that, so… yeah, Jasmine has been great to partner with this past month, so that’s really helpful since she came on full-time.
21 00:03:13.290 ⇒ 00:03:20.490 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, awesome. I feel like you, Amber, and Jasmine have a really awesome squad, like, you guys are just crushing it.
22 00:03:20.490 ⇒ 00:03:21.430 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay. Yeah, yeah.
23 00:03:21.430 ⇒ 00:03:29.290 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Anything, like, related to Element and default, anything that you need support with at all, or anything that’s.
24 00:03:29.290 ⇒ 00:03:29.650 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Clearly.
25 00:03:30.910 ⇒ 00:03:49.550 Advait Nandakumar Menon: No, not really. I think one of the things with… before last week was kind of an escalation, because I think we are nearing the end of the contract or project with them towards May. I think May end is when we are wrapping up, and they were freaking out a little about the handoff, and the things they don’t have access to, and stuff like that, so…
26 00:03:49.790 ⇒ 00:03:53.840 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, that was something…
27 00:03:54.130 ⇒ 00:04:00.279 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I don’t have context the… yeah, yeah, I didn’t have context the project was ending, so that was something I was exposed to, or…
28 00:04:00.360 ⇒ 00:04:14.670 Advait Nandakumar Menon: was kind of, sudden for me, but yeah, we have been handling that pretty good. We are focused on giving them the documentation, the handoff notes, and stuff like that. I’ve been working with Demi and Greg on that as well, so…
29 00:04:15.120 ⇒ 00:04:17.909 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’m clear on everything, it’s…
30 00:04:18.360 ⇒ 00:04:25.969 Advait Nandakumar Menon: it’s something that was sudden, but I was able to, yeah, get better context and understand and overcome it, so… yeah.
31 00:04:26.250 ⇒ 00:04:35.720 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, awesome. I know at some point you also expressed, being really interested in kind of, like, maybe the data engineering side, or just.
32 00:04:36.170 ⇒ 00:04:44.110 Kaela Gallagher: being more on the engineering side in general, I’m curious if you feel like you have been able to get, like, some more exposure to that.
33 00:04:46.430 ⇒ 00:05:01.139 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I… with respect to engineering, purely, I have been looking at some codes in GitHub, like the dbt models and stuff, as I am working through Omni, since that’s a requirement to understand the raw data and code itself, so I’ve been
34 00:05:01.170 ⇒ 00:05:10.740 Advait Nandakumar Menon: From that lens and perspective, I’ve been, looking at engineering a little, but raw engineering, I don’t think I’ve had the chance to explore it a bit.
35 00:05:12.720 ⇒ 00:05:27.199 Advait Nandakumar Menon: But having said that, I think the DBT certification is next for me and Amber as well, after the Omnis, so… maybe from there, I’ll get more exposure to actually engineering or building in DBT, and then maybe later on, even in Snowflake, so…
36 00:05:27.650 ⇒ 00:05:30.069 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, that’s something I’m looking forward to.
37 00:05:30.280 ⇒ 00:05:46.120 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, perfect. The reason I ask is I want to make sure that you’re feeling, you know, supported, and like, if you express that you want to learn something new, I want to make sure that we are, we’re teaching you that, and, like, providing you the materials for it.
38 00:05:46.120 ⇒ 00:05:46.440 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yep.
39 00:05:46.440 ⇒ 00:06:00.840 Kaela Gallagher: On the topic of certifications, do you feel like, doing the OmniSER, and knowing you’re doing the DBT1 next, and also, like, our foundation courses and everything B has been putting together, do you feel like that overall has been really helpful?
40 00:06:00.840 ⇒ 00:06:16.730 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah, of course, like, it has been, one thing I would have appreciated when I got onboarded, this is just feedback, like, if those… whatever courses we put out was there in place when I got onboarded, that’s something that came out recently, but…
41 00:06:17.270 ⇒ 00:06:34.079 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, it’s been really useful, the videos he has been putting out, the guides, and with Omni, I’ve taken the exam last weekend, so that’s something I have to hear back from them, and the demo is the next thing. In fact, we just met, like, me, Utan, Jasmine, and Greg before this meeting.
42 00:06:34.080 ⇒ 00:06:51.729 Advait Nandakumar Menon: talking about how to demo it, actually, because apart from the exam, the demo is what Omni is counting on us to complete and officially become certified. So, they actually want us to demo going through the whole process of creating the model, the topic, the dashboards.
43 00:06:51.730 ⇒ 00:06:55.099 Advait Nandakumar Menon: all that stuff within Omni, the technical stuff.
44 00:06:55.100 ⇒ 00:06:56.830 Kaela Gallagher: Do you have to do that individually?
45 00:06:56.830 ⇒ 00:06:57.920 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah.
46 00:06:57.920 ⇒ 00:06:59.080 Kaela Gallagher: Oh my gosh.
47 00:06:59.080 ⇒ 00:07:10.800 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, and Utam was a little frustrated by it, like, since we are a partner, they should be technically waiving it for us, since we are bringing in money for them, with just, like, to all the clients we are onboarding.
48 00:07:11.240 ⇒ 00:07:19.720 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, that’s something we have to go through, like, each of us, so… that’s on our plate next with respect to Omni certification, so…
49 00:07:19.840 ⇒ 00:07:20.720 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay. Yeah.
50 00:07:20.720 ⇒ 00:07:27.769 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I’m glad that your feedback regarding learning and development is that you wish you had it sooner, I think.
51 00:07:27.770 ⇒ 00:07:29.000 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yes, yep, yep, yep.
52 00:07:29.000 ⇒ 00:07:34.620 Kaela Gallagher: Good feedback. I’m wishing the same thing, too. Like, I’m actually going through the foundation courses and everything myself.
53 00:07:35.020 ⇒ 00:07:45.560 Kaela Gallagher: And I’m like, oh my gosh, if I had this two months ago when I started, that would be so nice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But, like, we’re onboarding quite a few people right now, like, we’re still hiring.
54 00:07:45.560 ⇒ 00:07:47.060 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, I would be liking this.
55 00:07:47.060 ⇒ 00:07:47.620 Kaela Gallagher: to have it.
56 00:07:47.620 ⇒ 00:07:53.889 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah, it would be really helpful for them, I imagine. Yeah. It’s a nice place to start with, yeah.
57 00:07:54.840 ⇒ 00:08:02.730 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome, awesome. I know you mentioned, too, like, you’re kind of getting ramped up on tools. Is there… are there any other, like, tools that you would want?
58 00:08:02.870 ⇒ 00:08:08.089 Kaela Gallagher: Support with, or training on, or maybe explore certifications for?
59 00:08:09.130 ⇒ 00:08:20.570 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Right now, I don’t think so, because Omni is the one thing I’m working on daily, and DBT is up next, and eventually Snowflake, I’m already… I already know Snowflake, but not…
60 00:08:20.570 ⇒ 00:08:32.119 Advait Nandakumar Menon: up to the level that you would require to be certified. So, I think that’s something down the lane as well. So, Snowflake, DBT, and Omni seems good to me for now. I don’t have anything else in my mind.
61 00:08:32.490 ⇒ 00:08:46.140 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool. Any other feedback in general about anything, like, onboarding-related, buddy program, anything, like, people and culture related, anything like that?
62 00:08:47.020 ⇒ 00:09:00.879 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Nope, I don’t have any for now. With respect to onboarding, and even the L&D feedback I just gave now, those were the only pieces of feedback I had, but everything’s been great so far, so… yeah.
63 00:09:01.190 ⇒ 00:09:09.109 Kaela Gallagher: Awesome, awesome. Well, I know the team loves to have you. Every time I hear your name, it’s always good things, so… give up the great work, and…
64 00:09:09.110 ⇒ 00:09:10.240 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah.
65 00:09:10.510 ⇒ 00:09:13.569 Kaela Gallagher: Cool! I will… I will talk to you later. Thank you for your time.
66 00:09:13.570 ⇒ 00:09:19.250 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Sounds good. If you need anything else from me, let me know, and any other survey or feedback to fill out.
67 00:09:20.240 ⇒ 00:09:22.400 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I know, I’ve been a little late on it, but…
68 00:09:22.400 ⇒ 00:09:28.070 Kaela Gallagher: No worries. The next one won’t be until your 90-day mark, so we have some time.
69 00:09:28.070 ⇒ 00:09:28.440 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay.
70 00:09:30.310 ⇒ 00:09:30.710 Kaela Gallagher: Cool.
71 00:09:30.710 ⇒ 00:09:31.410 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, sounds good.
72 00:09:31.580 ⇒ 00:09:32.920 Kaela Gallagher: Well, thank you so much, Amy.
73 00:09:32.920 ⇒ 00:09:34.320 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yep.
74 00:09:34.930 ⇒ 00:09:36.479 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Talk soon. Talk to you later. Bye-bye.
75 00:09:36.710 ⇒ 00:09:37.540 Kaela Gallagher: Hi.