331: An Engineering Mindset Is Crucial and Always Work On The Things You're Passionate About with Leon Kuperman

In this week's show, Phil talks to Leon Kuperman, the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Cast AI. He has worked in technology for more than 20 years in roles that cover product management, software design & development though to production deployment.   Leon talks about the value in fostering an engineering mind-set. He also discusses the importance of following our passions and how working on things we're interested in can help us to be far more productive.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   TOP CAREER TIP Developing an engineering mind-set is a keystone element in ensuring that you have a successful career as an IT leader. You must be immersed in the subject matter of what you are building.   WORST CAREER MOMENT A system was taken offline by hackers who demanded a ransom in order to release it back to the company Leon was working for. Rather than pay their demands, Leon was tasked with fixing the problem, retrieving the site and ensuring it could not happen again. However, this was not possible. The ransom was paid. But Leon learned about new ways in order to safeguard systems.   CAREER HIGHLIGHT Leon had an opportunity for a larger role in cloud security at Oracle, overseeing products that customers use to secure their environments. It was a time in which Leon was allowed to be more creative.   THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T Machine learning and data science has exploded recently, and this is incredibly exciting. There are many opportunities in the field, and many opportunities for self-development in the area.   THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Receiving the first computer as a child and learning coding at home. What's the best career advice you received? – If you work to work yourself out of a job, then you'll never be out of a job What's the worst career advice you received? – The engineers can't be business people, and that business people can't be engineers What would you do if you started your career now? – Leon would take his time and focus upon what he was passionate about and interested in. What are your current career objectives? Looking for ways in which he can positively impact the IT industry. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Being able to communicate clearly and with empathy. How do you keep your own career energized? – Deep diving into topics, and focusing on self-development. What do you do away from technology? – Spending time with family and participating in mixed martial arts.   FINAL CAREER TIP Always make sure that you're working on something you're passionate about. If you do this every day, then work will never seem like work.   BEST MOMENTS (7:13) – Leon - "If you want to have a career as an IT leader, it's absolutely a perquisite to have an engineering mind-set" (7:51) – Leon - "You gain a lot of credibility and respect from your team if you're able to understand their jobs at a detailed level" (10:29) – Leon – "Partners want to be able to trust you, and technical excellence is something that they hinge on" (27:25) – Leon – "Being able to sell, even in a technical role, is highly advantageous"   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – LEON KUPERMAN Leon Kuperman is the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Cast AI. He has worked in technology for more than 20 years in roles that cover product management, software design & development though to production deployment.   CONTACT THE GUEST – LEON KUPERMAN Leon Kuperman can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itexecutivecto/ Website: http://www.cast.ai/