Software Engineering with Ashish Kumar
In this Behind the Scenes at RevX, we caught up with Ashish Kumar to find out what he enjoys working on and how it is like to work with a large Engineering team. Read on to find out more about the secret sauce behind a powerful tech engine — hint: a solid and motivated team.
1. How did you get into Engineering? Tell us how it all started for you.
I have loved computers since a young age. I learned the basics about computers and the internet in school during standard 4th. I loved playing games, exploring applications like Ms packages, Ms paint, video and audio editors, and different Microsoft OS versions and installations. This interest grew. While in 11th standard, I learned to program in C and C++. At that time, I understood that it is possible to solve bigger and more complicated real-world problems through programming. And I also love to solve complex problems.
Engineering became the natural choice because of my interest in problem-solving, coding, and my love of computers. I am an electronics engineer, and I also worked on robotics and embedded systems and get my hands dirty with different microcontroller coding.
2. Tell us about your role at RevX.
I build and manage the platform to organize and deliver ads on mobile and app inventory. I plan and coordinate engineering projects, supervise the team in the research and development of new features or products and oversee all activities related to each project.
3. What does your day as a Sr. Software Development Manager look like?
I typically spend one-third of the time helping my team solve technical problems, and I always ensure that the team gets unblocked. I spend a portion of the day negotiating requirements with product managers and clients. I prefer to minimize team meetings but do daily standups to promote team communication.
I always love to work on the high-level design of the project and features and do the code reviews daily. My days might look the same from the outside, but if you dig deep, each day is a challenge and completely different for me.
4. What are some of the projects you’re proud of developing here at RevX?
SliceX is an analytical tool that we have built. It is used to slice and dice over big data in near real-time. We integrated 25+ metrics and 15+ dimensions in this tool to analyze data deeply. 90% of calls take less than one sec.
The other exciting project we worked on is the dynamic ads engine made available to all clients, allowing to configure dynamic ads with just a few clicks. This was a significant improvement from the past when we needed separate codes for each ad. Currently, the engine manages the same code for all the dynamic ads based on different templates.
We realize this when we were getting requests to integrate many reporting modules into our platform. Then we decided to build a plug-and-play reporting module, which is platform-independent. We can embed any reporting module into our platforms by configuring a few parameters and the data source.
5. What do you like the most about your team?
The team is amazing. It is very cooperative and open to any challenge. If a particular team member is stuck in a specific work-related issue, one can always approach other colleagues for help and guidance. This increases the efficiency of an employee and improves the accuracy and precision of the projects.
6. What’s your biggest learning from working at home?
There are many things I have learned from the work-from-home environment; the main thing is how to stay connected even when you are not physically present in the office. You should be proactive in communicating with the team, clients, and stakeholders, and this is the only way to build trust with your stakeholders. An open channel of communication also helps keep yourself and your teammates motivated.
7. What advice would you give to people aspiring for success in your field?
– Be a hard worker. Without that, you can’t achieve anything.
– Think twice before doing anything.
– Be a self-motivator. No matter what others are saying, keep going forward.
– Always push yourself and never give up.
Our Behind the Scenes @ RevX series showcases our expert team members who work to serve our clients and develop our state-of-the-art programmatic platform. Get to know the faces behind our brand and the different projects they bring to life.
Interested in joining us? We’re hiring.
Lauren Heineck
