Globant Cover Story: Pablo Andrés Pérez Quevedo

Learn all about his career path, his passion for AI and much more!
Current position at Globant: Data Scientis t Sr.
Tell us about you, your family, your passions and hobbies.
I’m a Colombian raised “a punta de ajiaco”, “arepa”, “calentao” and “changua”, where red wine, “huevos pericos” and “calado” were never left behind. I was born in Bogotá, a city which the main characteristic is the  cold weather and that is inhabited by people from all the Colombian regions. Our trait y is a good “sancocho” from all the different nooks of our country. It’s been three years since I moved to Medellín, the city of the forever spring, where the weather is perfect for those people that do know and live the seasons in the southernmost and northern hemisphere of this planet. I’m the youngest of three brothers and the most admired uncle of the family. I have the courage to say that I’m passionate about history and general culture, not because I’m a historian, but because I normally serve as a guide for foreigners. I love languages. I manage to speak  four languages. I practice and still learn to play the guitar. I belong to the generation that grew up watching Knights of The Zodiac (Saint-Seya), Supercampeones and Dragon Ball Z. I was also influenced by the Peruvian culture thanks to cable television, which was a sensation for many years in Colombia, “The Perubolic”.
I love videogames. Our economic conditions at home were tough.  I was not fortunate to have a childhood full of video games, till I started working as an adult and became successful.
In general, I’m not a big fan of tv series  so I don’t have a Netflix account and I never finish  a season of something. I’m an incomplete millennial where social networks are not my strength, and yes, even if I work everyday with data,  and with them, I’m not absorbed by them. I don’t have a Twitter account and I’ve just made it to open my Instagram account. I love a good pizza and I’m amused by a bohemian place to share moments. I was a tango and salsa dancer, in its time. I consider myself a regular chef but I’m surprise with some dishes. My new hobby is to prepare barbecues.
How was your arrival at Globant?
My career’s pattern was to work in the world of data and always being  in the areas of innovation of the companies. I had the fortune of living the evolution of what today is called Data Science, which  scholars are thinking on renaming it to Behavioral Science. I went through areas such as Business Intelligence, Data Mining, and Business Analytics. I was coordinator and supervisor , then I became a consultant from then on. I developed myself in different economic fields, from banking through telecommunications, academia and utilities.
How was your career path at Globant? What did you change along with time to adapt yourself to new roles and projects?
I Identify myself as an extrovert, direct and curious. Tracing my path at Globant has not been difficult, I’m in a company where your job is easily remarkable when you do a great job and work on initiatives. For someone who is used to a rigid and hierarchical world, which still happens in many companies in Colombia, you have to be entrepreneurial and lose the fear to express your intentions. Intentions that at Globant are perfectly shaped into projects.
Fortunately, I come from the IT world. I’m a software engineer and adaptation was immediate. Nevertheless, for a person that does not live in the software world, knowing that this is an agile world should be instinctive. This is a world where little results are the sum of everything, a project, one in which you have the opportunity of sharing with a diversity of roles and from which we can learn a little bit more each day. That makes it exciting. Also, thanks to specialization in which Globant Studios are characterized, you break with the horrible habit of “now that you know about this, apart from what you do, do this other thing”.
How was your experience at #CONVERGEBA event?
Totally converging. From the moment in which I submitted my topic to make a workshop, there was always a focus in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning, things that are in the hipe and in which Globant’s eyes are focusing in our Studio (AI). The effort was worth it, moreover than working in a project in which I had to devote  a lot of time to prepare the workshop without even failing in a detail. It was not perfect, but attendees liked it, so much that we are going to repeat it in Colombia in a few weeks.
I took with me the idea that Converge is the proper space to be up-to-date in technological trends, in this case, AI. To me, it was a privilege to be close to people as Valliappa Lakshmanan, sharing some beers with Pierre Barreau and Harry Lang. Obviously, I had the opportunity of being with many members of the data scientist teams at Globant, and the sinergy was great.
I’m also taking with me good memories of the event and of Argentina in general. For me it’s also heartwarming to know  that you liked the idea of doing the next Converge in Colombia. Obviously, it has to be held in Medellín, since it’s a great city in Colombia to do things of this kind, because of the current times the city is living and the visibility that it has worldwide. Not in vain, it was one of the most innovating cities of the world (2013).
In which things of your daily work you see Globant’s culture expressed?
The dresscode is a tabu-breaker. You can arrive to the office  without worrying what you are wearing which makes Globers’ lives easier, and this has an effect in productivity, since your concern is your project not what you are wearing.
Besides, Globant is an analog to Geek. The majority of Globers are geeks, people that like technology, games, fiction and much more things. It’s not weird to see desktops with legos or star wars toys, for example. Globant’s culture is open minded. Here ideas are valued  and turned to reality
Finally, I think Globant’s culture is tacit in the way we share knowledge in that anti-blog daily. Nevertheless humdrum. It’s possible to know any challenge or problem that for some has never been solved, but in Globanat they’ll find the answer in any other Glober that had experienced it.
What five qualities should anyone have to join the Globant team?
Sagacity, empowerment sensation, eager to learn, have an open mind,  and mm.. generosity, to say it in a way, where people are willing to share what they know and learn.
Which recommendations would  you give someone that wants to join Globant?
Bilingualism is important. Knowing English is primary and should be our second language after that,  our native language. I think it’s also really important to know and get to know Agile, Scrum or any other project’s methodology emphasizing increasing results deliveries.
The adaptation to goal-oriented job is key. We want intrepid, bookworm, able to manage their own time to accomplish  results, and keeping the rhythm of teamwork, all with the expectation of generating value.
Finally, I think that to join Globant, is required to have expertise in technology. People that are geeks could be easily adapted, but that’s not the last. We have people whose professions are not related to the software world (chemistry engineers, economists, industrials engineers, for example) but their experience showed having the necessary skills to manage in the software world and now more than ever, in the machine learning revolution.