Globant Cover Story: Yogesh Kokare

Meet Subject Matter Expert, Yogesh Kokare!

– Tell as a bit about you!
I am from Pune, a city in India, also popularly known as Oxford of the east :). I live there with my mother and wife. In 2005,  I completed my Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Pune. Apart from computer science I have an interest in history. My inclination is towards reading articles and books related to history and exploring historical places and their culture.
In my free time I play Cricket (a very popular sport in India), listen to Indian music or travel with my family and friends.

– What has your career path at Globant been like? What did you change along the way to adapt to new roles and projects?
I joined Clarice Technologies (company later acquired by Globant) in 2015, after Ritesh Menon, a good friend since my college days referred me. I joined with 10 years of experience in the software development using Java and other server side technologies. Prior to Globant I  worked in IBM primarily in the area of cloud monitoring and management. At Globant I got opportunities to explore different domains like IOT, NoSQL and UI engineering. Apart from developing softwares, I have enjoyed giving trainings and lightening session on Popular UI libraries at Globant’s Pune office. Over time I learned  to keep focus on the problem at hand instead of being stuck to one particular language or technology.

– Given how fast technology changes, how has your job evolved throughout the years?
Over the past decade technology has changed so fast that no one  can remain untouched by the technological advancements, not the people who work in the field of technology nor the people who use technology to make their lives better. I am fortunate to work on problem statements from diverse domains using the latest technologies. This has enriched me with experience that I can use in my day to day problem solving. I believe that my work has not only created multiple options for me to advance in my career, but it also made me realize that there are innumerable possibilities to make things better and smarter with the help of technology.

– What do you think are three good habits to keep up to date in tech?

1. Read as much as you can – Take some time out of day’s schedule and read about technologies, solutions which may not be part of your project’s technology stack.
2. Build and grow people network – One of the effective ways of keeping up to date with latest trends in technology is to keep yourself surrounded with people who are working on the latest and cutting edge technologies and are open to share their thoughts. Technical conversations with people in your network provide directions to explore more.
3. Be Flexible – Don’t hesitate to learn something new and use it. Once you have decided to solve a problem in a domain then use technologies which are most relevant. Doing this will in turn increase your knowledge and experience.

– Which five qualities should an expert in your field have?

1. Openness to new ideas – A full stack architect must remain open for new ideas and solutions. Must observe and learn from surrounding.
2. Look at the big picture – Understand the big picture of the business requirement and provide a solution that can be scaled and extended without much effort.
3. Client orientation – While architecting a solution one must not lose sight  of the client’s business needs. Spend time with clients’ teams to understand their immediate and future business requirements.
4. Technical and Experiential Richness – Architects need to be technically strong. They need to understand how different technologies can be put together to solve a business problem. Obviously, this comes from a lot of experience solving different types  of problems.
5. Negotiation skills – Being a good negotiator can help architects provide solutions which are acceptable by all stakeholders. Another aspect of negotiation is that there are situations when technically accurate solutions may not be completely applicable due to several parameters such as deadlines, environment, etc. In those  cases negotiations need to happen to either keep such requirements out of scope or solve them in a step by step manner with everyone’s agreement.

– What 5 things you love about working at Globant

1. 1. Flexibility – Globant has offered me flexibility to pick up any area of technology and explore.
   2. Community – Globant has such a strong technical community. I am fortunate to have  several opportunities to work with some of the most brilliant minds in Globant.
   3. Recognition – At Globant our work becomes our identity. Globant’s culture of recognizing each other’s good work keeps me motivated. StarMeUp is a great way of letting people know that their good work matters. I have personally benefited from it a lot.
   4. Events – Several knowledge sharing events like Lightening sessions, Radiance Talks, Think Big Sessions helps to keep me informed about technology and some of the latest trends.
   5. Fun loving crowd – Casual interactions with people from different departments, recreational activities in chill-out area are real stress-busters for me 🙂

– Tell us a fun fact about you
I have never missed Globant’s annual Goa trip and the craziness at the annual event since I joined Globant 🙂

– If you could say only one phrase to people starting their professional path in tech, what would you say?
Master the basics.