Tell us about your role at InMobi
I head the Centre of Excellence team at InMobi. We are a group of senior architects with a lot of experience in working on diverse technologies and problems. From our charter... “The CoE (Center of Excellence) is a self-directing centralized unit equipped with an arsenal of best practices and tools on a mission to streamline access to high-demand capabilities and ensure rapid execution across business units and platforms, to attain and sustain world-class performance and enterprise value”. The initiatives of our team are spread horizontally and not isolated to any one part of the company. We are working on solutions that can be applied across the various divisions to encourage cross-organization collaborations.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have worked with computers from a young age and I always had an inclination toward engineering and problem-solving. But something that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I was a private investigator for six years. While that work was not directly related to technology, the philosophy of uncovering hidden networks and tackling complex challenges remained the same. I focused on cases involving trademark infringement; tracking down the complex networks of those responsible for manufacturing and distributing counterfeit retail products. My shift back to technology happened in the early years of the Internet when I jumped into the start-up ecosystem.
Tell us about your professional journey and what led you to join InMobi
As a technology entrepreneur for over 25 years, I have co-founded six different companies – always as the tech leader. Whether I was spearheading products born out of my own ideas, collaborating on new concepts, or joining a team in its early days – I have always been passionate about the fast-paced world of startups. After years in that realm, I was ready for a new challenge: the opportunity to work with a larger, more diverse team in a more mature and established organization. While I was initially unsure how the transition would go, I was drawn to InMobi with the prospect of tackling a broad range of complex problems at scale. Also, I had previous experience working with InMobi and had always admired the company’s work. So when the chance to join the team presented itself, I knew it was the perfect next step for me.
How would you describe the engineering team at InMobi?
As I joined the engineering team at InMobi, my initial time at InMobi was spent doing a lot of self-guided discovery. There is a lot to absorb! I read a lot, attended every meeting to which I could invite myself (never declined an invitation), and asked a lot of questions. This allowed me to experience the culture within the teams and organization from day one. It is a very collaborative environment with everyone being extremely warm, welcoming, and helpful.
What keeps you inspired and motivated as a tech leader?
The opportunity to work on new challenges is what keeps me going each day. I enjoy solving problems and being disruptive, in a positive way.
What is a tip or advice that you would give to aspiring InMobians?
Talk to people and get to know the community. You will learn something from everybody so make time to meet people and build connections.
To join InMobi and work with tech leaders like Justin, visit our careers website.
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