Behind The Screen

I deeply admire Kai, our CTO and my co-founder at ESL Works. Not only because he's one of the most brilliant technologists out there, but also because he brings business acumen and adds an indelible layer of culture to our company. Here's what the man behind the screen had to say about his world, our ESL Works world, and the tech world at large. ~Rachael Nemeth, CEO, ESL Works

Rachael: Let's start with the basics...favorite podcast? 

Kai: I am a massive podcast fan! But, I have really strict criteria for a podcast to make my regular rotation. It has to be both educational and entertaining. This Week in Tech and This Week in Google by Leo Laporte’s TWiT Network both fall squarely in the middle. I also love Data Skeptic, which covers ML topics and The GaryVee Experience, which is hard to explain but incredibly inspirational.

R: What led you to ESL Works?

K: I worked in a strange segment of the advertising industry focused on recruitment (helping clients hire employees). I loved the work, but I had this burning desire to work on something more technically challenging and to work on something that was...bigger. There's this huge world of learning that has been untouched by companies because it's meant to serve a user that's not commonly served by tech. That made ESL Works feel like a natural fit. The mission inspires me every day and the challenge is huge.

R: How do you start your work day?

K: I'll admit, there's no consistent way I start my day. The first thing I do at work is different each day. However, leading up to that, I do the exact same thing: balance listening to tech podcasts and practicing my Spanish while I commute.

I love going into the office everyday. I’m inspired by the conversations with colleagues. The best ideas nearly always come when people with the same mission are sitting in the same room. It's incredible to be inspired when you least expect it.

R: What's your process for writing a piece of code?

K: I like to make sketches of how things fit together before writing a single line of code. I use this $10 drawing tablet I bought off AliExpress to iterate on architectural ideas. By the time I start writing code, I’m just bringing the sketch to life.

R: And what helps you get past writer's block? Eh hem...code block? 

K: When writing code, getting stuck is nearly always the result of having too narrow of a perspective. You have to step back from the problem to a broader view. It nearly always provides a clear way to move forward or, at the very least, another approach to try.

R: I've always wanted to ask you this...Who's your tech idol?

K: Open source maintainers. I have the utmost respect for their truly dedicated work. They are the unsung heroes of the technical boom.

R: What innovations in tech right now are you most excited about?

K: Our whole team is obsessed with machine learning. Pretty sure I'm responsible for that. Ha! It’s really going to change everything in ways we can’t even understand yet. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what it’s going to do ESL Works. Everyday we dig in deeper and are solving problems that truly make us an AI-first company. That's what's exciting to me. We're solving a pervasive problem.

R: What qualities do you look for when hiring engineers? 

K: We need different engineering skill sets because the problem we're solving is so complex. And specific skills and experiences are on par with an engineer's overall problem-solving abilities.

The engineers I love to hire are people who appreciate the broader view of our goals as a company and incorporate those goals into their coding decisions. That's why user sympathy or empathy is super important to us. We make better decisions. We also build up that quality in our team by spending a ton of time talking with our clients and users.

R: What advice do you have for engineers just starting out?

K: It’s hard to kick off an engineering career! The interviews are about as brutal as they get. My advice is to decide what you really want to do (front end, back end, devops, etc.) and go all in on that. By “all in” I mean, only apply for jobs in that area, when you’re in the interview say exactly what you want to work on, and study that area exclusively. It’s totally fine to change your mind six months later, but it’s better to have an opinion than to just say you’ll work on anything. That focus better prepares you for interviews and coding tests too.

R: Last question...favorite office snack when no one's looking? 

K: I have tried really hard to completely eliminate snacking. But, if I was in front of a spread of every snack imaginable I would probably go straight for a spicy flavor of kettle-style potato chips.

R: Thanks, Kai. See you back up there!

K: Of course! You know I love talking tech.

If you're interested in helping ESL Works build cutting edge, chat-based training technology for the majority workforce, please feel welcome to DM Kai or myself. We'd love to chat.