Leon Bezuidenhout - Senior Director, Production Engineering - Aiven

Summary

Leon, Senior Director of Production Engineering at Aiven, shares his career journey and insights into his role. Aiven is a data and AI platform that provides open source services across multiple clouds. Leon explains the benefits of choosing Aiven over other cloud providers and the importance of keeping data open source. He discusses the decision-making process behind joining Aiven and the transition from individual contributor to manager. Leon also explains the role of a Site Reliability Engineer and the differences between technical leadership and people management.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview of Ivan
03:21 Choosing Ivan and the Role of a Site Reliability Engineer
06:37 Transitioning from Individual Contributor to Manager
10:58 Career Journey: From Marketing to Programming
13:59 Technical Lead vs. Manager: Different Roles and Responsibilities
26:14 Balancing Work and Personal Life in a Global Role
29:33 Flexibility and Remote Work Challenges
33:01 Importance of Speaking Up and Seeking Help