June 8, 2020
Employee Spotlight: Mike Carlino
At the beginning of 2019, we opened our doors to a third office in Sofia, Bulgaria. Investing in opening a third office “Was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” says Chris Lynch, CEO and Executive Chairman of AtScale. Today, we are excited to introduce you to one of the newest members of our team in Sofia, Stella Valcheva.
What is your role at AtScale? How long have you been working with the company for?
A: My role is BI expert, part of the BI team here in Sofia. I have been with AtScale for a little over two months.
What was the onboarding experience like? I’m sure it’s different from other experiences that you’ve had due to COVID-19.
A: For sure. It’s funny because my colleagues know me by Slack and profile pictures. Everybody is super friendly and nobody is bothered by any questions that I ask. I’ve never felt left behind.
Can you tell us about the responsibilities that come with your role?
A: Of course. I’ll start with the purpose of the BI team here. Our aim is to make sure that our clients have the best possible experience from the beginning with AtScale and using their BI tools to visualize their data, analyze it, and give insights. Which means that we’re making sure that AtScale works with all of the BI tools, everything that happens on the front-end. We also try to develop the new BI cases, so be prepared for the possible or expected behavior and try to predict what is about to happen with AtScale and make sure it’s done correctly and works fine.
What excites you about working for AtScale? Can you recall any proud moments?
A: I’ve been a part of AtScale for a very short time period and since we are in the process of building a new BI project here in Sofia, we are yet to achieve our goal. It’s been mostly trying to settle the ground, but I’m very excited to be a part of the “AtScale Adventure,” as my manager calls it. I feel that our team drives the whole industry forward by providing this product that solves an actual problem. I do believe that the product is super valuable and it’s something that our clients need.
What is the Bulgarian tech ecosystem like?
A: I’ve spent the last couple of years in Germany, I moved back to Bulgaria at the beginning of this year so things might have changed. I feel like it’s quite vibrant and I was actually surprised to see so many people involved in the tech industry. It’s funny when you go to the gym and you hear others discussing analytics too. I believe that the scene here is rapidly developing, there are a lot of experts, especially in software development. What I personally find great are the private initiatives. There are companies that create academies, software universities to meet the demands and teach people how to do their job and teach them practical knowledge.
You were in Germany for quite some time, can you tell us about what you were doing there?
A: I graduated in a Masters program in Business Intelligence and Management and then I worked for BI consulting for two years before I came back to Bulgaria.
Who benefits from our technology?
A: The first time that I heard what AtScale does and what the software was like, I was like “Oh wow, all of my clients from my previous projects in Germany could benefit from this software, it’s amazing!” I’ve been in some places developing BI projects for clients both really like. I can say that everybody had their data in data warehouses and other systems and they were definitely using more than one reporting tool, so everyone was struggling with governance and finding a single source of truth. I had clients where we were trying to solve a problem and the only solution was that they had to build really expensive data warehouses. For anyone who is in that situation, AtScale is the perfect solution. They say that it’s liberating to see this in the market and I totally agree because they can use a single semantic layer and keep using their BI tools exactly as they like it and how they’re used to. For anybody who wants a tidy data that is tool agnostic, and gives you the flexibility to change, then AtScale is for them.
Describe the Bulgarian office in three words.
A: Friendly, supportive, motivated.
Describe AtScale in three words.
A: Innovative, agile, cool.
It’s the weekend! Where are people most likely to find you?
A: If it’s summertime, you are most likely to find me rock climbing, hiking, and being outdoors somewhere in the mountains or laying on a beach. Sofia is nicely located for this.
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