Hi Teja! You’ve been with us at CUBE84 for quite some time. Would you like to tell us about what brought you here?

Sure. In a professional sense, I was simply going through the motions initially, so to speak. The plan, at least with regards to what was expected of me, was to complete my degree in electrical engineering and then get a government job in my home town. Tech, however, always held my interest and I saw much more potential in terms of growth in the private sector. One of my dreams was to leave the country and work on an on-site project abroad, and I simply couldn’t see that happening at a government posting. At CUBE84, however, I’ve felt and continue to feel myself getting closer, day by day, to making that dream a reality.

” One of my dreams was to leave the country and work on an on-site project abroad, and I simply couldn’t see that happening at a government posting. At CUBE84, however, I can feel myself getting closer, day by day, to making that dream a reality. “

That’s wonderful. What exactly do you do at CUBE84?

Well, I’m a project manager, which means I oversee a number of internal teams and manage multiple projects concurrently. I come up with custom solutions and create a roadmap for each project. My day-to-day activities are primarily to make sure all our members and teams are on track towards the deliverables and meeting with clients to keep them informed on what we’ve been working on. I spend any of the time I have left over from meetings, calls and group sessions on ideating and conceptualizing solutions that we need to implement for clients across a variety of sectors.

Not a lot of people know this, but you’re one of the earliest members of the CUBE84 team, correct? What can you tell us about the early days of the company?

That’s right - I joined CUBE84 and actually had a hand in getting our offices set up and running in Chennai. I met Satha, our CEO and founder, through a mutual friend, and saw the potential of Salesforce even then. I saw a job at CUBE84 as an opportunity to dive into the tech industry, which was something I’d always wanted to do. I approached Satha, who understood my motivations and set up an interview. When I first joined CUBE84, I didn’t even know what Salesforce was. I started out as a trainee back in 2015, when our team wasn’t nearly as big as it is today. It was a very intimate setting back then, with only about ten or so people in the office everyday. We built a very solid working relationship with each other, and that continues to be the foundation of what we do today.

” Even in Salesforce, the pipeline and processes of larger, multinational organizations means that developers are given pre-existing templates and formats, with their sole job being implementation. Here, I’m given the freedom to develop and create my own solutions, to improve the Salesforce platform and to give our clients something that is exclusively theirs. That, to me, is extremely important. “

Going from a developer to a project manager is a pretty drastic change. How did that come to be?

As a senior developer, I often found myself bouncing around teams when I was needed to fix problems, develop solutions and conceptualize what needed to be done. I was extremely good at coming up with unique, multi-functional ideas for clients, but I could barely string together a sentence in English. Dealing with foreign clients was extremely difficult. I also preferred having the flexibility in my work hours and so, collaboration became a little bit inconvenient. However, I realized that overcoming these barriers was essential to my personal development. When I embraced a more collaborative attitude and began working on my communication skills, I saw myself transform into so much more than just a developer. In fact, I believe adding these skills to my repertoire were central to my growth.

Is it fair to say that your journey at CUBE84 has been transformational? Do you feel that today?

Absolutely. Today, things are completely different and a large part of that is due to how I was introduced to the different aspects of our business. I’ve had a ton of client-facing experience that I was eased into. Initially, I sat in and saw how Satha and Sunil did things. After speaking to them, I realized that I could take some of what worked for them, but I also needed to develop my own professional persona as well. It’s something I’ve worked on for a long time, and continue to work on even today. I deal with clients from around the world and work on businesses of various sizes and models, and this, to me, represents the most attractive aspect of working at CUBE84. Our job is, first and foremost, to make their business easier and more successful and so, it’s extremely satisfying and rewarding to hear directly from the client on what we’ve done for them!