In the ever-evolving world of tech, Bamboo Group stands as a major hub of innovation and hard work. We’ve decided to take a closer, unfiltered look at its internal dynamics by sitting down with four of our colleagues:
- Presales Consultant and Project Manager at Bamboo Apps, Natalia Puhalskaya;
- Android Developer at Bamboo Apps, Andrey Mukamolov;
- Engineering Manager at Bamboo Agile, Vasilij Ninko;
- Sales Manager at Bamboo Apps, Anna Boiba.
From the challenges to the victories, this series of interviews pulls back the curtain on the nitty-gritty of Bamboo’s inner workings. Let’s peek at the daily grind and camaraderie that defines our workspace.
So what exactly do you do?
Natalia begins, “As a Presales Consultant, I’m responsible for creating and presenting our commercial offers to potential clients. I also collect, research, and analyse requirements for technical project evaluation, as well as process RFx. As a Project Manager, I lead projects in Automotive & Mobility.”
“I develop Android applications for clients and handle maintenance on open source projects,” says Andrey.
Vasilij tells us he’s responsible for multiple different processes. “I manage development, testing, and DevOps teams.”
Anna, in turn, sells projects and resources in the Automotive sector and leads clients. “My experience at Bamboo Group covers sales and work with partners from the Automotive and Mobile domains, as well as large OEMs,” she says.
How has your experience at Bamboo Group been?
We wanted to learn about the general impression the guys had from working at the company, as well as the work environment and growth opportunities presented to them.
“I came here to fill the position of backend developer, and now I’m the Engineering Manager, so there are definitely opportunities for development and growth,” says Vasilij. “I often had to perform some adjacent roles on different projects and it was a very cool and useful experience. When you can be a bit of a developer, a bit of an analyst, and a bit of a project manager at the same time, I mean.”
Andrey says he is “pretty satisfied with everything” as far as the overall experience is concerned.
“The opportunities for professional development are fair,” he says. “We do a lot of R&D projects which present unique challenges to us (the embedded CAN bus testing project, for example). It’s always cool to think about solutions to concrete tasks, resolving complex problems. And I still see ways to develop professionally after all these years.”
After a moment of thinking, Andrey adds, “I also like working at the office, since I never forget to eat properly.” He talks a bit about often forgoing proper meals when working from home. In contrast, “everyone [at the office] heads to lunch at the same time, and sometimes we treat each other to pizza.”
Anna’s workflow is largely remote, so her opportunities for development are slightly different compared to the colleagues.
“At the moment , you can take part in various online meetups as well as access external online media outlets, where you can learn about the latest global trends in IT sales and marketing,” she says.
To Natalia, a sense of equality has been a big part of working at Bamboo.
“The most important thing I’ve taken a personal note of is that here, you’ll always be heard and listened to, and I don’t just mean in a professional sense,” she says. “At Bamboo Group, you’re not just a face out in the crowd. Here, you are a fully-fledged team member with their own value and experience, and that experience is constantly developed, and that value is constantly maintained.”
What’s your favourite part of working here?
The answers to this question were quite similar between our four interviewees.
“I really enjoy the atmosphere here. Communication is good, and everyone has a high level of skill,” says Andrey.
Natalia agrees, “I really value the involvement of our team in work tasks, when everyone is ready to share their experience and search for something new. The tasks themselves are hardly ever boring. Besides, your strengths don’t go unnoticed at Bamboo Group, and their professional development is always encouraged.”
Vasilij also puts a lot of value in team communication.
“My favourite part of working at Bamboo Group is the transparency of relationships on all levels.”
Anna, too, enjoys how friendly everyone is. She also adds, “I like the ability to work on different projects with different-level clients”.
What would you say could be improved?
Anna, Vasilij, and Andrey can’t name anything in particular, but Natalia does provide some input, having worked remotely for the past couple of months.
“I miss talking to my colleagues in person and would like to have more occasions to meet up with everyone,” she says.
Was there anything that surprised you when you came to work at Bamboo?
“I was surprised that I joined not just one company, but a group of them,” says Natalia, referring to multiple units within the Bamboo Group brand. “That part can be confusing at first, but I gradually got the hang of how everything functioned as I got into the workflow. And again, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of team involvement in various work tasks.”
The team was something Andrey also took note of, “I was surprised by everyone’s openness and transparency.”
“Yes, there were quite a few charismatic people around,” agrees Vasilij. “A surprising number of them. It’s a pretty friendly team, which knows how to work hard and rest well.”
Anna speaks from a more strategic angle.
“I’ve been working at the company for more than 5 years,” she says. “Over my time here, there have been many moments when we had to adapt, adjust and alter our strategy depending on the changes in the global market and situation as a whole.”
Have you had any projects that were especially interesting or challenging for you?
“It’s difficult to pinpoint a single project,” says Vasily. “There were a lot of those and each left a mark in both the professional and emotional sense. Each taught me something.”
“It’s great to work in a team that really drills into the project and productively communicates with the client, creating a mutually helpful environment,” he continues. “On some occasions we learned how to deliver solutions as quickly as possible, on others we tried to ride the cutting edge of technologies, using extremely fresh, but promising libraries.”
Anna and Andrey remember their experience on automotive projects very fondly.
“We had a project where our team developed a remote control system for a major car manufacturer,” says Anna. “Working on a large continuous project with an OEM client was an interesting challenge.”
Andrey talks about a different, but no less complex solution.
“InControl Remote for Jaguar Land Rover was big and complex, it was quite exciting to develop and maintain it. The project had clear established processes, and integrating into that tightly organised environment with a high standard for code quality was interesting. There were also a lot of challenging tasks from the engineering point of view.”
Natalia’s most memorable experience also comes from the automotive industry, though not in the way you might expect.
“The project where we developed an interface for electric boats, because it was a new Automotive domain for us,” she says. “Flying boats turned out to be real, and boat terminology doesn’t sound like dark magic to us anymore.”
Got any funny stories?
“Once we had an electronic music party in the office,” says Andrey. “Our colleague used to do music professionally and had a lot of friends from that scene. So he invited some underground DJs he knew for a set at the office. It was awesome! We also played Counter Strike at the office at one point, that was really fun.”
Natalia and Anna can’t really remember any. “I have too serious of an outlook on life and work, so nothing like that really comes to mind,” says Natalia.
Vasilij, on the other hand, prefers to stay enigmatic. “What happens at company parties, stays at company parties,” he smiles.
How would you like to develop professionally in the future?
Anna responds, “I’d like to gain experience from my colleagues, attend profile-relevant meetups, and make sales to big companies.”
“As far as presales go, I’d like to have an opportunity to have it develop into a small department which would fully cover all the questions related to offers and bid management,” says Natalia.
Andrey is “purely interested in writing code”. “It’s my favourite aspect of IT, so I’d like to continue improving my skills in that,” he says. “I want to keep trying out different interesting and challenging things, and to become a more effective coder as a result.”
Vasilij finds it difficult to describe his goals at the moment. “I’d like to solidify my current position,” he says.
Any final wishes for the company?
“Big projects, even more bright professionals on the team, and endless development opportunities!” smiles Natalia.
Vasilij wishes the company “to feel the market, to remain flexible and mobile, to always be equipped with good specialists”.
“I wish Bamboo Group to solidify its positions in the Automotive market and get more contracts with big industry players. And a tightly-knit team, too!” adds Anna.
Andrey keeps things simple: “Good luck, have fun”.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the experiences of Natalia, Andrey, Anna, and Vasilij all underscore the drive for innovation, collaboration, and growth that is so central to Bamboo Group as a whole. From tackling hurdles to celebrating wins, each person’s take adds a splash of colour to our daily grind.
Cheers to our shared victories, achievements, and all the cool stuff that lies ahead – cheers to the team of Bamboo Group!
