S1 - Episode #9: Khalil Dimachkie - CTO - Youtility
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About Khalil:
Khalil Dimachkie is the CTO at Youtility, a startup that helps consumers save on their home finances without leaving their mobile banking or digital finance apps. Khalil has been in the tech sector for over 17 years now, with expertise in all phases of the software development and Agile delivery.
He is an experienced tech leader and CTO who’s held positions where managing expectations and relationships have been equally as important as delivering a robust product. He’s worked with global brands such as BP, VISA, TfL, and Debenhams on technical strategy and go-to market planning.
Synopsis:
In this episode of The Technology Leadership Podcast, Khalil Dimachkie talks about the huge role of CTOs in the growth of any organisation. He explains the hiring strategies companies could adopt for junior, mid-level, and senior engineers and why they need to be extensive and optimized for your organisation's requirements. We also look into the importance of virtualisation, inviting healthier team collaboration, the lesser-known facts about hiring expert testing engineers, and the benefits of recruiting through a contingency recruiter. Understand why a CTO's growth strategy is critical for any organisation that wants to scale from a small startup into a global brand.
Key Takeaways:
Inputs from general user experience of your product are paramount to understanding your design strategies
It is important to communicate what exactly your team needs to do and what they need to aim for
Offering a framework for development eases the process of engineering a product
As a CTO, you need to value the business case first
Optimise your hiring strategies to align with your business goals
Open communication and collaboration becomes easy when you have an encouraging team
Empower your new team members to communicate and engage better
While working with fresh minds helps invite new ideas, it’s also easier to work with experienced professionals
When it comes to hiring for a senior position, it helps if you evaluate on their ability to engage with a team and agile skills
Hiring a good testing engineer is extremely challenging in today’s times
The benefits of using a contingency recruiter for your hiring process
The link between data and machine learning and why the two are here to stay
Episode Outline:
[00:38] Meet Khalil
[05:13] Khalil explains the vision and thoughts behind Youtility and the reasons for its success
[09:35] Khalil expands on the technical details of Youtility product building and how it became an enterprise-scale product
[14:36] How did Youtility scale its business?
[19:38] What are the benefits of utilizing a virtualised platform?
[23:06] Why is it important for tech organisations to introduce para-virtualisation?
[25:10] Khalil’s key learnings as CTO
[36:12] Khalil’s thoughts on hiring good engineers
[38:49] The importance of communication among engineers
[41:46] Cultivating a cooperative work environment where no one is afraid to speak up about their ideas
[42:26] How do you build a collaborative and nurturing environment?
[49:23] Leveraging professional relationships
[51:13] Khalil shares how Youtility built their junior and mid-level teams
[52:20] Khalil talks about Youtility’s interview process for a software engineer
[55:42] How do you improve your team collaboration?
[57:37] Why is it the hardest to hire testing engineers?
[01:06:51] Khalil’s thoughts on hiring through a contingency recruiter
[01:13:53] What would be the biggest challenges to CTOs in the next couple of years?
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