The Positive Effect of Trust and Transparency on Culture at Yugabyte

As part of our People Stories series, we sat down with Taran Singhania, one of our fabulous software engineers. Taran started working with Yugabyte in October 2021 as an intern, and he has continued with us as a full-time employee starting in June 2022. In this blog, Taran discusses his experience working on the YugabyteDB database and the positive effect that trust, transparency, and a culture of learning has had on his career.

Tell us about your experience at Yugabyte

When I joined Yugabyte, I had limited software development experience, having worked mostly in machine learning, data science, and high-performance computing. It was a great opportunity to start my career working with distributed SQL databases.

Over the year and a half I have been here, Yugabyte has been an excellent platform for learning, growth, and adding value. Their focus on employee development and a culture of continuous learning helped me to not only build my skills but collaborate and contribute effectively to my teams.

I have been lucky to work on two amazing teams: YugabyteDB Anywhere and YugabyteDB Managed. As an intern, I was assigned to the YugabyteDB Anywhere team and was excited to work on integrating LDAP and SSO authentication mechanisms into the product.

I then transitioned to YugabyteDB Managed. This team has continued to provide me with interesting and challenging projects. I have worked on some exciting features, including maintenance windows for our clusters, supporting multiple types of upgrades, and enhancing the core task framework of our product. We revamped how we displayed the health of clusters, providing greater visibility to our customers.

Our team is extremely collaborative, and everyone here is willing to go above and beyond to help each other and our customers. I am particularly impressed by how caring and supportive my teammates are, always taking time to listen to each other’s ideas and concerns and providing thoughtful feedback that helps us all improve. Working with the team has been an incredible experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it.

How do you associate with Yugabyte’s core values of Trust, Relationships, Outcomes?

Yugabyte is an organization that deeply values its employees, and this is reciprocated by its people. Each team member is committed to the company’s success and plays a significant role in achieving collective goals. This level of dedication is only possible through the transparency and trust that are fostered among (and across) the teams. Our leadership team sets the example, and this practice is instilled in every employee.

What I appreciate most about Yugabyte’s culture is the humility and responsibility that each team member carries. With everyone taking their roles seriously, it’s easy to collaborate and work effectively together. Helping one another is a key part of our culture, and we all share a commitment to support each other.

As a remote-first company, building strong relationships based on trust is crucial to our success. Despite the distance, we have found that we can form deep collaborative connections virtually. This approach has helped us achieve the best possible outcomes for our organization and our customers.

In fact, these core values were a significant factor in my decision to join Yugabyte as a full-time engineer. The company offers constant support and a multitude of opportunities to expand my knowledge and contribute at a higher level. The strong relationships I built with the team during my internship also played a significant role in my decision. The trust and support shared between team members makes it easy to collaborate and work efficiently.

What has been your greatest learning so far and how has Yugabyte contributed to your growth?

During my time at Yugabyte, I’ve had the chance to explore various technologies, which has made my experience here incredibly enriching. I’ve worked with a wide range of languages, frameworks, and technologies, including Prometheus, Thanos, Java, Grafana, Ansible, and more. Every day there has been something new to learn.

Beyond technical knowledge, I’ve also developed my ability to work across teams, collaborate with various stakeholders, and communicate with customers. These non-technical skills are just as important as the technical ones, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to develop them here.

The culture at Yugabyte is truly unique and fosters a learning environment where everyone is encouraged to explore and expand their knowledge. This flexibility has been a crucial factor in my professional growth and development.

How do you spend your leisure time or any passion project outside work?

Outside of work I enjoy engaging in a variety of physical activities. Among my favorites are playing football, cycling, hiking, and running. One of my most memorable experiences was trekking in the Himalayas, which I look forward to repeating.

I find that these activities allow me to clear my mind and recharge my batteries, and also contribute to maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle.

Any advice for your fellow colleagues, new hires and to those who are looking at Yugabyte as a potential employer?

From my personal experience, I highly recommend Yugabyte as an employer for both internships and full-time positions. The team is composed of some of the most intelligent and hardworking individuals in the industry, and everyone here is truly passionate about the product.

Our remote-first work environment is characterized by respect, humility, and openness, which fosters collaboration and builds trusting relationships among colleagues.

With an extensive market opportunity before us, we’ve already made significant strides by providing our database services to some of the largest companies in the world, enabling them to innovate, modernize, and grow.

If you want to learn more about the work we do and the people who make it possible, our open source distributed SQL database YugabyteDB can be found on Github. You can also join our community Slack channel, and attend one of our numerous events and webinars to gain insight into our company culture and meet our team.