Chandra Danam
VERO’s Head of Engineering talks about the importance of team collaboration and alignment, and what’s got him fired up for 2022.
What does it say on your business card?
Chandra Danam. Head of Engineering at VERO.
Where is home?
Virginia, USA.
Tell us about your professional journey. What led you to VERO?
Following a Masters's degree in Computer Science, I held jobs in Software Development, Quality Assurance, DevOps, and TechOps as an individual contributor and as a manager. I met (VERO CEO) Ayman when he interned for me(!) then I worked for him in the 2000s. When VERO first started it wasn’t the right time to join, but by April 2020 I jumped onboard!
“The engineering team is the primary conduit for the realization of the product vision.”
How would you describe your job?
My job is to have the features requested by Product & Design to be developed and delivered by the Engineering team under the technological guidance of the CTO.
How would you explain the role of Engineering in a tech company?
The engineering team is the primary conduit for the realization of the product vision.
How big is the VERO engineering team and where is the team located?
We are a team of 37 engineers (Development, Quality Assurance, and Operations) across multiple continents with the largest time zone difference being 17 hours.
“To put it simply, VERO 3.0: watch this space.”
What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day is split across tracking development activities, facilitating collaboration between Product/Design and Development, and ensuring Quality Assurance has software to be tested.
What VERO technical achievement are you most proud of?
Release of VERO 2.0. It involved the coordination of various stakeholders towards a single deliverable.
What is the biggest challenge you face?
Time to Delivery. The Product and Design teams are way ahead in their vision of VERO but - given the relatively small size of our team, tech debt, and time for execution, we cannot move quite as fast!
What are you most passionate about in the technology space?
Tools that make users’ lives better by providing software that is useful and egalitarian rather than making them slaves to technology.
What do you look for in a new hire?
Skillset, work ethics, and being a team player. I have full respect and support for someone who is a contributor in these three areas and believes in VERO’s mission to transform the social landscape.
If you could build one thing into VERO tomorrow, what would it be?
Accelerated discovery of content and profiles available for VERO users, leading to more meaningful interactions and connections - done in a transparent, non-extractive way (we’re working on it!).
Which upcoming feature are you most excited to release?
To put it simply, VERO 3.0: watch this space.
Which tech company do you most admire?
SpaceX. They were close to shutting down as they faced failure after failure in rocket launches. They did not give up. They turned things around and have not looked back since, making space travel a reality for our children, which I am hoping will further evolve our humanity positively.
What’s your favorite VERO feature?
Global Opinions – which enable you to see what people have thought of a movie, book, song, TV show, or place you’re interested in.
Where can we find you on VERO?
For more VERO Insider profiles click here.
Road to Belonging