Eric Alas
Role: Staff Software Engineer
Joined: Jan. 4th, 2021
Home: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
What were you doing before joining Datajoy?
I was at SAP working on SAP Analytics Cloud for almost 5 years, where I designed and rewrote a new application component to migrate from SAPUI5. After completing that project, I ended up leading a team to apply that component into SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.
It was during my time at SAP where I first worked with our teammates André and Ray. I may’ve met Patrick for an interview, and Jacky on a cross-team project!
What attracted you to Datajoy?
The people! During my time at SAP, I worked with a lot of the early Datajoy engineers, and having the opportunity to work with them again was very intriguing. Then when I met with our co-founder Ken, the work-to-be-done he outlined was exciting — some of it was familiar and I knew I could contribute right away, but it was also new at the same time.
Another great thing about the company is being able to work remotely as a new Dad. The team here really does promote a healthy work life balance. I’m really grateful to be able to enjoy the special moments of my daughter during the day. I still remember the first time she started giggling intentionally – my partner called me upstairs, and when she would play with a stuffie in front of our daughter, she had this amazing smile and giggle.
What does your typical day-to-day look like?
I’ve got a 3 hour head start on most of the team, so I usually start my day by prioritizing the work I want to accomplish. From there I’ll jump right in before our standup at noon eastern.
Lately I’ve been working on feature enhancements and bug fixes for our customer HackerRank — adding support to compare data year over year, making more parts of our app configurable and flexible to support different customer use cases. It’s all about making our customers as happy as possible with Datajoy!
What makes Datajoy special compared to other companies you worked at?
As a small team, it’s very rewarding to be able to see the impact of your work. The trust that’s given to our team is amazing. When we talk about “innovation”, we live and breathe it everyday. Each one of us checks our egos at the door (albeit nobody’s got a crazy ego) and we’re all working on the same goal: to build the best software possible for customers.
Favorite thing to do outside of work?
So I used to play in a ska/punk band back in high school, and if I could find a few bandmates and the time, would 100% love to revive my career 😂. I do also enjoy playing rock and indie, bands like Elder Brother, Brand New, and Death Cab for Cutie.
Aside from music, I also love to play and watch basketball. Don’t tell my Canadian friends, but I’m a big Detroit Pistons fan. After all, I’m just across the river from Little Caesars arena vs 3.5 hours to Scotiabank arena in Toronto. And I’m starting to get into American Football because my partner Alyssa and her family are huge Lions fans.
What is your superpower?
I’ve got really good hearing, spookily good. After listening to a song a few times, I’m able to pick it up and play it decently well. And after a few more listens, pick up the small little “extras” in a song that make a song feel full.