Pancham Khaitan: My journey as a Software Engineer at Peak
By Elena Kulikova on February 11, 2022 - 5 Minute ReadMeet our special guest from Pune - Pancham Khaitan. He'll be chatting about his professional journey, all things Peak, and sharing his views on what it takes to be a Peaker.
Hi, Pancham, thanks for joining us today. What does Peak’s mission mean to you?
To democratise AI for every business, Peak needs to develop a system so amicable and powerful that it encourages every business in the world to utilise the power of AI to make decisions for them. This is not easy. We are faced with a lot of interesting and challenging problems to make this part of the mission come to life. From an engineering point of view, we need to optimize our solutions to scale on a global level, which means that being lazy is out of the question. We need to take tough decisions and focus on what’s most important. We need to keep the business’ needs at the center and scale around that, rather than expecting businesses to change to utilise AI.
Regarding the second half of Peak’s mission, I believe it is a perpetual cycle. While Peak is already one of the best companies to work for, we are constantly improving the way we work because we believe there is always room for improvement.
What makes Peak different from other Indian tech companies?
If you look at Peak’s social media handles, you’ll understand how distinctive the company is. We have loads of activities driven by passionate individuals, that might be yoga classes, kettle clubs, Friday socials, pet lovers club, or something related to knowledge sharing amongst the teams. But those things aren’t the only points of difference at Peak.
Peak uses state-of-the-art technologies for AI while pioneering the modern software development cycle. As a Software Engineer, I’m thrilled to be in the epicenter of change and participate in creating the future of AI. The company is liberal when it comes to trying new things. Each team member has the absolute power to build new systems, processes, tools that can benefit everyone at Peak. It’s exciting to have this level of autonomy.
Could you share your favourite memory from your time at Peak?
I lost count of the ‘those moments’! We’re a fun-loving bunch and create memories as we go. However, one is engraved into my memory – Peaknic in Goa. I had just signed my offer letter, getting ready to start a new chapter in my life, when I got a call, “Pancham, you need to start packing; Peak is heading to Goa. You should join; the whole team will be there. We all want to meet you before you start.” A few days later, we were all at the Calangute beach in Goa skydiving. What a week!
What are the main benefits you get as a Peaker?
Peak is a fast-growing, global tech company; therefore, there are plenty of learnings for me as a Software Engineer. I’ve learned abundant things about various tech stacks in four months, incorporating my knowledge into my day-to-day life.
Two months into my role at Peak, I opted for an AWS Certification as part of my Personal Development Plan (PDP). This allowed me to bring new ideas to the table to improve the overall experience of being an engineer at Peak. Now, I’m working to get Solutions Architect – Associate Certification with Amazon.
Peak uses state-of-the-art technologies for AI while pioneering the modern software development cycle.
Pancham Khaitan
Software Engineer
What are Peak’s three biggest strengths? Do we focus on them enough?
Peak is leading the world in the Decision Intelligence (DI) category, and our DI platform is a powerful tool designed to help companies make great commercial decisions, optimizing at every stage of the value chain.
One thing I admire about Peak is the care for the employees. Half of our mission is to build a team everyone loves being a part of. And Peak takes care of our well-being and health. There are several platforms we get as part of our package, Headspace and Spill, that anyone can use anonymously and absolutely free.
Not to mention a number of perks, such as all MacBook, healthcare and enhanced parental leave. You can view the full list of Peak India benefits here.
Name one practice you’d like to see us continue doing?
I feel many practices at Peak are essential to continue with!
Company surveys:
Peakers share how they feel about being at Peak, their general wellbeing, and feedback on improving their working style every quarter. I love this because it reinforces that Peak is constantly on a mission to enhance employee experience and keep everyone motivated and happy.
Global company stand-ups:
Every Friday, we have a global company stand-up: teams from around the world join in celebrating the success of Peak and our teams. One such meeting is enough to give you enough jolt to crush the following week in style.
Appreciating and TIFU:
We have a concept in the engineering team of Kudos and TIFU (the engineers out there will know what this means!) Peakers can virtually pat on the back someone they enjoyed working with. TIFU is the opposite, we share our mishaps while attempting a certain thing to prevent others from doing the same thing twice.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of applying for a role at Peak?
If you are somebody who enjoys facing exciting challenges and is always willing to learn new things, Peak is the place for you. You’ll get a chance to work in a fast-paced environment while developing cutting-edge AI-based services in a rapidly scaling global company. What’s not to love!
Thank you for your time, Pancham. It was great talking to you.
Join Pancham's team.
Take a look at our India careers page to browse our current vacancies in Pune.
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