The Spark Behind the Data, Building What Matters

For our Senior Data Engineer, Lewis, tinkering with computers was all fun and games from very early on. By the age of 12-13, he was already experimenting with Visual Basic and C#, and even building an early facial recognition solution that scanned and compared pictures against vector templates. While other kids were swapping football cards, Lewis was having the time of his life, coding.

From code to cloud

No surprise that programming also turned into a career for Lewis. He started as a Full-stack Engineer, later also lending a hand in customer experience. At UpCloud, he shifted gears into the world of data as well. Sideways, upwards — career growth has had many shapes for our zestful Lewis.

Lewis first crossed paths with UpCloud when he was evaluating cloud providers at his previous employer. Already fascinated by the cloud, he quickly realized this was the domain he wanted to build his career in. Traditional web hosting? Too small. Real cloud infrastructure? That was the big league.

So when the chance came to join UpCloud, the decision wasn’t hard. Here was a company that not only built its own products but also offered an easy-going group of like-minded people.

Wearing many hats and a bit of showmanship

In his varying roles, Lewis’s days are never quite the same. A significant portion of his time and focus is spent building and evolving UpCloud’s own data platform. His team is making sure the gathered and modeled data answers the right questions, not just piling up for the sake of it. How all this is done, at the end of the day, determines how the company will grow.

Other times, Lewis is programming, which is still very exciting for him, too. In all of this, he still has the same spark as back in the days of a 12-year-old, “making your own toys”, so to speak.

Now and then, Lewis is also the company’s social media ambassador, bringing a human touch to the cloud. “Sure, people compare specs and performance of clouds — but it’s also cool for them to see the people behind it.”

Lightbulb moments in the world of cloud

Lewis recalls one of his “aha” moments. The cloud really is just someone else’s computer! – Except, at UpCloud, of course, it’s our computer. “Going to the data centers and seeing the actual machines is pretty cool,” he admits.

Generally, lightbulb moments and deep discussions that lead to those, are the very fabric of what it’s like to work at UpCloud. Colleagues become friends, and random office banter may become the most intriguing talk you’ve had in a while!

Building something to be proud of

Of all the projects Lewis has worked on, one stands out: the audit log service. “We built it from scratch, and it hasn’t ever failed because it can’t afford to. It just runs constantly.” It wasn’t just the technical challenge that made it special, but the teamwork. “We had to go through every single engineer in this company, talking to each of them, when deciding what to do. It was hefty, but really fun.”

Looking ahead, Lewis sees the biggest challenge — and opportunity — as physical. “We literally need more computers. More racks. It’s a hurdle, but an exciting one.”

Out-of-this-world camaraderie

Ask Lewis what the culture at UpCloud feels like, and he’ll tell you in one breath: independence and camaraderie. Helping others when you can, sharing knowledge when it counts, and celebrating together when the work is done. Major company parties, where remote colleagues fly in, are a highlight. “I’m truly friends with a lot of people here.”

And then, of course, there’s the quirkiness. ‘I’m from Mars,’ Lewis says with a grin — he sees the world from a little more eccentric viewpoint, with a sparkle in his eye. At UpCloud, the idea of individuality is maybe rather the norm than an exception. Being unapologetically yourself is not only welcomed, it’s part of the UpCloud way (I should know, as the branding chick from Turku, writing this career story — practically extraterrestrial too).