In 2008, when Syed Adnan Jawaid graduated from Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan with a degree in Electronic Engineering, his technological capabilities were quite different from what they are today. Over the last 12+ years, Syed has learned new skills, brought new technologies into the ecosystems of the organizations he has worked for, and used technical advancements to serve customers better. Today, he's a leader in IT; however, he had to forge his own path that took over a decade of hard work, adaptation, and innovation.
Taking a role as a Linux Administrator for Mobilink in Pakistan, Syed's first professional role was filled with hands-on experience. He was responsible for over 100 servers and their maintenance; troubleshooting, disk management, and availability coordination were all up to Syed. Over the next four years at Mobilink, Syed installed 2000 new Unix servers, used Python to automate tasks, and resolved any open issue tickets. Working in the details, Syed left this role with a strong grasp of how a variety of components worked together, how to overcome problems, and how to enhance technological capabilities on a large scale.
A new opportunity brought Syed to Dubai, where he not only adapted to living and working in a different place but took on a number of different professional roles. He stepped out of the technology space for a quick couple of years to get more exposure to customer service, working with clients, and running the operations side of a business. Eventually, Syed moved back to his technical track, working as a DevOps Engineer for Dubai Telecom.
At Dubai Telecom, Syed worked on a fast-paced team that partnered with a number of different development teams to complete simultaneous software releases successfully. He became an expert in juggling multiple demands. For example, for one team, Syed would build servers in an EC2 environment and monitor them using Cloud Watch whilst, at the same time, he was performing server configuration management via Puppet, configuring domain logs, and developing deployment scripts using ANT and MAVEN. Due to his extraordinary skills, he was further offered a leadership role at Etisalat Dubai.
At Etisalat Dubai, Syed was responsible for planning and creating complex telecommunications networks and server-less infrastructures within AWS; this role required strong leadership skills. He was responsible for managing a complex CI/CD environment, ensuring smooth integration of various tools, including GIT, Jenkins, Docker, AWS & Ansible, for multiple Dev teams. He was fully aware that a candidate who is responsible for a Java project using Bamboo and Maven as build tools must be able to design and implement a fully automated server for build management, monitoring, and deployment using Ansible. As such, this role demanded an individual who can create Ansible playbooks for provisioning, configuration management, patching, & software deployment in AWS environments. His experience in creating scripts in Python and in creating a best practice build environment using Jenkins also helped him train other team workers at the organization. Along with technical skills, he demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the leadership and communication skills that are essential for successful teamwork. He effectively guided the team towards a common goal and communicated effectively with the team members, ensuring that everyone was on the same page. With a combination of his technical and leadership skills, he proved himself a perfect candidate for the role.
In 2018, just a decade after his career began, Syed was ready to take his career to the next level. He relocated to the United States to advance his career. Within six months of working at his new job as a DevOps and AWS Engineer, Syed had an opportunity to take on another leadership role at a new company. Taking on a leadership role was different from what he had done in the past, but he knew that he had the technical background to be able to guide a team through challenges, so he jumped on the opportunity.
For over three years now, Syed has been an Assistant Vice President of IT at MUFG Bank in Arizona. Working at a financial institution adds the complex component of data safety and customer privacy, but this role has allowed him to really flex the learnings from his master's program. Luckily, Syed still gets to spend some of his time working as a systems engineer. He maintains and supports large OpenShift installations, builds solutions using Ansible Tower, and addresses business challenges using AWS Services. He also supports container orchestration services, especially Kubernetes. On the leadership side, Syed gets to shape IT policies internally, train teams of developers, liaise with vendors and other IT personnel for problem resolution and provide direct and responsive support to urgent requests from developers. He also assists developers with the use of deployment CICD tools such as Nexus, BBK, Tekton, ArgoCD, or Jenkins. Therefore, it contributes to the strategic growth of the IT organization within the bank.
His technical skills speak for themselves; Syed has shown time and time again how capable he is at learning new technologies and applying them to complex business challenges. He has also obtained certifications such as OSCP, Certified Ethical Hacker, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, and Designing and Implementing a Microsoft Azure Artificial Intelligence Solution, which are all excellent ways to solidify technical skills and demonstrate expertise in the relevant field.
OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) is a highly regarded certification in the field of penetration testing, which requires individuals to demonstrate their ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems. Similarly, the Certified Ethical Hacker certification validates skills in identifying and assessing network vulnerabilities and applying countermeasures to mitigate risks. The Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification demonstrates expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, which is a critical skill for organizations looking to adopt cloud-based technologies. Obtaining these certifications, along with many others, not only enhanced his technical skills but also provided a competitive edge in the IT industry by demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning and professional development. Now, he gets the chance to utilize his knowledge and experience to prove himself as a leader.
