We are kicking off May with another team member introduction!
Our team members are the foundation of who we are and how we do what we do at Zensurance. They are the masterminds behind our work. That’s why we would like to introduce you to Tyler Kivari.
Tyler is currently our Director of Engineering.
What do you do at Zensurance?
I am the Director of Engineering at Zensurance. I started at the company in 2018 as a software developer, and I have had the opportunity and the great fortune to be able to grow in my career along with the company. I have worked on all areas of the product since joining the company, in a variety of roles, from developer to team lead, manager, and director.
What led you to this career?
I have been working in many different roles in the tech industry for over 25 years. At my first tech summer job in 1996, I worked as an assistant in the IT lab of a pulp and paper mill where my primary responsibility was assembling, maintaining, repairing, and cataloguing all of the computer hardware used at the mill. In my spare time, they let me work on building a website for the company, since they didn’t have one yet and no one else was interested in learning HTML. I built and designed that website using all the cutting-edge 90s technologies and design techniques I could learn, and I haven’t looked back. Since then, the majority of my work has been in startups across industries ranging from hospitality to advertising, marketing, sales, and real estate. I’ve used technologies ranging from Perl to ASP, Java to PHP, Javascript to .NET, and everything in between.
What is the most exciting part of your job?
There is no better feeling than the satisfaction of solving a really tough problem. It is incredibly rewarding and gratifying to see the results of our hard work, and the opportunities we have to continue advancing and progressing as a result.
How do you prefer to start your day?
My day always starts with a walk with my dog. I also like to set aside some time in the morning to think about the biggest problems I’m trying to solve at the moment and review the progress I’ve made. I’m not really a morning person - I’d rather stay up late - so it’s usually a pretty quick routine for me!
What is the best book you have read recently?
Fiction: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Non-Fiction: Accelerate, Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations by Jez Humble, Gene Kim, and Nicole Forsgren
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
The perfect day for me would start with a long bike ride, and end with dinner and a movie with my wife. In between, I would spend the afternoon in my garden, reading a book, or playing video games. No matter what I’m doing, I need to be listening to music!
Are there any training/courses you are attending?
Utilizing the Education Assistance Program provided by Zensurance, I recently completed the University of Toronto Leadership Essentials certificate, and I am currently working towards a certificate in Business Process Management. The course I am taking right now is called “Organizational Aspects of Business Process Management,” and is focused on leading an organization through large-scale changes.
What is your most-used productivity hack?
My best productivity hack is finding meaningful work! What’s the point of being productive if you don’t believe in what you’re doing and you don’t care about it? Decide whether your work is meaningful to you, and if it is, dig into it!
What is your favorite movie?
My favorite movie also happens to be the greatest movie of all time, and the greatest techno-love story ever told: the 1995 classic Hackers starring Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller, Matthew Lillard, and Fisher Stevens. It really captured the spirit, optimism, and excitement of being a tech-obsessed teenager in the 90s :D
If you could play an instrument, what would it be?
I do play an instrument! I play the guitar (poorly), and I also enjoy playing the bass guitar.
