November Kisi Employee Spotlight - Gustaf Edén

Name: Gustaf Edén

Department: Product (IoT)

Title: Software Developer

Location: Stockholm

Describe your role here at Kisi:

My role is Interim Team Lead on the Embedded Developer Team. I'm currently co-team lead with our CTO, Carl, as most of our team leads are very experienced (around 5+ Years). I am thankful for the opportunity to act as co-team lead.

My role includes planning sprints, taking care of and developing Kisi hardware features, and programming and writing code. It's very busy and demanding but I have fun doing it and working with my team. There is always something new to work on and solve.

How has your career grown since starting at Kisi?

It's been crazy! It's kind of a surprise that it's been almost 2 years, time has gone so quickly.

I started as an intern while in school at Nackademin in January 2020 and was brought on as a full-time hire that August. In the beginning, I was only working factory (firmware that runs on devices in the factory to make sure it works) but I gradually took on more responsibilities and started working on real code (the one actually running in production for customers), which was more fun to work with.

I did a lot of work recently with the new Kisi reader and was a big part of the new factory process for that reader. As the team has continued to change, I've now grown from being the one who asked the most questions to the one on the team with the most knowledge of the codebase who helps answer questions! It's been very fast-paced but I am very happy about the growth and experience I've had here so far.

What got you interested in starting a career as a developer?

I've always been interested in electronics and building things. I consider myself a maker and an interest in tech and computers have always been a big part of my life.

I really started getting into it in high school, which is when I learned to code in Java and HTML. Then I went to a 2-year university IoT developer program where I was able to learn more, and that brought me to my internship at Kisi which I started in my last term.

What advice would you give to yourself when you were early in your career?

I would tell myself that you have a lot to look forward to, so just power through everything, do your best and know that you'll get there. At some point, everyone starts to get that overwhelmed feeling, but you have to know that things will be good in the end. There are always going to be times when it's stressful, but there is always help available and great colleagues to rely on. You're never alone.

What's a day in the life like in your role?

I get to the office, make some coffee, go through my emails first, then look at my Github notifications and see if there are any reviews or tasks. Then I'll start working on my projects, try to keep up with OKRs and team goals, and make sure things are on track.

Part of my role as interim team lead is helping to make the team OKRs. I'll check in with the team, we spend between 30 minutes to an hour every day reviewing each other's work and making sure we're all staying organized.

It's super important when working with a large codebase to make sure the team delivers on sprints. One sprint lasts for two weeks so every Monday we do sprint planning and make sure everyone knows what they are doing and that the work is evenly distributed. On Friday we review the week and see if the schedule needs to be changed. The goal is to be able to release at the end of the sprint.

What would you like to tell future team members about your team?

I would tell them that we are an open-minded team that's very diverse, no one is exactly alike. We work very well together and are always looking to find the right match for the team.

It's a great team to be a part of and we are really excited to have more people join. We want to grow bigger and be able to accomplish more, so we need to find someone who is not only up for the task and wants to help out but also who is excited about building the product as we are.

How would you describe life at Kisi/ Kisi’s culture?

It's a very fun and challenging culture and a great place to work. It's hard putting it into words but I really do enjoy it, it's nice to always be excited about work. I genuinely enjoy coming to work and that's amazing. As long as I continue to have that feeling I want to stay.

Have you always lived in Stockholm?

Yes, I've always lived within the Stockholm region. I grew up in Täby which is right outside the city.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go/would you stay where you are?

I am very happy where I am, but do think it would be fun being somewhere else for a little while. It would be nice to have the perspective of living in a different place. Maybe one day I can go to New York for a bit and work from that Kisi office! But I don't see myself anywhere else permanently but Sweden.

What’s something most people don't know about you?

Something not everyone knows about me is that I'm a bit of an audiophile. I love music and music gear, like speakers and amplifiers. I love finding and listening to great music.

Current favorite TV show/podcast?

I just finished La Casa de Papel, which was a great show. I also recently finished Squid Game, which was the first Korean show I've ever watched. It's an interesting concept around something so extreme, it makes you think. I also enjoy watching some old classics like Friends, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, or Brooklyn 99.

What can you be found doing on the weekends?

I try to spend time on my personal projects but only have a limited amount of time for that. I also spend a lot of time with my girlfriend watching movies or doing activities together, listening to music, watching shows, or playing video games.