It might be summer vacation, but the minute you let your guard down, bam, you get hacked! Thankfully, we have Xavier, our system administrator, who is here to monitor and share best practices for our servers. He let us ask him questions for our #LifeAtJulie series but be warned, we never know if he’s telling the truth or bluffing, after all he’s our Chief Poker Officer 😉
1. Hello Xavier, can you tell us a little about your background?
I studied network and telecommunications engineering at INSA in Toulouse. I started my career working at a startup that specialized in using artificial intelligence to make financial predictions, racing projections, detect fraud and so on. I started as an intern and stayed there for 6 years working on all the technical aspects you can think of: infrastructure, code, security and so on. Julie desk is my second employer.
2. How did you get to Julie Desk?
I stayed a really long time at my old job and I thought a little change couldn’t hurt. But not too much! I still choose to work with an AI company. In fact, I was really drawn to the job because of the product and the team members I was able to meet so I packed my bags and moved to Paris straight away.
3. Can you describe your role and a typical day at Julie Desk?
I work on a few different things but my main role is working on the company’s infrastructure. I’m in charge of the conception, implementation and evolution of our servers so that Julie can always work and respond to client requests as quickly as possible. I also play an important role in developing and implementing programs that guarantee the security of our clients’ data.
As for a typical day, I always start by looking at date logs to make sure there aren’t any errors or security failures. Once that’s done, I dedicate my time to Julie and prepare system parts for future tasks and connections with new clients.
4. What advice would you give to someone who would want to follow in your footsteps?
I’d tell them not to be afraid to keep learning. School gives you a solid base but that isn’t enough in itself. Today we work with technology that was barely used, even barely existant when I was in school. Everything moves fast so you have to learn to adapt to new concepts and challenges easily.
5. What is the biggest challenge you face or have faced at Julie Desk?
My number one challenge, like many other system administrators, is to automate the maximum number of repetitive tasks. The more we automate, the more time we have to do interesting things, handle more services, get more clients, the more we need to automate to take on the workload. Hmm, I guess that means I’m stuck in an infinite cycle 🙂
6. Where do you see Julie Desk in 5 years?
I see her becoming a tool that is closer to an assistant. She would be able to take on new tasks like organizing business trips. I imagine an increase in usership and an increase in the number of services she offers as a virtual assistant for businesses. We’re still in the early stages of adopting this technology but things are moving quickly!
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years ?
Hard to project myself that far ahead when I have difficulty planning my next holiday… In any case, I don’t (yet) see myself in a mansion with a dog 🙂
I think that I will have at least traveled and taken advantage of life. That’s what’s most important. Life is full of opportunities and you’ve got to know to take advantage of them.
8. Three words to describe you?
Curious, calm, organized.
9. Is there something that people don’t know about you that you’d like to share?
I won’t answer that question without a lawyer present.
10. What is the first thing you do in the morning? Do you have a routine?
I never wake up at the last minute. I take my time to get ready. I don’t like rushing. I don’t have a fixed routine but I like doing things one by one. I alternate depending on how I’m feeling (sports, reading etc.)
11. Favorite app?
Nano (an in-line text editor)
12. Favorite food?
Can’t resist a good lemon tart!
13. Favorite quote?
“Le monde appartient aux optimistes, les pessimistes ne sont que des spectateurs.” – François Guizot
It means the world belongs to optimists, pessimists are only spectators.
14. Who inspires you most?
I was always really curious. I wanted to understand the world around me. I was mostly inspired by scientists like Albert Einstein, Newton or even Leonardo da Vinci to name a few. They are the source of humanity’s greatest revolutions. And all that when intuition and human genius were most important. They didn’t have any of the data-reading tools we have today. When you think about it, our modern lives are the fruit of the their work.
15. What’s your favorite memory at Julie Desk?
I really appreciate the overall chill spirit but I have to say trying out new restaurants and bars the first Thursday and Friday of the month always makes for good memories.
Thanks for answering our questions Xavier! If you want to know more about his background, let us know! 🙂