Ionut Gavris, Technical Manager, on how to build a rockstar team

Ionut Gavris is one of our newest rockstars. He brings with him valuable expertise as an engineer, but his story in AscentCore started with his passion for leading high-performing teams in achieving client success.

We sat down with him virtually to learn about his journey and a few of his favorite hobbies outside work.

What is your favorite tech?

Having worked for more than 10 years in the IT industry I’ve had the opportunity to work with different types of technologies and they’ve all contributed to what I know today. Early in my career, I was focused on mobile so I loved to develop apps for Android and iOS. My frustration back then was the inability to shape the backend APIs to match the much lighter mobile apps. Throughout the years I’ve tried to solve this issue by learning to write backend services in serverless to shape the APIs to match the products the teams I worked with needed.

What is a typical work day for you?

Every morning starts with a good cup of coffee. During the pandemic I had a chance to develop my coffee brewing skills - learning to properly grind coffee, make an espresso, and create latte art. I’m happy to share what I learned in a future blog :)

In the late morning we do our standup meetings to get ready for the day. Throughout the day I try to stay on top of things and understand where I can help, conduct code reviews, learn some new technologies, and get prepared for afternoon meetings with US-based clients.

Why did you choose to work at AscentCore?

As a manager with an engineering background I always loved to develop software. In the IT industry, when you get to a management position, you tend to do less and less of what you enjoy, such as working with developers. But AscentCore offered me the opportunity to have the best of both worlds. I manage my team while still having time to work hand in hand with the developers so I don’t lose my engineering skills and can continue to learn and grow.

The second most important reason was around working with clients that treat you as their colleague. Most of the time in the outsourcing business you feel that you are just a contractor, this was not the case here at AscentCore where open collaboration and trust is at the core of every partnership.

What is your favorite AscentCore value and why?

To me the most important value is relationships. By creating close relationships with our clients we get to a place where we feel part of their team, not just a vendor relationship where you’re going through the motions to get the job done. Having a close relationship with the client can also open new doors and create new styles of collaboration, allowing us to build fully autonomous teams rather than just having people integrated within larger client teams.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your role?

The most important lesson I’ve learned is around getting back to basics: focusing on developing a quality product, writing quality code, and working in an environment where trust creates an open field for innovation. This is only possible when you create a strong relationship with the client and have a rockstar team!