Humans of Humanitix: Ryan O’Connell, CTO
Our Chief Technology Officer Ryan “Rhino” O’Connell was recently named the Gold Winner for the Chief Technology Officer of the Year (IT Cloud/SaaS) at the IT World Awards 2020! To celebrate his success, we thought this would be an excellent occasion to bring Ryan out of the coding shadows, and shed light on who exactly is ‘The Architect’ of the Humanitix platform.
What made you decide to join Humanitix?
The idea and the opportunity. When I first heard the idea to create a not-for-profit ticketing platform, my eyes lit up! It just made so much sense — people hate booking fees, and turning them into a force for good would be huge. The opportunity to help bring this idea to life drew me in. Right from my first interviews with Adam and Josh (co-founders), we talked about how we had to create the best ticketing platform in the market. Users should not have to compromise on the product by making an ethical choice. After that first interview, I knew I was all in.
What has surprised you most about working at Humanitix?
How well the organisation pushes forward and handles challenges. Right from the start there has been something special about the leadership that has created a culture that continually drives us to punch above our weight. Part of that is knowing if anything goes wrong everyone will have your back, no questions asked. Even though it makes logical sense, it surprised me as I never have experienced anything like it before.
What’s a song you’ve got on replay at the moment?
Definitely Wait for this by Nick De Man. It is the first professional release of a friend of mine. We spent two seasons living in Banff, Canada and his music was the soundtrack to much of that time. Not only does it take me back, it is a great easy listening song.
If you could master one thing in an instant, what would it be?
Probably the guitar, there is something special about sitting around with a group of friends while a mate knocks out some tunes. I’ve never had a musical bone in my body, so to be able to master it in an instant might be the only way I get there.
What’s the next exciting thing on the horizon?
We are gearing up to take Humanitix global! Opening up to new markets will be amazing — we can power millions of more events and turn millions of dollars of booking fees into donations.
If you could give one piece of advice to developers and aspiring CTOs, what would you say?
Keep learning! The tech world is constantly changing and there is so much to know that you will never master it all, but your willingness to learn will not only help drive your career forward, it will keep you excited. As you learn new things, you’ll continually get to have that “ah-ha” moment and will want to bring new skills to your work. I also find that one of the best ways to learn is to teach others.
Want more? You can read Google Cloud’s case study on Humanitix and interview with Ryan here.
