The People Keeping GOJEK’s World in Balance
GOJEK’s Marketplace is responsible for keeping GOJEK’s world in balance. We handle incoming demand (orders for food delivery, rides, etc) and supply (drivers), and we do the matching. We have to ensure the right driver, for the right order, at the right time, millions of times a day across all the different services in the GOJEK app.
So who are the people behind the team? Meet Andrew Brinson (part-time cook, full-time SVP), and Sartaj Singh (part-time writer, full-time tech lead).
Andrew Brinson, Senior Vice President — Mobility Marketplace
When you see Andrew Brinson’s credentials, you might wonder how in the world he stumbled upon the tech industry. Andrew, affectionately known as AB, is a chemical engineer who worked in a biochem lab while studying at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Deciding that working in a quiet, solitary lab wasn’t for him, he moved to New York, where he worked in a restaurant becoming an assistant general manager.
It seemed that AB finally found his mojo working at a restaurant — enjoying making customers happy and being surrounded by food. He was even promoted to general manager and managed restaurants in Manhattan. Two years later, he decided to take a break and traveled to Australia to visit his parents. What AB thought would be a 3-week visit turned out to be one that changed the course of his life; it was in Australia that he entered the tech industry and joined Uber.
After almost 4 years at the US-based ride-hailing company, AB joined GOJEK. AB became interested in GOJEK after learning that GOJEK was not just a ride-hailing company, but a platform that offers multiple services! And AB found that working in GOJEK allowed him to do the things that he loved; working with people, satisfying customers, and leveraging data. AB can consider himself lucky, because he entered the tech industry by chance, and it was in this industry that he found his passion.
When he’s not busy keeping GOJEK’s world in balance, AB is an avid videogamer and Hearthstone is his favorite game (he’s ranked among the top 300 in the world!). He also enjoys cooking dishes that take way too much time; AB’s ideal weekend is cooking a large meal for his closest friends and family. In fact, he dreams of one day opening a restaurant. He might cook for his team to test out the menu, so make sure you’re there when he does! ;)
Sartaj Singh, Marketplace Tech Lead
Sartaj Singh is a small town guy making his mark in a big city with his even bigger heart. Sartaj was born and raised in Bhogpur Sirwal, a small town in northern India. It wasn’t until his university years when he moved to the neighboring city, Jalandhar, that Sartaj realized there was a huge world out there that he hadn’t seen.
After his graduation from National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, Sartaj interned at CodeIgnition as a consultant in 2015 where he learned the real world impact of software and hence started his love affair with programming and devops. As fate would have it, GOJEK acquired CodeIgnition less than a year later, and Sartaj moved to the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore. Sartaj became one of the few engineers who has been with GOJEK since the early days, from 150,000 orders per day, to millions of orders per day currently. One of Sartaj’s favorite thing about working at GOJEK is the scale at which the company operates and grows, and he has witnessed this scalability firsthand. Although it’s challenging, Sartaj enjoys the fact that it gives him the chance to learn and grow, both professionally and personally.
Growing up, Sartaj never thought that he would end up working in the tech industry. As a literary enthusiast who spends his spare time reading classic novels and writing poems and prose, Sartaj always wanted to become a published writer. He still writes as a hobby but keeps most of his writings to himself except for a small group of friends who are lucky enough to be given a sneak peek.
Although Sartaj didn’t grow up dreaming of the tech industry, today he is passionate about technology. He dreams of building a self-sustainable home back in his birthplace in Bhogpur Sirwal, one that would be fully automated, from agricultural production to electricity generation using renewable sources of energy. From a small town guy to an engineer in India’s tech capital dreaming of becoming a published writer and building a self-sufficient home, Sartaj is definitely a guy who #shootsforgreatness!
So, what do you say? Does working with people like AB and Sartaj sound like something you’re interested in? Click here to start your adventure with GOJEK’s Marketplace team!
