People of Motive: Daniel Baez, Software Engineer Platform

Outside of his professional achievements as a Software Engineer, Daniel has many talents and interests. Whether it’s exploring the latest advancements in technology, staying up-to-date with industry trends, or leading a community yoga class each week in San Francisco- Daniel brings a diverse background and fresh perspective to our team. Learn more about Daniel and what it’s like to work with him at Motive.

What motivated you to join Motive?

I joined Motive because what we’re doing is helping people improve their lives with a better, safer, more-automated physical economy. We are a part of something that matters! The role itself requires a great use of my skill set and, through the work that I do, I’m able to contribute to the society we live in.

Tell us about your role and where you’re located.

I’m originally from Chile but currently reside in San Francisco, California.

As for my role, imagine an invisible bridge of information extending from Motive to the devices we have on the road. The bridge is made of software abstractions helping us enable a variety of functions. These building blocks are tied to all of our features: distributing firmware upgrades; enabling new settings; capturing data from the edge into the company’s systems; etc. My team (IOT) controls that bridge. We’re defining, monitoring, extending, and improving it constantly.

What’s a recent project/work you’re most proud of at Motive?

Recently, my team was focused on messaging (Custom Jobs) and file ingestion pipelines. We sent commands to devices, instructed prompts, and uploaded many files throughout the day. These two systems are fundamental to what we do. Understanding them better, making them more popular among our engineering org, improving and understanding metrics, alerting, and enabling further updates based on performance analysis is a massive step in the right direction.

What’s your favorite part about working at Motive?

My colleagues! My background is vastly different from other engineers. I didn’t come out of a top-notch university in the U.S. I was just a kid teaching myself to code in the Atacama Desert thirty years ago. I’m passionate about reading and I love software. I believe the combination of these interests eventually brought me to the States. At Motive, I’ve grown to know and interact with some of the most intelligent, forward-thinking people.

At Motive, our experiences, customers, and knowledge influence how we decide to approach problems and solutions. You can’t win by always doing the same thing in the technological arena. You have to be prepared to propose innovative solutions, take risks, and go dance!

Most rewarding part about your role at Motive and why?

I’ve learned so much at Motive! This is an excellent company; the software stack is incredible and things are well done, unlike anything or any company I’ve experienced.

I value the honesty and respect our CEO, Shoaib Makani leads the company with. I appreciate the transparency of our leadership team. It’s refreshing to know the direction things are going in so that I’m able to manage my expectations. I believe we take integrity very seriously at Motive.

Describe yourself in 3 words

Nerd (aren’t we all at heart), reader, and yogi.

How has Motive helped you unlock your potential?

Motive has an environment that gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves: “How does my work move the needle? How can we do it to make it better? How can we help our tech evolve faster and better?” Asking the right questions gets you halfway into solving complex problems. At Motive, we foster an inclusive and prosperous atmosphere where sound answers to questions flourish.

What is something people may not know about you?

I lead a community yoga class Wednesday evenings in San Francisco. Bring your own mat and come join me!

Best advice you have been given?

“Determine the most important contributor to the problem and attack that.”

Interested in working with dynamic team members like Daniel? Visit our careers site to learn more about our open roles at Motive.