OneByte Employee Spotlight — Asim Ghafoor

“What hackers and painters have in common is that they’re both makers. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are trying to do is make good things.”

Paul Graham, of course, uses the term ‘hackers’ in a very positive way. By hackers, he means extremely creative individuals who ‘hack’ life, who ‘hack together’ innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Most companies, however, don’t think of it this way. People who work in software companies are not really considered or treated as creative individuals bursting with passion and creativity, who exist to solve problems. They are just tools that do a job — do things for clients they never meet, users they never see. They are expected to sit in a corner and work on things that have little impact on the immediate world around them. Clock in. Clock out.

But that’s not us. At OneByte, we believe our team is our most valuable asset. We invest in our people’s growth and development because we want them to reach their full potential, fulfilling their professional learning aspirations and needs, and encouraging them to prosper.

We are super proud of the team we have, and we want to show them off. For this purpose, Asim Ghafoor, Lead DevSecOps Engineer in the Lahore office, has been chosen as the first employee to be featured in our newly launched Spotlight Series. We sat with him earlier this week to go through some questions to get to know him a bit better.

Let’s get right into it.

What is your role/title? What do you do at OneByte?

Officially, my title is Lead DevSecOps Engineer. I oversee and lead the entire lifecycle of DevOps and the Security of the system. I am in charge of designing, building, and optimizing comprehensive solutions that operate the business’s web, mobile, and data infrastructure platforms.

Why did you choose to join OneByte? How long have you worked here?

I joined OneByte back in February 2020, so it will be 3 years in a few months. At the time, I was looking to work with either the Healthtech or Fintech industries, and by some stroke of luck, I was introduced to OneByte and the impact they are making in healthcare excited me right in the first interview. Other than that, I was also interested in working for an organization that offered an inclusive culture and a flexible work environment, and that was enough to take the call. I have not regretted it ever since.

What made you choose your career path?

I started off my career as a Trainee Engineer in a software development company where I got a chance to understand more closely the day-to-day stuff of different teams working in the software development life cycle (SDLC). I used to get some tasks from the Infrastructure team (it was called IT team at that time) related to configurations and deployments on some virtual machines and building/running docker containers. I found those tasks enjoyable and felt like this was something I wanted to continue doing. When I did some research and talked to some seniors, I figured out that this career path can have endless possibilities to learn and develop.

What is your team like?

I would say they’re a terrific team; everyone in the team is highly professional, compassionate, and smart enough to be working together towards a common goal. This team wears multiple hats and is trying to set the highest standard in everything they do.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work each morning?

Believing in the work I do and the business challenges we solve as a company motivates me every day.

What have been your biggest accomplishments at OneByte?

I think the biggest accomplishment for me has been building a great team. It makes me even prouder that this team puts their heads together and achieves operational excellence on a regular basis — complete security hygiene, and streamlined DevOps processes.

What’s the most unique part about working here?

I am not sure if it’s unique or not but something that fascinates me is the friendliest and most amazing people. In all of my years here, I’ve never heard the phrase “that’s not my job”.

How have you grown professionally while on our team?

At OneByte, it has been an extraordinary time so far. I have always felt trusted and empowered to make decisions. I have grown immensely and have developed new skills and, more importantly, I have been given the autonomy to become more independent in my work.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I am an introvert to begin with but once I get comfortable, I am difficult to handle. :P

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I enjoy sports (both playing and watching), traveling, dining out, and spending time with my friends and family.

What is your motto or personal mantra?

“First deserve, then desire.”

Three words to best describe you?

Reliable, trustworthy, and helpful.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Help every deserving soul on this planet in whatever way possible.

After our conversation with Asim, we also approached his manager, Muneeb Ali, to shed some light on his time working with Asim.

What do you like the most about working with Asim?

Asim is an amazing team player and has always shown immense ownership of his work. A very quick learner.

Three words that describe Asim best?

Inspiring, disciplined, and hard-working.

What has been Asim’s biggest contribution to your team?

Asim’s dedication has been imperative for the growth of our DevSecOps team. His dedication and continuous learning to implement improvements have greatly contributed to our success. He has always led his team by example.

Outside of specific projects, what kind of impact has Asim had on your team in a positive way?

Asim’s ability to take on every task with utmost sincerity and ownership. Also, going the extra mile for cross-team work, and helping other teams succeed shows his amazing work ethic.

Why did you nominate Asim for this program?

Asim stands out as a star engineer and manager on Eon’s Engineering team. And I truly believe that Asim will keep growing as a high-performance individual and is an inspiration to many on the team, including myself.

The Spotlight Series is on its way to becoming a regular feature for OneByte, to highlight our talent, encourage creativity, and foster excellence through the simple act of appreciation. Stay tuned for the next one!