Bloomer Talk: Jesse interviews Jesse about civic tech at Bloom Works
Jesse Thach is a software engineer at Bloom Works, a civic technology consultancy that helps create accessible and equitable government digital services. Jesse has been with Bloom for nearly 3 years, working on revamping New Jersey’s unemployment insurance applications. I am also at Bloom Works and am also named Jesse — sometimes called jtag. I recently joined him on a video chat to get to know my titular twin a bit better.
jtag: Can you tell me about your role at Bloom and how you got into this field?
Jesse: I’m a software engineer at Bloom, where I’ve been for about 3 years now. Before Bloom, I started in telecom and then did consulting and programming for private companies like Mercedes-Benz R&D. While that allowed me to hone my technical skills, I didn’t feel like my work was making an impact on people’s lives. That’s what drew me to civic tech and Bloom — taking my technical experience to projects that could truly help people.
jtag: What project are you currently working on at Bloom?
Jesse: Currently, I’m helping revamp unemployment insurance systems for the State of New Jersey. It’s a massive project. We are working with a partner company, Nava, to modernize legacy systems piece by piece while keeping their existing operations up and running. The work is almost clinical with the surgical precision you need to make modern systems speak to legacy systems while the whole service keeps running for state residents.
jtag: What has been a recent win for you? What are you proud of?
Jesse: Recently a big win for me was working on a feature where I needed to collaborate with a stateside engineer to integrate our work with their pre-existing system. It required close collaboration, and we needed them to add some code to their systems in order for our work to access their work. It was great to just have that experience working together with a client.
The effort was a small part of a big picture, but it’s important.
jtag: Nice! It’s like two parts. You are getting the thing done that needs to be done. And then you are also forming, even if just in passing, a connection with someone, a face behind these legacy systems.
What has this large-scale project taught you about working in govtech?
Jesse: It’s so big with so many moving pieces. It really is a surgical precision. Patience and follow-through are essential skills for this kind of work. You have to set reasonable expectations and go at a pace everyone is comfortable with.
It’s also taught me that a big part of the job is creating a good experience for the client throughout the journey of building something with them. Connecting with people, staying empathetic, and embodying practices like transparency and accountability.
jtag: What advice would you give others in civic tech?
Jesse: Maintain strong boundaries while being passionate about the work. It’s easy to get absorbed into the mission and feeling the high stakes. Because there are stakes. At the same time, the work we are doing cannot be done overnight. So we need to set reasonable expectations for ourselves and be able to go home and live our lives.
jtag : What are some examples of this?
Jesse: Get out of your chair during the day, take a lunch break, don’t be afraid to say you don’t know something, stop work at the end of the day.
It’s also key to connect with clients, ask questions, and follow through on commitments. This work requires empathy and understanding different perspectives.
jtag: Shifting gears, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
Jesse: You caught me on a really good day. I woke up early and made steak and eggs. We get meat from a local, sustainable butcher, so I marinated the steak and cooked it with some eggs. I also made some hash browns. My child loves those McDonald’s-style ones, crispy with the rounded corners. And of course, coffee — I’m a big fan of this local Ethiopian roaster called Boon Boona. I take my coffee with a bit of milk.
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A hearty thanks to Jesse Thach for sharing his experiences. Patience and follow through, folks. Patience and follow through.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
