CTO interview: Tamir Strauss, Product and Tech under one Leader
Tamir has a 25+ years career under his belt, touching on both technology and product, leading him to the position he has today as CPTO at Zencargo in London. He explains how he balances both roles under one leader, and how to stay up-to-date with new technologies when you’re in a leadership role.
Can you explain your background? How did you get to the position you’re in today?
I started my software career in the Israeli army, in a special unit that takes you through the equivalent of a Computer Science degree in a compressed time, with emphasis on practical work.
I worked in software development; first in large companies and then in a very early-stage start-up, running a team in the engineering department. It was very exciting to see both ends of the tech ecosystem in Israel at the turn of the century.
So how did the transition to product happen?
Because we were working a lot with mobile operators, we used partners in our sales strategy, so to go through a lot of due diligence with IBM, Motorola, etc. and it turned out I was good at explaining tech to non-techies: customers, partners, and prospects. At the time mobile technology was only just starting to become popular.
Therefore, I started to work across different small to medium size companies in London, always keeping close to technology, not writing code anymore but getting involved in tech and major decisions. I got involved with augmented reality, fintech, health tech, games, and mobile dev. I even had my own start-up for a while.
I became more and more commercial over the last 10 to 15 years by being involved in negotiating deals and contracts. In my last 3 roles, I have been able to combine some of these skills and experiences by working on both the product and tech sides of the business. So that’s how I got where I am today, a series of happy accidents.
What problem is Zencargo solving?
Zencargo delivers supply-chain logistics solutions, which have become a very important area especially since the pandemic. It’s an immense industry since most of the world runs on supply chains, as companies manufacture their products in different geographies and need to transport goods from one place to another.
Because the industry is so big, with so many moving parts, it’s quite slow to change. Most companies still operate with paper, Excel and email, which introduce lots of inefficiencies and ends up having an impact on costs.
Has e-commerce played any role in the success of the company?
Yes, it’s caused demand to become less predictable and volatile. Optimising not just your costs but also your inventory to deliver at the right place at the right time and the right costs has become more and more of a must-have. And it’s easier said than done.
Imagine that you’re going on a website and want to buy, let’s say, a sofa. You’re thinking “I like it” but imagine you see the time till delivery is 12 weeks. You’re most likely going to look for an alternative.
We facilitate data flow between all parties involved in the logistics, connecting to a multitude of systems, and giving companies visibility of their supply chain to make better decisions and predictions.
It is not the most common thing to have someone endorsing both Product and Technology roles. Many people advise against that. How do you make it work? How do you make sure that product decisions are not biased based on what’s convenient for the tech?
I think the rise of the CPTO (Chief Product and Technology Officer) is becoming a trend where more and more companies are combining Product and Technology under one leader, as opposed to 5 or 10 years back, when there was a very common perception that you want to keep them separated to have the ability to negotiate and fight each other, in a friendly way of course.
I believe the main benefit that Agile has introduced to the world of software development is giving all the stakeholders an equal voice. Bringing engineering, data, design, product and other stakeholders around the table to produce solutions leads to the most successful outcomes. Therefore, having one leadership for both sides is no longer a problem in my opinion.
How do you deal with differences between the teams?
I understand technology, therefore as a product person I understand the trade-offs associated with some of the decisions and can prioritise across these two areas, which is fundamental to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to infrastructure and architecture. It enables us to make the right investments in the right tooling and various other things that are not necessarily related to the product.
I feel that a CPTO has the advantage of being able to balance both sides and I think an increasing number of companies are going that way.
What was the influence of mentors and colleagues in your career path?
I’ve learnt from many people over the years. I could mention the first CTO I worked under in a start-up - he taught me a lot about architecture and how to think about the commercial aspect of what you do: how it helps the business achieve its goals.
I also worked under a CEO that was inspirational in helping me become a more rounded leader, and in particular marketing, which is about maximising the power of effective communication.
I still do learn every day from other people. It’s important to listen to those who you lead; I learn some of the most valuable lessons from colleagues, people who report to me, and other stakeholders.
Have you written any code recently?
I wouldn’t trust myself writing any code nowadays or getting involved in setting up an infrastructure. Although I did do some pair programming 5 years ago when we were under massive pressure to go live. I jumped in on Python code without ever doing it and somehow managed to make sense of it. Pressure is a wonderful teacher.
You haven’t been a developer for a long time now, how do you keep up-to-date on new tech?
I read a lot; I also have a lot of conversations with those doing the work daily. I understand where they’re coming from and what they’re planning to do. Programming languages and infrastructure have changed over the years, but architecture and design patterns are, for the most part, similar to what they used to be, so I have a decent grounding in those areas.
I used to write mostly in C and C++ and they’re still going strong. Many languages have emerged since then, but because I was in the tech space all this time, I’m still familiar enough with those to understand their pros and cons.
I like to let the team make decisions and act as more of an advisor, guiding the discussion. The main reason is that they’re usually more informed than me. They are the ones that stay up to date and understand the landscape best.
If you want to connect with Tamir, click here.
To learn more about ZenCargo, visit their website: zencargo.com
If you’re a techie working on something exciting or you simply want to have a chat, get in touch with me. I’m currently CTO at Kolleno.com
