Like our business, our people don’t fit into a cookie-cutter model either, and Indellient’s story can’t be told without them. The Faces of Indellient: Employee Spotlights will feature some of the faces that make up our team who are the drivers behind our success.
Aesees Bakhshi, a Software Developer at Indellient, celebrated five years on the job on May 28 – and we couldn’t be more grateful.
While in her last semester at the University of Guelph, Aesees joined the Indellient team as a Software Developer and Systems Analyst and stayed on permanently after graduating in 2012. Fast-forward five years and she now co-runs her own team and is responsible for meeting client expectations, project management as well as meeting her own development projects.
Meet Aesees Bakhshi, Software Developer and integral part of the Indellient family.
Though working with computers has always hit home for Bakhshi – acquiring her love of computers from her father who ran a computer camp in the 90s – becoming a Software Developer wasn’t her long-term plan. “While it was my hobby, I actually went to University for Biology to be a vet. I switched gears after second year and found myself much more comfortable with computers – and I’m glad I did.”
Though, there have been a few challenges along the way. “I went from a program that was 75% women and 25% men to a program that was 95% men,” she reflects. “There were a lot of men that were condescending and refused to be matched up with me because I’m a woman. I’ve had a lot of disheartening situations in school because of a gender disadvantage. When I came to Indellient, however, I experienced an office where everyone was treated equally and given the same chances. Working with IBM is also incredible because a majority of clients and team members are women. I’ve met amazing women who have been in tech for a long time that have been so inspiring for my career.”
Bakhshi is an integral member of the “Cert” team which spearheads all of IBM’s technical certification programs and often gets to travel to Texas, Las Vegas and now Tampa, Florida to provide a personal touch to clients. Though she wasn’t on the Cert team when she first started her role, she put in a request to join the team full-time after working on a project and never looked back. “It’s been wonderful to see the team grow. It used to be a group of three and now it’s almost twelve people and every single member has been so fun to get to know.”
Currently, Bakhshi and her team are updating the technology behind the IBM certification in Bluemix for a modern upgrade, and often go to training sessions to learn if that’s the best path. “I’m really excited about our tech stack upgrade because it means I have the opportunity to learn all these new technologies that I haven’t had a chance to work with before.” The upgrade will begin development by the end of this year.
Bakhshi is a passionate go-getter on and off the field. Her involvement in planning various community outreach events has been beneficial to Indellient, and she also enjoys being philanthropic outside of work. She is active on Indellient’s Social Committee and Birthday Club (her cheesecake is always a hit!) and in her spare time enjoys lounging around playing Legend of Zelda or dressing up for anime conventions. She enjoys dabbling in photography and is Indellient’s designated event’s photographer.
Fun Fact: Bakhshi is the proud owner of 3 dogs and is a strong believer in adopting rescue dogs. She even brings her little guy, Enzo, to work often and has been approved to bring him in once a month. “I’m a strong believer that a pet in the workplace provides stress relief, especially in our demanding jobs that require many long hours.”
But her greatest professional accomplishment has been deploying an end-to-end cognos reporting system, all the way from developing to report-monitoring – the first for the company that set off other cognos projects that we managed to get. “My team and I put the foot in the door for Indellient’s end-to-end cognos deployment.”
“I have discovered a huge sense of perseverance and patience by working at Indellient. I’ve discovered so many wonderful people that I learn from everyday. We work hard and we play hard. I came fresh out of university five years ago, and now I feel like I’m a much more responsible adult surrounded by people who inspire me to learn.”
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