Petr Podrouzek

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I oversaw the delivery of Unified Analytics, a powerful module that consolidates key metrics and insights from all products and modules within the Emplifi platform. Unified Analytics provides a comprehensive view of data, allowing users to analyze performance across multiple accounts and platforms.

Key features of Unified Analytics include:
• Topical Boards: Pre-loaded with hundreds of ready-made data visualizations that display analyzed… Zobrazit více

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I oversaw the delivery of Unified Analytics, a powerful module that consolidates key metrics and insights from all products and modules within the Emplifi platform. Unified Analytics provides a comprehensive view of data, allowing users to analyze performance across multiple accounts and platforms.

Key features of Unified Analytics include:
• Topical Boards: Pre-loaded with hundreds of ready-made data visualizations that display analyzed data as soon as data sources are connected and set up.
• Interactive Widgets: These data visualizations are dynamic, enabling users to drill down, set time frames, and compare performance across various accounts and platforms.
• Comprehensive Data Sources: Supports data from social profiles, ad accounts, campaigns, content labels, listening queries, agent activities, bot traffic, Live Advisor, and Link in Bio pages. Upcoming integrations include community interactions, UGC, ratings & reviews, influencers, knowledge, and agent data.
• Modular Organization: Data is organized into modules such as Social Profiles, Paid, Campaigns & Labels, Listening, Care, Bot, Live Commerce, and Link in Bio, each providing specialized insights.
• User Controls: Offers tools to define what a board or widget displays, enhancing the customization and interactivity of the data presented.

Internally, we used the dashboarding capabilities of Unified Analytics to visualize the effectiveness of our engineering delivery at the team level.

Unified Analytics empowers users with a holistic view of their data, driving better performance analysis and strategic insights across the Emplifi platform. Zobrazit méně

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I led the development of Care, a comprehensive customer care module within the Emplifi platform. Care enables the escalation of specific messages from the Community module to customer care agents, allowing seamless interactions without leaving the platform.

Key features of Care include:
• Unified Communication: Aggregates all communications between a customer and your profiles into one case, providing a complete history for easy… Zobrazit více

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I led the development of Care, a comprehensive customer care module within the Emplifi platform. Care enables the escalation of specific messages from the Community module to customer care agents, allowing seamless interactions without leaving the platform.

Key features of Care include:
• Unified Communication: Aggregates all communications between a customer and your profiles into one case, providing a complete history for easy review.
• Customization: Offers extensive customization options to fit your product lineup, social media presence, regional reach, language, and severity of cases.
• Analytics: Provides comprehensive analytics with ready-to-use dashboard templates and customizable widgets for tracking agent-customer interactions.
• Salesforce Integration: Integrates with Salesforce, allowing support cases to be managed within your existing environment.

Additionally, I supported the onboarding of the largest clients into the Care product, ensuring a smooth transition and effective utilization of its features.

Care enhances customer support efficiency by centralizing interactions, providing detailed analytics, and offering customizable solutions tailored to your needs. Zobrazit méně

As the leader of the data teams during the integration of various acquired companies into the new entity Emplifi, my main goal was to unify the AI and data engineering teams. We faced a unique challenge as each company had its own culture and they were from different parts of the world such as the US, Canada, UK, and the Czech Republic. However, we decided to embrace this diversity and leverage it for our benefit. I initiated knowledge-sharing sessions where we presented our data engineering… Zobrazit více

As the leader of the data teams during the integration of various acquired companies into the new entity Emplifi, my main goal was to unify the AI and data engineering teams. We faced a unique challenge as each company had its own culture and they were from different parts of the world such as the US, Canada, UK, and the Czech Republic. However, we decided to embrace this diversity and leverage it for our benefit. I initiated knowledge-sharing sessions where we presented our data engineering infrastructure and AI research to our new colleagues from Astute, VoC, and Go InStore. Through these sessions, we were able to bring all the data into the Emplifi data lake for easy sharing, enabling our researchers and data analysts to work efficiently. We also successfully established one AI team for the whole organization and have made good progress on unifying our data engineering infrastructure. Zobrazit méně

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I was instrumental in developing the Career Ladder initiative, a framework designed to support personal and career growth within the engineering department. This internally built program has strong buy-in from engineers and managers, serving as a foundation for professional development.

Key features include:
• Engineering Roles Overview: Comprehensive career paths and role descriptions.
• Hard-Skills and Soft-Skills: Detailed lists and… Zobrazit více

As Vice President of Engineering at Emplifi, I was instrumental in developing the Career Ladder initiative, a framework designed to support personal and career growth within the engineering department. This internally built program has strong buy-in from engineers and managers, serving as a foundation for professional development.

Key features include:
• Engineering Roles Overview: Comprehensive career paths and role descriptions.
• Hard-Skills and Soft-Skills: Detailed lists and levels of technical and interpersonal skills.

Evaluation Process:
• Team Evaluation: Managers gather feedback and self-assessments.
• Manager Assessment: Managers compare feedback with their own assessments.
• Cross-Team Assessment: Higher levels are assessed by architects from different teams.
• Normalization: Levels are adjusted to align with company standards.
• Final Levels: Results are synchronized and made transparent across the engineering department.

The Career Ladder framework allows each team member to assess themselves, identify necessary skills, and see the path to more senior roles. It emphasizes aspiration and continuous improvement, encouraging engineers to grow within Emplifi. Regular evaluations align with personal and organizational goals, fostering a culture of growth, accountability, and excellence. Zobrazit méně

The growth of our teammates is a top priority for me. I collaborated with Martin and the data team leaders to design and implement a comprehensive educational and development strategy for our teammates. Our approach included the following initiatives (among others):

• We encouraged every teammate to create a personalized development plan that outlined their goals for the next six months.
• We emphasized the importance of both hard and soft skills development, as we believed that… Zobrazit více

The growth of our teammates is a top priority for me. I collaborated with Martin and the data team leaders to design and implement a comprehensive educational and development strategy for our teammates. Our approach included the following initiatives (among others):

• We encouraged every teammate to create a personalized development plan that outlined their goals for the next six months.
• We emphasized the importance of both hard and soft skills development, as we believed that technical people should also work on their soft skills to become well-rounded professionals.
• We provided opportunities for team members to work in different areas of the company by going on a secondment for 3-6 months. This approach helped us to avoid siloed thinking and promoted cross-functional collaboration.
• We facilitated the creation of education groups run by developers, which provided a focused platform for individuals to study and learn about specific technologies such as NLP and Apache Spark.

To support these initiatives, we provided every participant with four hours of company time per week. This allowed our teammates to dedicate time and effort to their personal and professional growth, ensuring that they remained up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies. The success of this strategy was reflected in the team's positive feedback and continued professional development. Zobrazit méně

As the Covid pandemic started, I was tasked with transforming the teams into remote working. To accomplish this, I focused heavily on communication, sometimes even overcommunication. I realized that it was crucial to keep everyone informed and connected during these difficult times. As a result, we had more frequent and structured 1-2-1s where we not only discussed work-related topics but also spent time on getting to know each other better. Additionally, we started publishing regular updates… Zobrazit více

As the Covid pandemic started, I was tasked with transforming the teams into remote working. To accomplish this, I focused heavily on communication, sometimes even overcommunication. I realized that it was crucial to keep everyone informed and connected during these difficult times. As a result, we had more frequent and structured 1-2-1s where we not only discussed work-related topics but also spent time on getting to know each other better. Additionally, we started publishing regular updates on our Slack channels to keep everyone informed of the latest developments.

To maintain team spirit and boost morale, I hosted informal events like virtual Friday beers where we could catch up and socialize after a long week of work. We also organized regular quarterly all-hands meetings for all the developers to ensure everyone was on the same page and aligned with our goals.

As a result of these efforts, we were able to maintain our productivity and deliver high-quality work even in the face of challenging circumstances. Zobrazit méně

At Socialbakers, we strongly believe in the power of feedback. We understand that it is critical for us to learn from our mistakes and continuously improve our services to build better relationships with our stakeholders. That's why we have established an extensive feedback collection process. We conduct over 40 highly structured 1-2-1 feedback sessions with our key stakeholders twice a year, where we collect both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Additionally, we collect feedback on… Zobrazit více

At Socialbakers, we strongly believe in the power of feedback. We understand that it is critical for us to learn from our mistakes and continuously improve our services to build better relationships with our stakeholders. That's why we have established an extensive feedback collection process. We conduct over 40 highly structured 1-2-1 feedback sessions with our key stakeholders twice a year, where we collect both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Additionally, we collect feedback on specific projects after their code has been in production for at least 3 months. We also monitor the usage of major platforms we use such as Databricks, Mixpanel, and Tableau to track key users and their feedback. This feedback collection helps us gain a better understanding of how we're doing and how our stakeholders perceive us. Based on this feedback, we take action and implement improvements to continuously enhance our services. Zobrazit méně

I had the opportunity to lead Influencers on Spark, which was the first large-scale Apache Spark project at our organization. Our goal was to build a detection and recommendation engine for social media influencers. What started as a pure data science project quickly evolved into building a robust data engineering pipeline that went into production in August 2018. I oversaw the end-to-end project management, from defining requirements to deploying the solution. The outcome was so impressive… Zobrazit více

I had the opportunity to lead Influencers on Spark, which was the first large-scale Apache Spark project at our organization. Our goal was to build a detection and recommendation engine for social media influencers. What started as a pure data science project quickly evolved into building a robust data engineering pipeline that went into production in August 2018. I oversaw the end-to-end project management, from defining requirements to deploying the solution. The outcome was so impressive that our solution was accepted to Spark and AI Summit London 2018, and I presented a talk about it at the event. You can watch the attached video for more details. This project showcases my expertise in managing complex projects and delivering innovative solutions that align with business goals. Zobrazit méně

I had the privilege to lead a major data infrastructure project at Socialbakers. Our organization had a huge inflow of data from social media, but the data was scattered among multiple databases such as Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and HBase. To address this challenge, my team and I decided to build a data lake on top of S3, which is a cost-effective and infinitely scalable solution. Using Apache Spark, we managed the data lake and built a central repository for all the data in the company. Our main… Zobrazit více

I had the privilege to lead a major data infrastructure project at Socialbakers. Our organization had a huge inflow of data from social media, but the data was scattered among multiple databases such as Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and HBase. To address this challenge, my team and I decided to build a data lake on top of S3, which is a cost-effective and infinitely scalable solution. Using Apache Spark, we managed the data lake and built a central repository for all the data in the company. Our main goal was to democratize data for data scientists and analysts. Any researcher could easily connect to the data lake and access the data they needed. We also deployed Hive metastore to access files as tables and Amundsen data catalog to simplify the data discovery process. Furthermore, we established a team of data engineers to manage and improve the data lake. The success of this project has been invaluable for our data science, analysis, and engineering efforts. This project showcases my ability to identify complex data infrastructure needs, evaluate technological solutions, and deliver innovative and scalable outcomes. Zobrazit méně

In August 2017, I led the search for a new ETL toolset at our organization. After conducting a thorough review of the use cases and market offerings, we decided to conduct a proof of concept (POC) on Apache Spark due to its high-performing and flexible nature, which offers not just ETL but also machine learning capabilities and supports both real-time and batch data processing. Our goals for the POC were to determine if Apache Spark was a viable solution for us and our stakeholders and, if so… Zobrazit více

In August 2017, I led the search for a new ETL toolset at our organization. After conducting a thorough review of the use cases and market offerings, we decided to conduct a proof of concept (POC) on Apache Spark due to its high-performing and flexible nature, which offers not just ETL but also machine learning capabilities and supports both real-time and batch data processing. Our goals for the POC were to determine if Apache Spark was a viable solution for us and our stakeholders and, if so, which platform to use (AWS EMR vs Databricks). Through the POC, we recognized the potential of Apache Spark and selected Databricks as our platform. As part of my role, I fully managed the relationship with the vendor, Databricks, and worked closely with them to ensure a successful deployment. We also developed comprehensive internal training to onboard our data engineers to Apache Spark. The Databricks platform was deployed to production in February 2018, marking the first production deployment of Databricks in the Czech Republic. Since then, we've seen a significant increase in usage. This project highlights my ability to identify business needs, evaluate technological solutions, manage vendor relationships, and deliver successful outcomes. Zobrazit méně

In January 2017, I took on the responsibility of implementing Mixpanel into the Socialbakers Suite. After the initial deployment failed, I was tasked with fixing the broken deployment and ensuring accurate user behavior analytics. To achieve this, I developed a Mixpanel SBKS framework and led a team in the implementation of Mixpanel into our SaaS product. In addition to my project and technical work, I also established a group of trained Mixpanel experts who meet regularly to discuss the… Zobrazit více

In January 2017, I took on the responsibility of implementing Mixpanel into the Socialbakers Suite. After the initial deployment failed, I was tasked with fixing the broken deployment and ensuring accurate user behavior analytics. To achieve this, I developed a Mixpanel SBKS framework and led a team in the implementation of Mixpanel into our SaaS product. In addition to my project and technical work, I also established a group of trained Mixpanel experts who meet regularly to discuss the collected data and the future of Mixpanel deployment at Socialbakers. This project highlights my ability to lead cross-functional teams and to deliver innovative solutions that provide detailed, data-driven insights. Zobrazit méně

When I joined Socialbakers, I conducted a comprehensive review of our existing DWH platform and the needs of our stakeholders. Through this analysis, I identified a significant gap between our platform's capabilities and the demands of our stakeholders. To address this challenge, I initiated a project to select a new DWH and cloud BI solution that would meet our business needs and align with our stakeholders' requirements. We ultimately chose Amazon Redshift as the foundation of our DWH and… Zobrazit více

When I joined Socialbakers, I conducted a comprehensive review of our existing DWH platform and the needs of our stakeholders. Through this analysis, I identified a significant gap between our platform's capabilities and the demands of our stakeholders. To address this challenge, I initiated a project to select a new DWH and cloud BI solution that would meet our business needs and align with our stakeholders' requirements. We ultimately chose Amazon Redshift as the foundation of our DWH and BIME from Zendesk as our cloud BI tool. As the project lead, I managed all aspects of the project, including securing the budget and overseeing technical implementation. Since its deployment in early December, our new platform has achieved a high level of adoption and engagement, with usage on average 10 times higher than our previous platform. This project highlights my ability to identify business needs and work collaboratively with stakeholders to deliver innovative, impactful solutions. Zobrazit méně

I led a project aimed at simplifying the process of releasing changes to our complex reporting databases in our DWH environment. Historically, we relied on a single, massive compare script that was created just before each release and tested only once on the UAT environment before being executed on the production server. This approach was risky, non-transparent, and difficult to test. To address these challenges, we designed a new, automated way of releasing database changes using incremental… Zobrazit více

I led a project aimed at simplifying the process of releasing changes to our complex reporting databases in our DWH environment. Historically, we relied on a single, massive compare script that was created just before each release and tested only once on the UAT environment before being executed on the production server. This approach was risky, non-transparent, and difficult to test. To address these challenges, we designed a new, automated way of releasing database changes using incremental scripts. Each time a database change was required, developers created and checked in a DB change script into our versioning system. A series of these incremental scripts were then executed in order to bring the database to the desired state or version, with execution automated through PowerShell scripts. We executed a nightly rebuild of the database, including all DB change scripts, and sent reports of any failures to the developers. This approach led to more testable, resilient, and faster releases to both UAT and production environments, and showcased my expertise in designing and implementing efficient, automated processes for complex technical challenges. Zobrazit méně

As a strong advocate of the agile development approach, I sought to facilitate the implementation of agile practices within our DWH team. To achieve this, I conducted extensive research on agile BI methodologies, including a comprehensive review of existing literature and interviews with over 30 agile BI experts. The outcome was a report that underwent academic review by scholars at the University of London and was successfully implemented on several BI projects for our customers. I also… Zobrazit více

As a strong advocate of the agile development approach, I sought to facilitate the implementation of agile practices within our DWH team. To achieve this, I conducted extensive research on agile BI methodologies, including a comprehensive review of existing literature and interviews with over 30 agile BI experts. The outcome was a report that underwent academic review by scholars at the University of London and was successfully implemented on several BI projects for our customers. I also published my findings on LinkedIn, where they have been viewed by more than 10,000 people and received hundreds of likes and comments. As the project continues, I plan to expand my research by surveying around 100 BI project managers. This project highlights my commitment to staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and my ability to leverage research to drive innovation and improve organizational outcomes. Zobrazit méně

I led a project aimed at significantly improving the performance of our ETL processes as the amount of data being loaded increased while hardware resources remained constant. To address this challenge, we implemented a comprehensive logging solution to collect data over several weeks and perform detailed analysis. Using this analysis, we identified and removed bottlenecks, implemented caching of dimensions, updates out of data flow for SCD2, and maximized parallelism. As a result, we were able… Zobrazit více

I led a project aimed at significantly improving the performance of our ETL processes as the amount of data being loaded increased while hardware resources remained constant. To address this challenge, we implemented a comprehensive logging solution to collect data over several weeks and perform detailed analysis. Using this analysis, we identified and removed bottlenecks, implemented caching of dimensions, updates out of data flow for SCD2, and maximized parallelism. As a result, we were able to achieve a nearly 80% improvement in load speed. This project highlights my ability to solve complex technical challenges by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and analytical tools. Zobrazit méně

I led the development of a logging framework for MS SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) called FLOGS. The framework's goal was to provide a comprehensive, robust, and flexible logging solution for SSIS packages, enabling developers to track package execution and task statuses with ease. FLOGS allowed developers to log virtually anything without significantly impacting the performance of the ELT load, making it suitable even for near real-time ETLs. This project highlights my expertise in… Zobrazit více

I led the development of a logging framework for MS SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) called FLOGS. The framework's goal was to provide a comprehensive, robust, and flexible logging solution for SSIS packages, enabling developers to track package execution and task statuses with ease. FLOGS allowed developers to log virtually anything without significantly impacting the performance of the ELT load, making it suitable even for near real-time ETLs. This project highlights my expertise in designing and implementing efficient, high-performance solutions that enable data-driven decision-making. Zobrazit méně

I designed and implemented a comprehensive solution for a customer seeking a detailed overview of their spare parts stock and sales. This solution provided both low-level (individual spare part) and aggregated high-level insights that were used on a daily basis by the business team managing this area. This project showcases my ability to deliver tailored, data-driven solutions that meet specific business needs and enable more effective decision-making.

As part of a major upgrade from DTS to SSIS, I was tasked with establishing standards for new ETL packages developed in SSIS. In order to ensure transparency, maintainability, and efficient development, I developed an ASP.NET application that managed critical ETL metadata, including source and destination paths. This allowed developers to change ETL load behavior without modifying the packages themselves. Additionally, the tool was integrated with CA Erwin repository and allowed for impact… Zobrazit více

As part of a major upgrade from DTS to SSIS, I was tasked with establishing standards for new ETL packages developed in SSIS. In order to ensure transparency, maintainability, and efficient development, I developed an ASP.NET application that managed critical ETL metadata, including source and destination paths. This allowed developers to change ETL load behavior without modifying the packages themselves. Additionally, the tool was integrated with CA Erwin repository and allowed for impact analysis, indicating which ETLs would be impacted if a particular table changed. Finally, the application supported automated deployment of SSIS packages to various environments. Zobrazit méně

I led the development of a user-friendly publishing platform for CD-ROM cdstudent that allowed authors to create study materials in MS Word using templates. Our platform automatically converted these templates into XHTML, generating menus and search indexes in the process. With just one click, the entire content of the CD-ROM could be generated, streamlining the publishing process. This project highlights my expertise in delivering effective solutions for complex technical challenges.