HI PANAGIOTIS, COULD YOU TELL OUR READERS A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?

In my free time, I enjoy staying active by going to the gym and running outdoors. I also love spending time with friends over coffee, going on trips, and exploring new places.

CAN YOU BRIEFLY SHARE A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW YOU GOT STARTED IN IT? 

Although I didn’t have much experience with programming before university, by studying electrical and computer engineering, I had a lot of involvement in programming. This exposure eventually redirected my initial interest from “electrical engineering” towards computers (both software and hardware). The creativity aspect and the fun that software engineering entails led me to pursue a career in software.

CAN YOU TELL US WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN THE IT AREA? 

The innovative part of software engineering is what sparked my interest to begin with. Working on systems that always evolve and enabling customers with more services and functionalities gives me a fulfilling experience.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT A MAJOR TURNING POINT IN YOUR CAREER THAT LED YOU TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

I believe that the decision to come to the Netherlands was not only a turning point for my life in general, but also for my career. A very difficult decision, totally outside of my comfort zone, which I strongly believe shaped what I am today. Studying and working in a more international environment helped me improve skills like adaptability, collaboration and especially open-mindedness. 

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC INFLUENCES OR PEOPLE WHO HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED YOUR CAREER PATH?

A university professor in Greece played a significant influence in shaping my career path. He motivated and supported me in many ways, from guiding my thesis to helping me publish and even receive an award for my paper. He also encouraged me during my decision to move to the Netherlands and provided valuable advice when choosing the right MSc program at Dutch universities.

Another key influence has been my passion for staying up to date with the latest tech trends. This led me to join the IEEE, a renowned tech association. For a time, I was deeply immersed in reading their magazine, which kept me informed about the newest innovations.

This not only broadened my knowledge but also helped me develop a more innovative mindset and a “can achieve anything”mindset.

HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT ESSENT, AND WHAT MADE YOU APPLY?

After successfully completing my internship and all the courses for my master’s degree, I began looking for a company with a great working environment—one that aligned with my knowledge and ambitions and where I could build a long-term career.

When I came across the job description at Essent, I was immediately excited about the position and the company culture but also made me think if it was just a funny coincidence, meaning an electrical engineer in an IT position in the biggest electricity provider of the country.

WHAT EXCITED YOU THE MOST ABOUT JOINING THE COMPANY?

What really excited me about joining is the liberty of being able to learn new technologies, solve ‘’puzzles’’ and grow every day. I really appreciated the opportunity I was given early on to choose which areas I wanted to focus on and contribute to.

Additionally, joining Techlab, Essent’s innovation lab, was an incredible experience. It allowed me to learn, research, experiment with new tools, and even organize events. This experience played a role in both my personal and professional development.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES?

My current role is a DevOps engineer, I am currently working on the VMCA project collaborating with High Voltage team in building the new project for collecting and validating the meter readings. I am involved in developing and designing the backend of this system. In parallel I am still a member of the Lambda U’s team, and responsible for maintaining and doing stand-by for the newly migrated ADR3 adapters to AWS. Moreover, I support my team in testing when required.

HOW HAS YOUR ROLE EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED?

Since I joined the company, I have seen many teams and have contributed to quite some new implementation projects using different technologies. Having all this experience I most importantly continue learning new things, growing and being exposed to different types of areas of the business.

In the beginning, I joined Essent, just after my university studies, as an API developer. A combination of factors, like my interest in APIs, and the need of the team for a developer in the API GW, were the reasons I started learning Axway. After getting confidence and some experience in this tool, I was able to support my team. Many changes came and we had to migrate all our APIs to MuleSoft.

A completely new tool for me and interesting to learn. After I gained some knowledge in MuleSoft, I stayed in API development, but I was also involved in testing. My will to T-shape in more things and the urgent need for testing capability within my team at that period, were the key factors I decided to take upon the challenge. Although, to be honest, testing wasn’t within my scope, I gained valuable knowledge, since I had the opportunity to gain some exposure in SAP, TPM, but also getting more functional knowledge. Learning also to analyze issues in the monitoring tool Njams, gave me a better end-to-end overview.

After that, when the energy crisis came, we decided to go for a big change in the stack and we moved to a more scalable solution (AWS lambdas). Learning never ends at Essent!

Seizing this opportunity, I joined a training program and learned AWS and Typescript among other things. At that moment I changed a few teams, looking for the best fit where I could learn as fast as possible. After building my first services from scratch in the new landscape, I got involved in the migration process. My knowledge of the old technologies and the domain knowledge I already had helped me to contribute. Currently, I am working on a new project where I have the chance to build things from scratch but also get involved in the design process.

WHAT PROJECT OR INITIATIVE ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

I cannot easily differentiate a specific project. The first thing that comes to my mind is Techlab. As part of Techlab, we have completed many PoC in new technologies and looking for ways on how we can implement them within Essent. One example PoC, was related to security and more specifically preventing developers to push hardcoded secrets in the repositories. We had also collaboration with the security team, where we also presented our PoC. Another interesting project was to build a new website for Techlab, where me and a teammate designed and built its backend from scratch, including pipelines and automated tests.

Another project that comes to my mind is the contract testing. Along with the testing community lead and a few more people, we worked on looking for a new way of testing, contract testing. I implemented a variant of it on AWS, helping in my way at the first PoC in Essent on this new testing strategy, which could potentially help the company.

CAN YOU SHARE SOME CHALLENGES YOU'VE FACED IN YOUR ROLE, AND HOW YOU OVERCAME THEM?

One recent challenge I faced was during the migration of tibco adr3 adapters to aws, where we had to reverse engineer old tibco code. Understanding this part is more complicated than it sounds, since we first need to understand how it works (technically and functionally) and then build it in the target architecture. Throughout this analysis process, we were aiming to design how to migrate the functionality as is, to minimize the impact on our customers as much as possible.

During this project, I am proud of the excellent collaboration and cross functional work that did really pay off. I overcame the struggles that we had by taking initiatives such as good research and deep analysis of the tibco code. Testing our migrated code was also a huge bottleneck, where I took the lead in many testing activities and combined some of the functional knowledge I had, with the newly gained technical experience, but also reaching out to other people and teams for support or knowledge sharing when needed.

WHAT TOOLS OR TECHNOLOGIES DO YOU RELY ON THE MOST IN YOUR DAILY WORK?

Some of the tools I use daily are:

AWS (lambdas, GW, CloudWatch, secrets manager), Typescript, VS code, Opsgenie, Miro, Slack, Teams, SAP web UI, Njams, and Jira.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CULTURE WITHIN YOUR TEAM OR DEPARTMENT?

Fun, easy to work & connect with, having changed a few teams in the company by now I can say that.

HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE SUCCESSES AND MILESTONES WITH YOUR TEAM?

With Bossche Bollen and team activities.

WHAT SKILLS OR ATTRIBUTES DO YOU THINK ARE CRUCIAL FOR ANYONE IN YOUR ROLE OR TEAM?

a. Adaptability (meaning being able to keep up with the constant changes)

b. collaborative (the position requires a lot of cross functional work)

c. technical knowledge-able

d. ability to see the broader view and have a holistic approach

(since by building one part there could be impact on someone else’s part that is being worked on. So, I believe that everything is interconnected.)

WHAT ARE SOME KEY GOALS YOU HAVE FOR YOUR DEPARTMENT/ROLE FOR THE COMING YEAR?

My short-term goal is to complete the VCMA project as soon as possible and with the best result. My long-term goal for this year is to grow further in my career and gain more exposure in technical and domain level.

WHAT ARE SOME KEY TRENDS IN THE INDUSTRY THAT YOU ARE KEEPING AN EYE ON?

I keep an eye on the important changes in the energy sector. I am very curious about hydrogen technology, the electric car evolution and the future of sustainable fuels.

Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize energy storage and industrial processes, making it a game-changer for decarbonization. The electric vehicle (EV) industry is also expanding, with innovations in battery technology and charging infrastructure shaping how we think about transportation. Also, sustainable fuels, including biofuels and synthetic alternatives, are becoming crucial in sectors where electrification is challenging, such as aviation and shipping.

WHAT ASPECT OF YOUR JOB DO YOU FIND THE MOST REWARDING?

The work environment and that we are able to grow personally and professionally.

I enjoy working with a diverse group of professionals who bring unique perspectives and expertise to the table. Additionally, being part of an industry that is directly contributing to a more sustainable future makes the work even more meaningful. Knowing that the decisions we make today will have a long-term impact on energy consumption and efficiency is rewarding.

WHAT'S A PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL GOAL YOU'RE CURRENTLY WORKING TOWARDS?

Professionally, I’m aiming to take on more leadership responsibilities and eventually grow into a Lead role within the company. At the same time, I want to expand my expertise in architecture and strategic decision-making. Having a deeper understanding of architectural principles will allow me to bridge the gap between technical and business teams, ensuring that our solutions are both innovative and scalable.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND HOW DO YOU USUALLY START YOUR DAY?

For me, work-life balance is all about structure and setting boundaries. My day always starts with a cup of coffee, it’s a ritual that helps me ease into the morning. Then, I attend our daily stand-up meetings, where we align on tasks and priorities for the day. Outside of work, going to the gym has been essential for maintaining a balanced lifestyle. It helps me clear my mind, stay healthy, and boost my energy levels. I also make a conscious effort to unplug from work after hours, spending time with family and engaging in hobbies that allow me to recharge.

ARE THERE ANY HABITS OR ROUTINES YOU'VE ESTABLISHED THAT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR EFFECTIVENESS?

One habit that has had a impact on my productivity is taking a walk during lunch breaks. It might seem like a small thing, but stepping away from my desk and getting fresh air helps me reset mentally, gain perspective, and return to work with renewed focus.

CAN YOU SHARE A FUN FACT ABOUT YOURSELF THAT NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW?

I like coffee so much that I drink more than 4 espressos per day haha! 

CAN YOU SHARE A PERSONAL MANTRA OR PHILOSOPHY THAT YOU LIVE BY?

Nothing is impossible. I truly believe that with the right mindset, determination, and effort, any challenge can be overcome. 

WHAT'S THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?

Keep your eye on the ball and always look towards the direction that you want to go.

It’s a reminder to stay focused on long-term goals, avoid getting sidetracked by distractions, and consistently align my efforts with where I want to be in the future. Career growth isn’t always linear, and there will always be obstacles along the way, but maintaining a clear vision and being adaptable has helped me navigate challenges with confidence.

We would like to thank Panagiotis for the time he took to speak with us, and the insights he shares. If you have any lingering questions for him, don’t hesitate to drop a comment down below. We will ensure you are promptly connected.