Welcome back to Inside Drift, where we introduce you to all of the people that make Drift such a great place to work.
So far you’ve met Shannon Donovan, Mary Mitchell, Catherine LaMacchia, Nadine Shaalan, Britnee Laughlin, Carolina Caprile, Michelle Ai, Frank Schepps, Tate Knapp, Zareena Javed, Stacy Chen, Lillian Frost, Miles Kane, Josh Perk, Fiona Heaney, Moe Lawson, Richard Wright, Andrew Jones, Sara Miller Blanc, and Carter Stepanovsky.
Today we’re introducing you to Luis Sanchez. Luis is on our growing team in Guadalajara, Mexico and currently works as a staff software engineer. When Luis isn’t writing code or working on our playbooks and AI, you can find him doing aerial tricks or hanging out with his partner and family.
Ready to meet Luis? Let’s go ⚡
Editor’s note: The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Kaitlyn Martins: Hi Luis, thanks for chatting with me. Can you tell me a bit about what you do at Drift?
Luis: Hey Kaitlyn! I’m a staff software engineer that works on two of the biggest areas of our company — playbooks and artificial intelligence (AI). Right now, there is a huge effort to rebuild the core Drift platform, and I’m part of it. Being part of the AI team, I’m also helping to integrate AI into this new platform we are building.
Kaitlyn: What does your day-to-day typically look like?
Luis: In general, my day-to-day is pretty simple.
I try to get all my meetings booked for the mornings, so that’s usually what I’m doing at the start of my day. I also spend that time checking emails, following up on conversations with my teammates, and (normally) reading some documentation. Some days, I’ll also try to learn something new.
After lunch, I focus on writing code or thinking up possible solutions and designs for the projects I’m currently working on. I like to reserve this part of my day for any tasks that require my full attention, and I try to keep it as distraction-free as possible.
Kaitlyn: Can you tell us a little bit about the structure of the engineering team at Drift?
Luis: The team structure at Drift is pretty interesting, especially in engineering.
Most of the engineering teams follow a general structure where there will be two engineers and one technical lead — that’s it. It’s that simple. But, at the same time, being small means that our teams can work on and own a product completely. It gives us engineers a lot of autonomy.
Something important to mention is that our teams are also part of groups called “squads,” and each squad has its own product manager and designer. This helps enable each team in the squad and ensures we’re working together to build an amazing product for our customers.
Kaitlyn: You’re based in Guadalajara, our newest Drift location! Can you tell us about the team there and why Guadalajara is such a great place for tech companies to thrive?
Luis: Our team is really cool! We are already 10 in total — nine excellent engineers and our amazing human resources representative — who are all working from Mexico. And we are still looking to grow even more 👀
I think Guadalajara is a great place for tech companies for several reasons. First and foremost is that there are tons of talented and hardworking people in Mexico who just need the right opportunity to grow their skills. And the second is our location — we are really close to the US, which makes collaboration so much easier.
Kaitlyn: What is a fun fact that people might not know about you?
Luis: Something really random about me is that I spent one to two years doing aerial silks. I wasn’t really good or anything but it was fun and an excellent way to get into shape. The pros make it look really easy but I can’t emphasize enough how difficult it is.
Kaitlyn: When you aren’t working, what can we find you doing?
Luis: There are multiple things I like to do in my free time. Spending time with my partner and my family is my favorite activity. I just enjoy being around the people I care about, even if we’re not doing anything.
I also love video games and board games, especially Magic: The Gathering. I’ve been collecting and playing it for 10 years now.
Kaitlyn: Tell us a little bit about how your team stays connected in a Digital First environment.
Luis: Our engineering team does a really good job of staying connected. We have daily status meetings which are really short — just 15 minutes max. But it’s a place where we can share our progress and any blocks that we are running into.
We’ve also created a weekly meeting block where we can join and talk about non-work-related topics. Our favorite so far has been a discussion around which Oreo flavor is the best. So, if you join our team, you better be ready to defend your favorite one.
Kaitlyn: Finally, what advice do you have for prospective Drift candidates?
Luis: The advice I give to all my friends and anyone who’s looking to apply to any company is to do your own research on the company you’re applying to and whether that fits your goals and ideals. Find out what it’s like to work there, what kind of projects you would be doing, and the average workload.
That is how you will find the hidden gems — those companies that you will enjoy working at and where you will feel part of something bigger. That is exactly how I found out about Drift and, hopefully after you’ve done your own research, you’ll be just as enthusiastic and excited about Drift as I was!
Want to work with Luis? We’re hiring. Check out our open roles here.
