Jeffry Ghazally – coder, juggler, bushbasher

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

I grew up in Malaysia and my adolescent years were spent predominantly in Borneo. My father was an academic that helped facilitate expeditions for international universities, so as a kid I got to bushbash through jungles and dive around remote islands and witness first hand the amazing biodiversity of South East Asia. This instilled a great appreciation for the planet we live on. 

When I was 7 years old I got my first computer (A Commodore PC), I used to fumble my way through the DOS and break things on a daily basis. I knew from an early age that I wanted to work with computers and I’m stoked to have made that my reality. 

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What were you doing before you joined Octave?

Before Octave I was working as a senior developer at a Saas company working in their conversion rate optimisation (CRO) team. We ran AB Tests and personalisation initiatives trying to increase their user base while trying to retain their existing users. I loved the iteration of thinking up a number of ideas, building them out, running tests, evaluating results and implementing action plans based on the results. I loved the scientific methodology of the work to move the needle in the right direction. There was this healthy friction between data driven design and user driven design which is a great place for me as a developer to sit.

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What interested you most about working at Octave?

For me Octave has all the right elements. The team is fun and incredibly talented, there’s nothing this team can’t achieve and the work they deliver makes a real difference for their clients and the clients’ customers. 

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How does strategic thinking inform your approach to development and technology?

I like to start with the why. Why are we doing this piece of work, what are the drivers? This leads us to the business problems we’re trying to solve. Once we know the business problem and/or customer problem we’re trying to solve we ideate a number of ways to solve the problem. From there assessing the digital landscape and choosing the right solution for the problem becomes a lot more data driven and less subjective.

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How would you describe your personality type? 

I’m an introvert that likes to pretend he’s an extrovert. It takes me a while to digest information before forming an opinion. I’d rather get my thoughts out on paper before discussing them or I might get tongue tied. I get super excited when faced with a challenge that needs some focus and attention. I love a good laugh.

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I heard you’re a Taekwando enthusiast. What draws you to it?

Just to be clear. I am not great at it. The bruises and limps on a weekly basis are a testament to that, but yes I am an enthusiast. I love the high intensity training, and the flexibility work is just what I need after 20 years sitting at a desk day in and day out. I did a couple of years of Taekwondo as a teenager, and when trying out different after-school activities for my son (8) I decided it would be a fun activity to do as a family. So we’ve been going for almost a year now and my back hasn’t felt this good in years!

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Now that you’re here at Octave, what’s it been like?

It’s been fantastic. The work has been both challenging and rewarding. I’ve learnt a lot from the team, and love the daily banter. There’s never a dull moment, and I’m always excited to see what projects I might be jumping onto next.

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Get in touch with our Client Director, Logan, who will probably grab Jeffry, if you want to chat about technical strategy or development challenges.

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