Meet the Team: Aaron Debattista
September 05, 2024
Meet the Team
September 05, 2024
Meet the Team
Meet Aaron Debattista, a talented member of the Cleverbit team. From performing with Skald to creating engaging board game experiences, Aaron brings creativity and dedication to everything he does. With a diverse background in music and gaming, Aaron’s love for board games, including Chess and Ticket to Ride, showcases his strategic skills and passion for challenges. Not to mention his knack for organising memorable events, like the Mdina Treasure Hunt, which keeps our team engaged and entertained.
I have recently had my first anniversary at Cleverbit and I am eager to experience many more!
I am a technical lead. My responsibilities consist of leading software development projects, managing Agile ceremonies and curating the backlogs of development teams.
My primary specialisation is in Business Intelligence that focuses on the delivery of data solutions. This includes data warehouses, dashboards and supporting applications built using the Power Platform.
Imagine you manage a business that offers different products and services. You have a finite pool of resources to deliver to your clients. Is it possible to increase productivity and delivery without adding more financial or human resources?
The answer is “yes.” The secret to finding out “how” is hidden within the digital footprints of your organisation. You see, anytime anything happens - be it a transaction, a user login, a website interaction or anything - it leaves a trace in the company’s data. These valuable side-effects of processes can be mined for the most important resource of all: knowledge.
Business Intelligence describes a set of technologies and disciplines that are specifically geared towards discerning knowledge from data. Knowledge can be very lucrative, and tip you off to glaring inefficiencies in your business model, better potential applications for your resources and the possibility of smarter and more proactive decisions. It is about putting the power of your data at your fingertips rather than leaving it to stew in an abyss of wasted potential. With the right tools and frame-of-mind, you can make better informed decisions. With better informed decisions, you can take your business to the next level.
I was desperately trying to add a moustache to a drawing that I made of my father on MS Paint. I was 6 but that was a fine top-hat-wearing worm with 12 legs and a monocle if I may say so myself… Yes, I was aware that my father was not a worm but it was the best use of circle shapes I could think of at the time.
My first loves were music and literature. My parents guided me closer to tech for reasons of survival in the local job market, which is something I appreciate nowadays. I still liked technology though. Like music and literature, coding gives me a creative outlet that can distinguish me from the rest.
I wake up and hug my dog. There are people out there who don’t hug dogs. What’s wrong with them? Is life not monotonous enough? Anyway. I then do some morning chores around the house such as taking out the trash, washing leftover dishes from the day before, and a quick sweep of the floors since Hazel sheds like a grizzly bear with Alopecia. I have a quick breakfast and log in to work or drive to work depending on the day.
I don’t know how many deities I pay homage to before deployment, but it is never seemingly enough to stem the cruel machinations of random chance. If there is a hidden bug in your system, it will inevitably crop up in your production environment. It’s more of a testament to how biased we are when we judge our work and it is why we push for rigorous testing and peer review within our ranks.
Norman Borlaug was an agronomist and a key figure in the development and introduction of high-yield and disease-resistant genetically modified crops in Mexico, Pakistan and India. His simple creed was that technology must serve mankind.
While Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have more money, popularity and power than Borlaug ever enjoyed – none of them hold a candle to his achievements. Borlaug’s contributions critically attacked global starvation. He is credited with saving 1 billion (yes, billion) lives from hunger. I think that feat is only topped by The Avengers after they reversed the Blip, and that was only achieved with a Norse god on their side. Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to humanity and passed away in 2009.
I was unhappy in a previous position at a different company, so I decided to seek greener pastures. I also wanted to move into a smaller environment because I missed the feeling of working for an SME. Cleverbit had a vacancy for a position that was in line with what I needed and wanted at the time and the rest is history.
I worked on a series of dashboards related to an importation and distribution business. This was one of the first projects I got my hands on, so it was a learning experience. Even though I had experience with similar tools, I had never worked with Power BI before joining Cleverbit.
Cleverbit has that work-hard, play-hard mentality that makes a company fun to be in. Fun is a keyword here. I do not subscribe to the idea that a company must be overly solemn to be good at what it does. People can be just as professional without looking like they came from a funeral. I feel close to my coworkers and well-treated which in turn motivates me to work harder and more openly with my colleagues. If you do not feel comfortable showing appreciation to your coworkers with heart emojis, then you are working in the wrong place.
I always wanted to become a professional luthier. Luthiery is carpentry for musical instruments. I am in love with the idea of being able to create something that can spread joy in the hearts of others. I am a guitarist, and it is always something that tugged on my heartstrings… Get it?… Strings?… Okay, I will stop.
Headquartered in Europe, Cleverbit Software is a prominent custom software development company, employing over 70 skilled professionals across the EU, UK and US. Specialising in custom software for business efficiency, we work with a diverse international clientele in various industries including banking and insurance, SaaS, and healthcare. Our commitment to solving problems and delivering solutions that work makes us a trusted partner with our clients.
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