The Reconfigured Podcast

Hosted by technolaaji

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Oct 2025

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About the show

The Reconfigured Podcast is a show that explores the intersection of technology, culture, and society which is hosted by Mohamad Kalaaji (technolaaji). We bring professionals to talk about their extended experience or discuss about a topic that might be interesting. All of our episodes are available for free to the general public at no additional cost

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31 recent

October 24, 2025Episode 2943 min

#29 - Don MacKinnon: Reinventing search in the new era

Today's episode is with Don MacKinnon, co-founder and CTO at Searchcraft. We have covered several topics from how Searchcraft started to transitioning from agency work to startup and managing teams Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and what is Searchcraft 02:55 Searchcraft being closed source but downloadable and their cloud offering 04:26 Licensing mechanism of Searchcraft and difference between their cloud offering and on-premise 07:00 AI reshaping search and where Searchcraft fits 09:48 Prioritizing developer experience first 11:27 Picking the right tool for the right job 13:58 Searchcraft getting angel investment and the process/experience dealing with investors 17:09 Transition from agency to startup 24:25 Integration of AI into software development and the lose of software craftmanship 27:17 Definition of a CTO and managing team dynamics 35:45 When it is the right time to leave and do something new 40:16 Mental health question If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

October 10, 2025Episode 281 hr 31 min

#28 - Michael Dowden: Start Small, Scale Galactic

Today's episode is with Michael Dowden, Founder and CEO at Andromeda Galactic Solutions. We have covered several topics related to starting your own business, hiring the right people, when it is the right time to take the leap, and much more Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Background 01:43 Michael choosing to become a consultant with its benefits 04:48 Hiring the right people, generalists vs specialists 10:43 When it is the right time to start your own thing 15:07 What you wish you would be prepared for before becoming independent + planing a strategy 29:08 Difference between being a consultant vs being a business owner 47:54 Advantage of partnering with big corperations 01:07:15 Advice for people starting out in the software industry 01:17:47 Mental health question If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

April 12, 20241 hr 39 min

#27 - Yan Cui: Serverless on AWS

Today's episode is with Yan Cui, Principle consultant at TheBurningMonk Limited. We have covered several topics related to serverless in terms of adoption, architecture, security, tooling and frameworks, testing and monitoring, and much more Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:54 Running a Consultancy Company 07:59 Self-Publishing vs. Working with a Publishing Company 11:25 The Value of Workshops and Courses 22:02 Working in different settings 25:43 Adopting serverless 39:13 Typical Serverless Architecture 44:37 Serverless Frameworks 57:28 Security Considerations in Serverless Architectures 01:00:28 Challenges and Limitations of Serverless Computing 01:03:52 Serverless as the right choice for a project 01:10:06 Ditching Serverless for monolithic applications 01:16:00 Ditching the cloud towards hosting on dedicated servers 01:21:22 Testing Serverless applications 01:31:33 Monitoring Serverless applications 01:36:41 Yan's podcast: Real World Serverless 01:37:37 Most rewarding aspect of Yan's work 01:38:31 Mental Health question Links about topics mentioned in the episode: Prime video shift towards monolithic: https://www.primevideotech.com/video-streaming/scaling-up-the-prime-video-audio-video-monitoring-service-and-reducing-costs-by-90 Spotify Test Honeycomb https://engineering.atspotify.com/2018/01/testing-of-microservices/ Yan doesn't just share insights; he also offer transformative courses and workshops designed to elevate your skills and knowledge in serverless. Whether you're looking to gain a competitive edge or deepen your understanding, Yan's unique blend of practical wisdom and innovative strategies is something you won't want to miss Yan's course offering: https://theburningmonk.com/courses/ Yan's consultancy offering: https://theburningmonk.com/hire-me/ Production Ready Serverless workshop: https://productionreadyserverless.com/ AppSync Masterclass course: https://appsyncmasterclass.com/ Testing Serverless course: https://testserverlessapps.com/ AWS Step Functions course: https://school.theburningmonk.com/courses/complete-guide-to-aws-step-functions AWS Lambda Best Practices course: https://school.theburningmonk.com/courses/learn-you-some-lambda Serverless Architecture book: https://www.manning.com/books/serverless-architectures-on-aws-second-edition?a_aid=aws-lambda-in-motion&a_bid=9318fc6f Yan's podcast: https://realworldserverless.com/ (P.S. The links shared here do not contain any affiliate codes, and Reconfigured is not affiliated with Yan to promote his offerings. I have personally invested in his courses and have benefited tremendously in my professional life) If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

March 22, 2024Episode 261 hr 3 min

#26 - Christophe Zoghbi: AI Education in MENA

Today's episode is with Christophe Zoghbi, founder at Zaka AI and Beirut AI. We have covered several topics related to AI from its impact on daily activities, trends, challenges and bias regarding AI, and much more 00:00 Intro 00:23 Christophe's intro 00:57 Christophe's journey into the world of AI 06:32 Challenges educating in the AI space 12:00 Significant ways AI is impacting society and culture 14:53 Using AI as a buzzword in business proposals 18:20 Decision between in-house AI or externally hosted AI 24:52 Data privacy around AI 28:05 Bias in AI 32:38 Social challenges in AI 34:43 Emerging trends in AI 39:15 Is academia preparing students for the market or is there a gap? 42:21 What is the most rewarding aspect in Christophe's perspective 44:51 Christophe's perspective on certain things did work out but not as expected 52:48 When people think AI is getting dumber by time 56:02 What people take for granted 01:00:00 Mental Health question 01:03:28 Outro If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

March 1, 2024Episode 251 hr 36 min

#25 - Patrick Samy: Reaching your peak performance

Today's episode is with Patrick Samy. Patrick is currently working on Peak (https://www.joinpeak.co/), co-founder and CEO of Span (acquired by Eight Sleep). We have talked about several topics from working in big corps, starting your own company, providing market fit, and much more 00:00 Intro 00:23 Patrick Intro 01:08 Peak 09:57 Span (from start till Eight Sleep acquisition) 23:16 Providing market fit 24:48 Perspective on entrepreneurship and product development after acquisition 26:53 Intersection of modern technology on fitness and wellness industry (Artificial Intelligence) 35:45 The influence of Patrick's technical expertise on his approach towards product development 42:02 Working in a big corp (Microsoft) 45:09 The 30 year old rule 47:20 Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to build a successful product 56:10 Privacy and security in the fitness/wellness industry 01:04:39 Misconceptions and myths surrounding sleep/fitness products 01:07:32 Intuitive and user friendly design's effects on people's psychology 01:20:02 Most rewarding aspect of Patrick's work and what he is proud of 01:21:59 Does Patrick attribute himself lucky with all of his endeavours and achievements 01:23:53 Doing something that worked out but not for the reason he thought it would work 01:25:59 Patrick's take on what people take for granted 01:29:46 How has Patrick changed in the last 3 years 01:32:31 Mental health question 01:36:23 Outro If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

December 15, 2023Episode 241 hr 46 min

#24 - Shane Afsar: how to be an effective engineering manager

Today's episode is with Shane Afsar, Senior Engineering Manager at Algolia. We have talked about several topics including engineering management, remote team management, dealing with legacy systems, getting involved in the business of things, how to know if someone fits your team, and much more 00:00 Intro 00:41 Shane's intro 01:05 Shane's role at Algolia 02:55 Developer experience, how does it work? 04:42 Algolia's crawler and how it functions 05:44 Shane's experience working at LinkedIn for 8 years 20:15 Dealing with legacy systems 21:47 Shifting from writing code to getting involved into the business aspect 23:26 Shane's experience at Twitter before and after Elon's acquisition 30:30 Twitter's Community Notes feature 31:55 The work environment difference between a big corp and a small corp 35:31 Switching teams in large corps and small corps 36: 53 The journey from software developer to engineering manager 41:07 Pitfalls during transition and what to take into consideration when starting out as an engineering manager 57:57 How to grow a team of 5 developers to a team of 12 cross functioning developers 01:05:34 How to manage remote teams efficiently 01:13:29 Fostering a culture of growth and skills within a team 01:16:32 How to know if someone is fit for your team 01:18:43 Evaluating employees who use AI extensively for work 01:27:01 Does academia prepare you to enter the market 01:37:09 Mental Health question 01:45:49 Outro If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

December 8, 2023Episode 231 hr 2 min

#23 - Fadi Boulos: Hiring right and supporting local in companies

Today's episode is with Fadi Boulous, founder and CEO of Supportful. We have discussed several topics from supporting local talent, decreasing the brain drain, supporting companies efficiently, dealing with remote teams, hiring the right talent, and much more 00:00 Intro 00:44 Fadi's intro 01:13 Fadi's journey switching from academia to entrepreneurship 03:15 Lebanon's 2019 crisis 04:11 Key takeaway from entrepreneurship 04:38 Formal education is no longer critical 06:38 How Supportful started as a side hustle 09: 11 Creating connections with people 11:38 Supportful's mission 13:47 Maintaining strong remote teams 15:46 Criteria to prioritize when hiring new talent + company culture 17:15 Community influence on direction and growth 20:20 Key strategies for visibility, sales, and customer base 22:16 Personal accounts vs company accounts for authenticity 26:05 Balancing technical skills with sales 28:51 Strategies and practices in building a talent pool + keeping the team up to date 35:54 Culture difference between France and Lebanon 37:54 Customer feedback's influence on service development 39:13 Fadi's leadership philosophy 40:59 Where the tech industry heading towards in the next 5 years 47: 42 Advice for people to become founders 49:48 Work life balance for founders and CEOs 53:36 Mental health question 01:02:14 Outro If you wish to learn more about Supportful then feel free to check out their official website https://www.supportful.world If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

July 21, 2023Episode 221 hr 7 min

#22- Jonathan Gottfried: empowering hackers, launching impactful hackathons

Today's episode is with Jonathan Gottfried, co-founder of Major League Hacking (MLH). We have discussed several topics from organizing hackathons to fostering diverse events and building the next generation 00:00 Intro 00:41 Jon's intro 00:51 Rewarding aspect of building and growing MLH over the years 02:19 MLH's role of documenting stories of student hackers 05:34 MLH's impact on participants career 08:58 MLH's contribution to foster a sense of inclusivity and diversity 12:32 Organizing events of people from different skill levels 14:50 First time hackathon experience 16:26 Challenges that aspiring software developers face when transitioning to a technical founder 19:01 Developers preferring to create B2B services than B2C 21:55 MLH collaborating with Fortune 500, FANG, Big Four companies and the impact it has on people's careers 23:58 Key attributes essential for individuals to become successful technical founders 26:11 Finding a good co-founder 27:28 MLH shifting from LLC to C-corp then B-corp 30:02 Transitioning to B-corp inspiration for other companies who might want to consider 32:06 Translating hackathon collaboration skills to the software industry 34:49 MLH initiatives reaching global reach, how MLH addresses cultural and societal nuance 37: 38 MLH activities affects on becoming a developer evangelist 40:21 Difference between evangelist and developer relations 41:05 MLH mentorship from alumni/experienced hackers 43:18 MLH challenges and obstacles when starting and running it for the past 10 years 45:41 What sparked Jon's interest into the world of hacking and technology 52:08 What developer evangelism means to Jon 53:53 Jon's experience as a developer evangelist at Twilio 55:24 The State of Developer Education podcast 57:12 Consideration of the idea of pursuing something new in the future 59:30 Going outside the comfort zone to starting something new like a startup 01:02:31 Mental health question 01:07:03 Outro If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

June 9, 2023Episode 211 hr 2 min

#21 - Karl Swanepoel: empowering freelancers, building impactful startups

Today's episode is with Karl Swanepoel, CEO of Revolancer. We have discussed multiple topics ranging from how freelancer websites are doing things wrong, how Revolancer empowers freelancers, starting your own business, connecting with the right people, and much more! 00:00 Intro 00:42 Karl's introduction 01:00 What is Revolancer and what they offer? 01:43 What is the role of a CEO? 02:47 Cultural difference between a startup and a company 03:46 Finding the right people to work at your startup 07:10 Advice on starting your own startup for someone entering the field of entrepreneurship 15:14 Advice on finding the right people to ask for advice/mentoring 18:04 Revolancer's seed round + procedure of getting a seed round and investment advice 27:32 Why would someone aim to secure funds from an investor? 30:49 Karl's adventures starting BuySellJobs at age 15 33:07 Karl's adventures being the youngest-ever brand ambassador for Britain’s largest business conference, The Business Show 34:40 Founding RocketBlast Digital and how agencies should be fair with their clients 38:51 The role of a CMO (chief marketing officer) and steps to help a startup get noticed in the public 42:42 Karl co-founding Leapinto (non profit organization) with Kevin Mansell-Abell where they helped students with their career concerns by connecting them to industry professionals and opening their eyes to the real work world. 47:34 Karl's adventure managing The Watch Face, a watch oriented magazine which he managed from age 16 till 18 49:51 Karl's advice on how can someone market themselves online 52:47 Did growing up in different countries affects Karl's view on doing business? 55:23 Studying artificial intelligence + consideration of leaping into AI 56:59 Mental health question 01:01:38 Outro I really enjoyed recording this episode with Karl! If you are interested to connect with Karl then please consider following him on LinkedIn! LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlswa/ Karl's Website - https://karlswanepoel.com/about/ Video: https://youtu.be/FJ_aiSMxWPg Audio: https://podcast.reconfigured.co If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/

April 29, 2023Episode 201 hr 21 min

#20 - Jillian Funes: from software development to product management

Today's episode is with Jillian Funes, Technical product manager at Canopy Servicings. We have discussed several topics from how to get into product management, transitioning from software development to product management, difference between project management and product management, and much more! 00:00 Intro 00:42 Jillian Intro 00:55 What is Canopy and what they offer 02:13 What is the role of a technical product manager 03:13 What is the flow to take a product from planning to development 10:27 Utilizing developer advocates for product ideas + Jillian's experience working with the development team 12:18 Difference between project management and product management 16:16 Estimating technical task issues with non technical product managers 19:06 Consulting the tech lead or CTO for task management for non technical product managers 21:43 Does it make sense to shift from software development to product after working in the industry for 7 years? 29:08 After 9 years of software develop then to product, did it change Jillian's perspective of the software industry? 31:38 Jillian's experience at ArcelorMittal (a Fortune500 company)34:15 Consideration of entering a corporate job 39:21 Jillian's experience at Payroc, a fintech company 44:00 Should companies hire people who are generalists or specialists? 49:42 Jillian's love for product showed at Payroc, what would happen if she didn't join Payroc? would she transition to product management? 51:39 Bootcamp graduates effect on a product in the perspective of a technical product manager 57:03 Consideration of starting your own startup or playing it safe in the future 01:10:12 Mental health question 01:21:29 Outro If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter Video: https://youtu.be/QoKPuA71tFI Audio: https://podcast.reconfigured.co Follow us on: Website: https://www.reconfigured.co Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/reconfiguredco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconfiguredco YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reconfiguredco Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconfiguredco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconfiguredco/