In this month’s Employee Spotlight feature, we welcome Andrea Evangelista.
Currently, our Software Developer in the natural language processing (NLP) & Data Science and Security Manager, Andrea’s career journey started sometime in 2017. He was studying for his MSc in Computer Science Engineering (CyberSecurity) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He worked as a freelancer for some clients.
Back then, when Andrea applied for an analyst position, many things were still manual and needed constant human interaction. Also, at the time, he just needed a highly flexible part-time job to pay the bills. Then things quickly escalated, and after one year and a half, he joined Wonderflow’s Linguistics team in Trento, Italy. Later, he transferred over to our Development team in 2021.
Moving from Eindhoven to Trento meant a lot for Andrea since he immediately fell in love with the mountains and the surrounding nature. In his free time, he is an avid hiker/trekker and enjoys longboarding, snowboarding, and taking care of his cat (actually, more like a “butler” to his pet, as he says). Plus, music festivals, concerts, and aperitifs with his buddies.
Read on to learn more about Andrea and his critical role in our company!
1. What do you do, and how does it impact our client success and our teams?
I work as a Software Developer taking care of the analysis tools, infrastructure, and improvements. Currently, my team and I are focusing on natural language processing tasks and challenges to automate the analysis process with little or no human interaction.
Our goal is to have something highly scalable and accurate in terms of quality. Also, providing other teams with better tools and pipelines for their work is a crucial part of what I do.
Given my background and interest in cyber security, I’ve been helping Wonderflow since day one to prepare for ‘Security Audits’ – those that give us the certifications that are mandatory for our clients’ success). The project also spreads awareness about business security threats and risks and performs vulnerability assessments and pen-testing activities (AKA trying to break our systems to make them more robust, secure, and reliable).
2. What led you to be our Software Developer NLP and Manager of Data Science and Security?
Passion and curiosity.
Having had the chance to be part of different teams during my early years at Wonderflow helped me to truly understand our product, pushed me to try to learn more and more every day, and eventually, joined the Dev Team to help build solutions that work.
3. What made you smile recently?
I was reading some articles on the web that talked about recent developments in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. I tried some tools which can transform the text into images. And I smiled at seeing how accurate and (at the same time, funny) the outcome was. Also, I (nervously) smiled, thinking that nowadays it’s too easy to get lost and not to keep pace with the recent discoveries and studies. 🙂
4. What are some of the challenges and opportunities that come with your role, and how important is business security?
Challenges come in this role mainly due to the lack of accurate data which can be used to teach a machine to do some tasks. Plus, a lack of domain-specific machine knowledge.
Opportunities are mainly based on the possibility of learning a lot more every day and trying to engineer different solutions for our challenges. Security is a fundamental part of daily company activities. The code should be written following high-security standards.
Infrastructures should be built and deployed with a security-by-design approach. Data privacy and security are a must. Awareness should be constantly spread to understand risks and help us mitigate them better.
5. Where do you like to work, and any tips on productivity?
I like to be flexible.
Working from home is a way to save money and time for myself. Also, I can be more productive because interruptions and distractions are less.
Finally, I believe that nowadays, we should also have in mind the impact we have on the environment (commuting, waste, heating, …).
However, sometimes it is also good to meet colleagues in the office, where it’s easier to build a stronger relationship and share ideas face to face.
So far, I’ve realized that some things make me personally more productive. For instance, avoiding too much multitasking, setting small yet measurable goals, and taking regular breaks make the final result more precise, valuable, and satisfying!
Andrea hiking in South Tyrol, Italy!
6. What do you like most about your team, and who do you generally look for to join it?
Different backgrounds and highly skilled people who I can learn a lot from every day.
7. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I am Italian, but I learned to make pizza in the Netherlands! Perhaps my passport will not be valid anymore after this…
8. What’s something you’re planning on doing in the next year that you’ve never done?
Volunteering in a dog shelter.
9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
Develop positive habits.
10. If you didn’t have to work, what would you do with your time?
Perhaps I would end up doing more or less the same stuff (but without deadlines and payslips). Surely more time means more fun, sport, reading, and human contacts.
Want to know more about Wonderflow, or are you interested in joining our team? Check out our About page to learn about our core values and our Careers page for the latest opportunities. Also, contact [email protected] for any questions.
