Confluent Champion: Rising Through the Ranks in Security

From joining Confluent as one of the first engineers on the security team to now managing a team of four, Tejal has had incredible opportunities to learn and grow during her six years at the company.

Let’s learn more about Tejal and how Confluent fosters an environment of constant learning—all while providing work-life balance.

How have you grown or changed since joining Confluent?

I was among the first few engineers to join the security team at Confluent and helped establish the foundational elements of our security infrastructure. It not only offered me exceptional opportunities to learn and grow as an engineer, but also helped me build a solid foundation for my software development skills.

Confluent has evolved my career from that of a software engineer to that of a manager on the access management team. It has greatly refined my leadership skills and directed my growth toward becoming an effective leader.

What's unique about Confluent's company culture?

Confluent's culture is profoundly employee-centric, focusing on extensive employee development and actively facilitating individuals in the pursuit of their genuine passions and interests.

I have observed numerous individuals successfully transition from customer support to engineering roles, from engineering to management roles, and vice versa—and thriving in each of those roles.

Another aspect I appreciate is the healthy work-life balance that Confluent fosters. As a mother, finding the right equilibrium between work and home is very essential for me. Confluent makes it effortless to achieve that balance.

What motivates you to excel in your role and how does Confluent support your ambitions?

The chance to enhance our company's overall security posture and elevate it further keeps me motivated each day.

Receiving immediate feedback from our customers and striving to solve their challenges helps me learn and grow. Additionally, being surrounded by talented engineers who share the same passion and drive is incredibly inspiring.

What skills or technologies have you learned since joining? What are you looking forward to learning next?

When I joined, we were starting to focus on Confluent Cloud. Coming from a background in security firmware, I gained a deep understanding of distributed systems as a whole and cloud computing. I’m continually expanding my knowledge each day, exploring technologies like Kafka, Flink, and even Kubernetes.

After recently shifting gears to management, my focus has been on building managerial muscle to improve my effectiveness and contribute to my team’s overall success. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by some of the best leaders in the industry who are guiding me on this journey.

Rapid fire questions:

1. What job did you want to have when you were a child?

   1. A dentist.

2. What’s the best decision you made in your career?

   1. Apart from not becoming a dentist, focusing on the security domain.

3. What’s your favorite TV show set in an office?

   1. Silicon Valley.

4. What’s your work-from-home must have?

   1. Ergo keyboard and mouse.

5. If you could have your team off-site anywhere in the world, where would it be?

   1. Costa Rica.

6. What’s your favorite way to unwind after work/on the weekends?

   1. Either spending quality time with my daughter or learning to surf.