Ask anyone who’s been siloed in the workplace and they’ll overwhelmingly agree: It’s easy to get lost in the crowd.
That’s not the case at Sisense. The business intelligence software company has created a team where collaboration and mentorship abound, and team members are eager to help each other move through the ranks.
We spoke with three members from all areas of Sisense on how they’re setting the company up for success — and how Sisense is helping them along the way.
FOUNDED: 2004
EMPLOYEES: 556 (161 local)
WHAT THEY DO: Sisense helps businesses analyze their complex data and instantly create insights that drive successful decisions. Their solutions were specifically designed for people with little to no background in data analysis.
WHERE THEY DO IT: NYC
COMING UP FOR AIR: Sisense knows its team can use a break every once in a while, so on the first Friday of each quarter, the team has a “Coming up for Air” day, during which employees take the day off and spend it however they choose.
FOR THE FAMILY: After a team member comes back from paternity or maternity leave, they can take one work-from-home day per week.
Lucas Hulleberg, Enterprise Business Development Representative Team Lead
Lucas oversees Sisense’s outreach to accounts that have 5,000 or more employees. On a team level, Lucas provides coaching, training and assistance to his team and cross-collaborates with business operations and sales leadership to strategize operations.
BEYOND WORK: A self-described cinephile, if it’s played on the big screen, Lucas has seen it. “It’s not really something to brag about, because it doesn’t really provide any benefits other than making me a good addition for a trivia team,” Lucas jokes.
You’ve been at Sisense for more than three years. What’s inspired you to grow your career with the company?
Prior to Sisense, I worked for a multinational, publicly-traded company. I was completely lost in the shuffle there, and I felt like no one cared about my development or growth. It’s been completely the opposite experience at Sisense, and I attribute my ability to rise through the company over the past three-plus years to all my managers that have looked out for me, supported me, and fostered my growth as a professional.
One of the things I love about Sisense is the dedication the company has in maintaining the fun, welcoming environment that existed when I first started.”
As Sisense scales, do you feel like that culture — and the company as a whole — can be shaped by anyone at the company?
As any company gets bigger, maintaining culture can be really difficult. One of the things I love about Sisense is the dedication the company has in maintaining the fun, welcoming environment that existed when I first started. To assist with this, we have the Sisense Experience Team that meets up once a month to plan events and outings that are meant to bring everyone together.
At town halls every quarter, our CEO gives shoutouts to members of the different offices who went above and beyond the call to impact the company in a notable way. The point is to show that the opportunity to make an impact exists within every department, skill set and seniority level, and the goal is to create an environment where those opportunities are abundant.
Shruthi Panicker, Sr. Technical Product Marketing Manager
In her role on the go-to-market team, Shruthi focuses on telling the story of why and how Sisense can be leveraged to build successful embedded business intelligence solutions.
BEYOND WORK: An avid traveler, Shruthi uses her personal days, long weekends and “Coming up for Air” days to indulge in her passion.
You’ve transitioned from a tech-driven role to product marketing. What inspired you to make that transition into product marketing?
After working as an enterprise business intelligence consultant handling strategic accounts and some of our largest customers for a while, I was thinking of my next step within Sisense. That was around the time Sisense launched the Moonshot Your Career program, which allowed us to look at available opportunities within Sisense based on our interests. There was an opening for a technical product marketing position that focused on our embedded channel and the developer persona. Given my interest in the intersection of technology, business and process, the position spoke to me.
At Sisense, senior management and HR are very willing and supportive of our career goals.”
How has your experience in technology informed your role in product marketing? What advantages are there to having that tech background?
I’m responsible for translating our product’s value to a prospect or customers in a way that shows them how Sisense can help them solve their challenges. While our product is easy to use as an end-user or business user, it is intended for everyone from the business user to fairly-technical teams.
My technical background allows me to make sense of what we have and speak in a language that is relatable to an advanced buyer or customer, which is also my area of focus in particular. In the world of enterprise software and large, complex deployments, this becomes very important.
Lateral transitions can often come with a risk. What concerns did you have about making that transition?
Even when you are moving within a company, it is still a new role and a new team. It is almost as if you are starting a new job — it’s certainly easier, but the role and team are relatively new — and any change always comes with some risk.
At Sisense, senior management and HR are very willing and supportive of our career goals. Their openness meant that I could spend the time to talk to everybody on the new team and understand what they do and how I could be a good fit. While they interviewed me and gave feedback to me, they were also open in helping me understand what to expect, how I could work on my goals, and clarified any doubts I had.
Ramon Lopez, Presales Team Lead
As a leader of sales engineers, Ramon is responsible for ensuring that his team represents the Sisense applications during the sales cycle on the commercial side of the business.
BEYOND WORK: It’s not a surprise to the people that know him, but Ramon is very into surfing. Whether it’s on the beaches of Queens or some exotic locale around the world, he’s happiest catching some waves.
What opportunities are there for employees to shape the direction of their team or the company as a whole at Sisense?
Sisense is extremely open and supportive to each employee’s growth and career objectives. Luckily, that combined with our growth creates an environment where people are hungry to learn, persevere and move up. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by many friends that I've seen mature over the years and become successful at a different level compared to where they were when I met them. My favorite is seeing eager SDRs go from making calls to closing deals to managing teams. It's a beautiful thing to see.
Sisense hosts regular lunch n’ learns to feature team members. How has learning about your coworkers’ roles shaped your experience at Sisense?
I had a chance to catch one recently with two of our rockstar CSMs, Korey and Erica. They went through their jobs, which I respect a lot — our CSMs are fully committed to the success of all of our customers and with our growth, and that isn't an easy task. Organized, focused and armed with resources, our CSMs are always there to listen to and provide solutions for our customers, and it’s a major part of our maniacal customer focus.
I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by many friends that I've seen mature over the years and become successful at a different level compared to where they were when I met them.”
What are you most excited about for the future of Sisense?
Definitely the product. I get to work with the road map, and I get excited every time I present the deck. From Linux to perspectives of integrations with advanced analytics, all are necessary to compete in the market — and are really cool at the same time. Data does not have to be boring. Also, I’m excited about the small and really important things like better APIs, improved SDKs and faster user experiences, which are all really exciting.
