Yekeen is a Senior Engineering Manager at Deimos who enjoys working with multiple engineering teams to help set direction, improve processes, and guide them towards delivering world-class solutions at scale.
He has a deep cross-functional technical skill set and has mastered the art of simultaneously delivering stellar architecture with a user-friendly experience.
Explain your job to a five-year-old
I work with some of the best engineering teams to build technology that makes lives better across the continent.
What’s something you wish you knew earlier in your career/life?
While I knew about it, I wish I had explored the possibilities of blockchain technology a lot earlier.
What’s the most promising thing about tech in Africa?
Many people in Africa and beyond are waking up to tech’s myriad opportunities on the continent. It’s an exciting time to see the type of solutions and ideas being built across the continent. This, coupled with the growing technical talent, puts Africa in a better place than ever to identify and solve her problems, along with the resources to solve them.
What’s one misconception people have about software engineering?
That it’s hard and only for the elite.
Too many people think software engineering requires genius-level intellect and the ability to speak Klingon. It’s not. However, software engineering does need lots of practice so it will cost you time.
What are the most overlooked careers in software engineering?
Quality engineering. A lot of companies struggle with getting a good balance of releasing quickly while making sure their existing users aren’t affected. Unfortunately, this isn’t given as much consideration and careful forethought as it should, resulting in buggy, inconsistent experiences.
What advice would you give anyone looking to get into software engineering?
Just start. Get a book, course, something, and start. Then stick with it. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis choosing the “perfect language”. Don’t stop practising. Don’t stop reading and learning more. In software engineering, standing still is usually the same as going backwards, so embrace it and keep learning every second.
What (singular) achievement are you most proud of?
I have worked with a lot of fantastic people in my career and my favourite achievement is definitely the people I have mentored and supported along the way. Seeing them doing so great now is always a great feeling.
What’s something you love doing that you’re terrible at. And what’s something you don’t love doing but are great at?
I love dancing, but I am absolutely rubbish at it. On the other hand, I am great at multitasking, but it’s not my favourite thing to do.
What do you think about Web3, and is it something Africa needs?
Web3 represents a natural evolution of most of the current internet-powered platforms and gives the opportunity for more inclusive, equal platforms than we have now. Definitely something Africa needs.
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