In 2003 I joined as a real-time embedded software engineer. Last month I handed over command of the same organization.
Twenty-three years in one place is unfashionable in this industry. What it bought me was the chance to watch the same systems through several generations of technology, and to stay long enough to find out whether my own decisions were any good. Most of us leave before the answer arrives.
The last three years at Ofek 324, the Israeli Air Force’s primary software and technology organization, were the most demanding in its history. I’m not going to summarize them in a post. What I will say is that I watched several hundred engineers, data scientists, and infrastructure professionals carry a load nobody could have planned for, and hold the standard throughout. That is what I’m proudest of, and almost none of it was mine.
I’m moving to the commercial technology sector now, looking for a senior engineering or technology leadership role.
I’ll also be writing here more than I have, mostly about what actually happens when you try to scale an engineering organization. Including the parts that didn’t work.
To everyone who built that place with me: thank you.