Hello 👋! I'm Gillian, and I'm currently a Software Technical Leader at Duo Security in Cisco Systems working on threat detection features like Cisco Identity Intelligence (formerly known as Oort). I previously worked on Risk-based Authentication and Duo Trust Monitor.
My passion for building stemmed from being a playful video-gamer at a young age 👾. Wanting to learn how to build my own games, I attended some extracurricular programming classes in middle school and later enrolled in computer science classes in high school. From there, I went on to study Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, where I would later graduate with Latin honors 🎓.
I gravitate towards and prioritize features that solve real problems for our customers and users. I'm energized by knowing that I'm building something that is meaningful and impactful.
Software development is a team sport, and I value collaboration and inputs from across different teams and people, such as with product managers, designers, engineers, and everyone else in between. Everyone is heard and valued!
Before putting hands to code, I start by creating diagrams in Miro that contain high-level visualizations and estimations that I would later validate with my team. I always visualize and plan for an achievable MVP that doesn't compromise on the user experience.
Mentorship was a key part of my growth, and so I pay it forward by mentoring others and sharing my knowledge. In turn, I'm always challenging myself to learn and experiment with new technologies and frameworks as well as keeping up to date with things happening in the tech space.