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Shlomi Waizel, Cognyte: We believe in the capabilities of junior IT talent

Cognyte (formerly a Verint company) is a global leader in security analytics software that empowers governments and enterprises with Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World. 

The company has 16 global offices, seven global R&D centers and one office in Bulgaria - an R&D center with over 100 employees who work with a diverse range of development languages and technologies.

To learn more about Cognyte’s office in Sofia, its future, why the company chose Telerik Academy as its partner for sourcing Master Junior Talent, and how vital juniors are for every company, we talked to Shlomi Waizel, General Manager of Cognyte Bulgariа. He has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, innovator, and start-up founder and 15+ years of experience in managerial roles in leading software companies in Bulgaria and Israel.

 

Can you tell us a bit about Cognyte - what does the company do, maybe some key milestones?

Cognyte is a leading company in security analytics and award-winner of “Company of the year 2021.” Our open software fuses, analyzes and visualizes disparate data sets at scale to help security organizations find the needles in the haystacks.
Today, over 1,000 government and enterprise customers in more than 100 countries rely on our solutions to accelerate security investigations and connect the dots to successfully identify, neutralize, and prevent threats to national security, business continuity and cyber security.

Our solutions span across three categories addressing specific security challenges - Investigative Analytics, Operational Intelligence Analytics, and Threat Intelligence Analytics.

In addition, our analytics platform is designed around an open, modular and scalable architecture to enable customers to address a broad range of security threats with fast detection and quick mitigation.

As for key milestones, apart from our customers that I’ve already mentioned, for the fiscal year 2020, we reported $463M in revenue, and today we have 16 global offices and seven global R&D centers. 

 

You mentioned 16 global offices - one of them is the local office in Bulgaria. When and did you open it, and what are its main goals?

Before its spinoff in February 2021, Cognyte was part of Verint Systems Inc. In 2012 Verint acquired a start-up in Bulgaria called “Focal Info”. This was later renamed Verint Systems Bulgaria, and in 2021 it became Cognyte Bulgaria, and it drives the development of our future state-of-the-art software.
We are happy that our over 100 curious colleagues in Sofia can enjoy cool office space in a collaborative and fun environment. They work with a diverse range of development languages and technologies, including Java, React, Elasticsearch, Spark, HDFS, Kafka, Mongo DB, Natural language processing, ETL engines, Cloud computing and many more. 

Our teams adopt the latest Agile methodologies and tools, which have transformed software development.

 

Your team works with various technologies, and we are curious - is there a current trend that shapes your area of work?

In 2020, we learned that adaptability is critical. One year later, we know that the ability to embrace change quickly and effectively is a game-changer. 
We continue to focus on innovation, allowing our teams to work on meaningful projects and with different technologies while leveraging their expertise, knowledge and capabilities. We shape our future by listening to our employees’ voices.

 

Why do you invest in junior talent?

We invest in junior talent because we believe in juniors’ capabilities. Students and graduates bring additional energy, new perspectives and a different way of thinking about our work. Juniors are eager to learn, build experience and apply their skills. They contribute significantly to team bonding and productivity.  We have a reputation of being supportive to junior talents so that they grab the right opportunities to advance their careers and become the next generation of senior engineers.

 

Why did you choose Telerik Academy as your partner to that end?

The Academy impressed us with its team, approach, professionalism, and commitment. We are on an exciting journey together, and we are confident that the alumni have the right skill set, knowledge and motivation. We are confident that Telerik Academy clearly understands our needs and the growing tech market.

 

What is your vision for the future? What is next for Cognyte’s office in Bulgaria?

We are optimistic about the (hopefully COVID-free) future. We are facing an exciting opportunity to grow the site in Bulgaria by onboarding skillful engineers. We will continue investing in attracting, hiring and retaining the right talent while providing a rewarding environment and making the world a safer place.

Are you looking to jumpstart your career in IT? Find out more about our Telerik Academy Alpha programs. Are you a company seeking Master Junior talent? Then go through our business page or contact us directly.

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