A Dhanmondi boy in Amazon
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
July 05, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JULY 05, 2022
A Dhanmondi boy in Amazon

Pursuit

Rupak Khan
18 February, 2021, 11:00 am
Last modified: 18 February, 2021, 02:18 pm

Related News

  • Obamas find new podcast home at Audible after Spotify exit
  • Ecuador seeks partner to stop gas flaring as anger rises in the Amazon
  • Tributes pour in for British reporter Dom Phillips, presumed killed in Amazon
  • Amazon to start delivering by drone in California town
  • Dozens of companies, small business groups back US bill to rein in Big Tech

A Dhanmondi boy in Amazon

Daiyan Alamgir is a senior software engineer at Amazon Web Services. He talked about the next Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Big Tech and heavy metal

Rupak Khan
18 February, 2021, 11:00 am
Last modified: 18 February, 2021, 02:18 pm
Daiyan Alamgir. Sketch: TBS
Daiyan Alamgir. Sketch: TBS

Daiyan Alagmir is a Bangladeshi software engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS). But halt your imagination from painting a Big Tech stereotype. Besides providing big data solutions for AWS clients (from video game companies to government officials), he has done his fair share of 'cool' stuff.

Raised in Dhanmondi, he is a Newyorker now. His Manhattan apartment – just across the East River from Queens – is his workstation.

AWS staff are still in WFH mode. The Covid-19 picture in New York is still grim. But Daiyan believes New York will be back in full swing soon.

After finishing his 'A' Levels from Mastermind School, Daiyan took a gap year. He needed to figure out where he should be headed.

"I do not want to go to America," he screamed inside. But his father said he should. Some of his friends were studying there too. So, Daiyan changed his mind.

He flew to New Jersey and Rutgers University became his address for the next four years. He majored in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Economics.

What was college like for you? We asked.

"College was fun. I got to study what I wanted. I like mathematics. With every passing day, classes seemed more interesting," Daiyan said.

Despite being the only international student at his dorm, Daiyan did not really have to deal with any culture shock. Plus he had cousins in New Jersey. Soon Rutgers became a home away from home.

Rutgers shaped Daiyan's dream of becoming a Big Tech engineer. An on-campus job came as a surprise. In his final year, a Rutgers laboratory was looking for a software engineer. Daiyan applied and got hired.

"The laboratory wanted to create something like 'Gmail' for communication. I took to Google and learned the know-hows, using my knowledge of computer engineering," Daiyan recalled how his first job landed him big opportunities down the line. "It was a milestone for my career," he said.

After graduation, Daiyan joined Barclays as a financial engineer. He was developing equity derivatives risk management software for the bank. He had a soft corner for finance.

"I have been in financial engineering for a decade, starting from Barclays and then JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley in the following years," Daiyan continued.

Our Zoom conversation was disrupted when Daiyan was moving to his 'Amazon' part of the story. We then took to WhatsApp to keep talking.

In 2019, Daiyan got his baptism in Big Tech - joining Amazon as a senior software engineer on the Data and Analytics team.

Being one of the few Bangladeshi born staff at AWS, Daiyan does not feel he has done anything special (something close to his company's rulebook).

For 26 years, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has constitutionalised the belief that Amazon has done 'nothing' yet. According to him, the company has just started its day one; therefore, it should behave like a start-up. Both Amazon and AWS believe that the company still has a long way to go.

Daiyan's one plus year tenure at Amazon has brought him all the toys of software engineering he wanted to play with.

"I work on building tools that allow our customers to build insights and analytics from extremely large amounts of data. They can use these tools to train machine learning models and also create a data governance ecosystem. My team focuses on providing these services as cloud based solutions to various institutions globally. We try to empower our customers to build rich applications and they leave the heavy lifting of the big data infrastructure work to us," he said.

"It is a very data oriented team," he added.

Daiyan champions AWS in two folds: One, the company has always wanted to understand a customer's real pain points. Two, it provides the best solution tech can offer.

"The structure of AWS is phenomenal. You get the freedom to create, experiment, and most importantly, fail often," he said.

When the infection rate peaked in the US, AWS wanted to build data gateways so that Covid-19 stats could be widely available.

Daiyan told us how he and his colleagues spent hours working on one of the first pandemic data from US hospitals.

"During March 2020, we got data from Johns Hopkins Hospital. A lot of people were swarming the hospitals. That made us privy to critical data about the situation. We wanted to find insights from it and make it available for people to use it," Daiyan said.

AWS is currently working with various institutions to streamline their vaccine production.

Speaking of Amazon, there is fanfare around a new CEO after Bezos leaves. Andy Jassy, the head of AWS, will take the mantle from Bezos this summer.

Since Daiyan has worked with Jassy in the same team, we asked him: What will Amazon look like in the Andy Jassy era?

"I have worked under the direction of Andy Jassy. I can assure you Amazon will head to new frontiers when he takes the leadership," Daiyan opined.

With a background in the cloud business, a lot of Andy Jassy's focus will naturally be on the AWS side of Amazon.

Daiyan does not think Bezos and Jassy can be compared. "Both have their own ways of doing things. Both are true believers of the 'day one' notion. For them, Amazon still has a lot more to accomplish," Daiyan said.

Daiyan said if there is one add-on that Jassy offers, it is his 'go getter' attitude. "Jeff Bezos is a visionary. He is one of a kind. But Andy Jassy will be a perfect successor."

There is a saying (among the AWS circle): "No idea is a bad idea." Daiyan thinks Andy Jassy best represents that statement.

At Amazon, Jassy is known as the Executor. "Execution - this is what Andy Jassy does best. He gets things done. That is why we call him The Executor," Daiyan said.

Where do you see yourself down the line? We asked Daiyan what technological field he is currently focusing on.

Daiyan knows the tech landscape will see monumental changes this decade. He is very excited to board the tech revolution train. "For me, AI and machine learning are two fields I want to have a deeper understanding of," Daiyan said.

Bangladesh too has seen a radical leap in technological development in the last few years. What does Daiyan think about Bangladesh's road to Industry 4.0?

"We need more skilled professionals in the STEM fields. The world economy is shaped by technology now. More kids should pursue science. I think in Bangladesh, people's interest in science has waned. It should be otherwise," Daiyan said.

Despite his busy New York life, Daiyan misses home. He craves for his mother's cooking, his childhood friends and the underground metal music scene, among many things.

"When I was younger, people my age were into two things: Either it was sports, or music. Luckily, I enjoyed the best of both worlds," Daiyan said how his love for soccer and heavy metal were an inseparable part of him.

In Dhaka, Daiyan was in a heavy metal band called 'Soothsayer'. He was the drummer. All the underground legends - Artcell, Cryptic Fate, Black - inspired him to play music.

Do you still play the drums?

"No, it will make my neighbours angry," Daiyan chuckled. "But I play guitar every now and then. I also do not miss watching my favourite bands live. I have watched all my heroes live. What more could I ask for?"

Any favourite tracks from the underground era? We tossed our last question at Daiyan.

Daiyan had the opportunity to see Artcell even before it was Artcell. "Many people know that Artcell was previously called 'Tantrik'. Their demo version of the song 'Onno Shomoy' sounds very different from the studio version. I had heard it back in the day. It is a precious memory. And about favourite tracks? That is the hardest thing to say for me."

Interviews / Top News

Amazon / Daiyan Alamgir / engineer

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Padma Bridge opens up investment spree in south
    Padma Bridge opens up investment spree in south
  • BB slaps 100% LC margin to discourage imports of cars, electronics among other items 
    BB slaps 100% LC margin to discourage imports of cars, electronics among other items 
  • Photo: Collected
    Blackouts return as Bangladesh feels first stirrings of energy crisis

MOST VIEWED

  • Mehbar Chowdhury Deea works for Wash Sector, Caritas Bangladesh. Once done with her day job, she and her colleagues regularly visit the many hangout places in Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Courtesy
    Young, free and well-paid: The lives of Bangladeshi youth who live and work in Cox’s Bazar
  • Photo caption: School and college going students gathered in the demonstration named ‘Friday For Future: Global Climate Strike’ in front of the Barishal Central Shaheed Minar on 23 September 2019 in an attempt to make people aware of the dangers of climate change. Photo: Courtesy
    Meet Bangladesh’s young climate heroes
  • Savrina Afrin. Illustration: TBS
    Savrina Arifin: Success is at the intersection of passion and creativity
  • Prova reviewing the meter long pizza at C'Zar, one of their signature items. Photo: Courtesy
    The life of a food blogger
  • School students of ages 12 to 16 are trained on entrepreneurship at the BeyondGrades cohort. Photo: Courtesy
    Beyond Grades: Building tomorrow’s entrepreneurs
  • A member of the team double Expresso Shot explains to a stall visitor their project. Photo: Courtesy
    From improving vaccination to identifying refugees, Bangladeshi youth come up with innovative use of blockchain

Related News

  • Obamas find new podcast home at Audible after Spotify exit
  • Ecuador seeks partner to stop gas flaring as anger rises in the Amazon
  • Tributes pour in for British reporter Dom Phillips, presumed killed in Amazon
  • Amazon to start delivering by drone in California town
  • Dozens of companies, small business groups back US bill to rein in Big Tech

Features

Mirza Abdul Kader Sardar with AK Fazlul Haque, Chief Minister of Bengal, at Haque's reception at the Lion Cinema, Dhaka, 1941. Photo: Collected

Panchayats: Where tradition clings to survival

14m | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Universal Pension Scheme: Has it been thought through?

1h | Panorama
Last month Swapan Kumar Biswas, the acting principal of Mirzapur United College, was forced to wear a garland of shoes for ‘hurting religious sentiments.’ Photo: Collected

Where do teachers rank in our society?

1d | Panorama
Japanese Ambassador Naoki Ito. Sketch: TBS

'The game-changing projects are in line with the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt initiative'

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Photo: TBS

Russian forces now in control of Luhansk

54m | Videos
Australia will help Bangladesh after the LDC graduation

Australia will help Bangladesh after the LDC graduation

1h | Videos
Realme Narzo 50A Prime available now

Realme Narzo 50A Prime available now

14h | Videos
Export products to get diversified

Export products to get diversified

15h | Videos

Most Read

1
TBS Illustration
Education

Universities may launch online classes again after Eid

2
Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'
Splash

Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'

3
Padma Bridge from satellite. Photo: Screengrab
Bangladesh

Padma Bridge from satellite 

4
World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years
Economy

World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years

5
Illustration: TBS
Interviews

‘No Bangladeshi company has the business model for exporting agricultural product’

6
Lee Hyun-seung (third from right), head of Korea Expressway Corp.'s Overseas Project Division, shakes hands with Quazi Muhammad Ferdous, head of the Bridge Authority of Bangladesh, after signing a contract on June 29 (local time).
Bangladesh

Korean company to oversee N8 Expressway in Bangladesh

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Workers ready a passenger vessel with a fresh coat of paint to the deck ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha at a dockyard at Mirerbagh in South Keraniganj. The vessel getting the makeover plies the Bhandaria route and will take holidaying people from the city to their country homes. Eid will be celebrated on 10 June this year. The photo was taken on Monday. Photo: Mumit M

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net