Coming from the gaming trade, Cristina Turbatu is aware of all too effectively how troublesome it’s to search out expertise with domain-specific information. To beat this problem, she has discovered to understand the varied views of latest hires coming from different industries and developed a management method based mostly on transparency, collaboration, and customer-centricity.
The CTO vs Standing Quo sequence research how CTOs problem the present state of affairs at their firm to push it towards a brand new peak … or to reserve it from doom.
“The purpose is to foster an surroundings the place engineers don’t simply go, ‘Okay, that is constructed, let’s push it to manufacturing.’”
As prospects’ expectations evolve, firms must sustain with them or danger getting left behind. Nowhere is that this extra evident than within the gaming trade, the place firms often poach staff with area information from each other.
Coming in with huge trade expertise, Cristina gave us beneficial and examined recommendation on how one can:
- develop particular area information even when it’s practically not possible to rent folks with related trade expertise,
- empower staff to study and develop themselves, and see the worth of cross-functional collaboration.
About Cristina
First full 12 months at Casumo
Eric Ignasik: Hi there, Cristina. You joined Casumo again in 2023 – what has been your expertise up to now?
Cristina Turbatu: Hello, Eric, thanks for having me.
I joined at a turning level for the corporate. We needed to make a number of robust selections shortly and with little info, to make sure that the corporate was on the appropriate path financially. It was troublesome for everybody, particularly the workers that needed to be let go, and I did my finest to be respectful in the direction of them. Having a clear and useful workforce of C-levels with expertise in rising turnaround firms helped lots.
We left the hazard zone, and 2024 was steady – no extra cutting down. We targeted on constructing a method to maneuver ahead. We appeared for essentially the most optimum organizational construction, applied sciences price investing in, and concepts for safety and platform engineering.
Now, in 2025, we’re executing based mostly on the muse for progress that we constructed final 12 months.
As CTO, one of many large questions for me was, “how can we be sure that everybody on the C-level and on the board sees what our division does?”. I feel many CTOs have this problem.
It normally begins with technical KPIs. Nonetheless, it’s not clear how they have an effect on the underside line, and so they don’t assist to clarify why you typically change priorities. It’s essential have separate KPIs that make it straightforward to translate your selections to folks with out technical experience so you possibly can clarify why you took two weeks to discover a bug.
Having domain-trained builders might assist in translating such selections for the remainder of the group.
In your interview from Andersen’s occasion in Malta, you mentioned that some firms may go for gifted builders with out area expertise and put money into coaching them on the job. When is that this the appropriate method?
The competitors for expertise with trade information is fierce. Poaching is an everyday incidence. If you wish to develop, you’re normally left with one choice – usher in folks with the appropriate angle who’re keen to problem themselves. You may look in different highly-regulated domains with related challenges, like crypto, finance, or healthcare.
With 100% gaming specialists on board, it may be more durable to innovate. A various workforce with information about completely different industries can increase your perspective and generate extra disruptive concepts.
This method doesn’t work for individuals who design your structure. They need to include expertise in gaming. You might have excessive volumes of gamers to cope with, but additionally spikes that occur whenever you run a promotion, when folks obtain their salaries, or round main occasions that drive utilization. The structure must be each versatile and sturdy to deal with such efficiency challenges.
Product-oriented improvement – the idea
Let’s speak about product-oriented improvement and the affect that area information has on the method of constructing software program merchandise. Ideally, all stakeholders – together with builders – ought to collaborate and never simply reside of their respective silos.
Visibility, transparency, and borderless cooperation appear very important as of late, would you agree?
Undoubtedly, silos don’t work anymore. Buyer expectations have modified. Folks have much less persistence and are used to issues engaged on the spot. At Casumo, we structured sturdy groups which have possession over complete participant flows. This helps them perceive and care in regards to the larger image.
The visibility has to go each methods. Tech must transparently clarify what they’re constructing and what they care about, and so ought to different elements of the group.
It needs to be straightforward to know the KPIs of all departments, why they’re essential to the enterprise, in addition to the restrictions they’re coping with, so that everybody can contribute to transferring these KPIs.
It’s essential measure KPIs, too. This fashion, the enterprise can see what KPIs your actions are influencing. It additionally gives engineers with a way of delight as a result of they know precisely how their work is affecting the whole firm.
Rising product information – the mindset
It feels such as you deal with cross-functional collaboration very severely. Are you able to go into extra element about the way it works at Casumo?
The purpose is to foster an surroundings the place engineers don’t simply go, “Okay, that is constructed, let’s push it to manufacturing.” We wish them to think about issues like content material overhead, promotions that they could work together with, advertising initiatives they need to pay attention to, different groups they need to inform, and so forth.
Likewise, if advertising is operating campaigns to herald new gamers, we would like builders to know early on to allow them to put together for spikes and scale the system.
It’s essential to create that tradition now, whereas we’re nonetheless a moderate-size firm.
I learn about your Voice of the Buyer initiative, which appears related to creating that very tradition. Are you able to inform us extra about it?
Voice of the Buyer is a month-to-month report created by our customer support division. It gives visibility into buyer suggestions, requests, complaints, and reward. Everyone seems to be made conscious of direct buyer suggestions. All of us study from it and it helps us enhance the merchandise, companies, and assist we ship.
Quantitative metrics apart, our customers are pushed by emotion, so it’s like our emotional KPI. Understanding how gamers work together with our product, the friction they expertise, how the modifications we make have an effect on them – it’s very useful.
Rising product information – the practices
Let’s focus on particular practices. I talked to a supervisor of an organization from the healthcare area that had their builders truly sit in an ambulance to study extra in regards to the product they developed.
I do know that you simply use numerous strategies at Casumo, too. Do you apply related strategies?
At this second, we’re within the technique of brainstorming concepts. One in all them is to create company-wide self-audits the place folks from completely different departments would use the platform and doc their interactions for us to study from.
To raised perceive the participant expertise, we’ve applied instruments similar to artificial monitoring or automation assessments. We’re at present engaged on actual person monitoring to detect and clear up points earlier than they even attain buyer assist.
One other factor I’d like to implement at Casumo is to have folks from different departments spend a while engaged on assist tickets. I’ve completed it as a QA automation specialist at different firms, and it was an eye-opening expertise. You see what it’s prefer to cope with pissed off prospects, and perceive precisely how a buggy launch impacts them.
To at the present time I keep in mind opening my laptop computer and seeing 20 messages with complaints. They only wouldn’t cease coming in. It takes a novel kind of individual to deal with the stress of coping with it day in, time out. It’s humbling and academic for folks from different departments to expertise it.
Letting staff do another person’s job for a day helps them see how their work influences others, it doesn’t must be restricted to buyer assist.
After getting the info, what strategies do you utilize to combine it instantly into your work and the product?
We attempt to maintain issues easy. Nonetheless, we’re a 12-year-old firm that began by doing one factor very effectively and expanded into many others at excessive velocity. We function in a number of markets, so we want some processes to deal with all of the completely different rules.
One in all them is an ideation course of that permits folks from completely different departments to convey product concepts. We contain stakeholders from all environments and ensure they’re listened to.
Then, the product workforce defines their wants extra exactly so we are able to consider them at a excessive degree and see how a lot effort they require. We prioritize all of the concepts by this course of, it’s a part of our roadmap planning. If one thing can’t occur on this quarter, it goes again to the prioritization course of for the following one.
Talking of cross-functional cooperation, the thought of an inner single supply of fact as a approach to maintain everybody on the identical web page comes up lots in our interviews. Do you see worth in that?
One of many options we explored as a proof of idea was an intranet for HR and paperwork. With distant staff in a number of completely different nations, a number of questions come up that might be dealt with in a single place.
We maintain exploring new choices. Simply yesterday, I discovered that some firms are constructing well-integrated AI intranets for related functions.
With generative AI and brokers on prime of function administration techniques, you possibly can have an answer that understands the context of the person and gives them with solutions in a safe and personalised approach.
I’m wanting ahead to such options turning into mainstream as a result of they might save a number of time – particularly throughout onboarding because it’s all about instructing staff and answering their questions.
That’s an attention-grabbing concept for the not-so-distant future, however what in regards to the current? When onboarding new hires, does information trade occur organically, or does it take a selected course of to deal with?
There’s no good answer as a result of everyone seems to be completely different. Particularly in engineering, individuals are typically not nice at communication. I was one in all them – after I first moved to Western Europe, I believed that asking questions made me look silly.
What we do have is a good system between tech management, QA, and HR. After we onboard somebody, everybody is aware of what they’re purported to do as a result of we’ve got a easy handbook to work with. It’s known as The Supervisor’s Handbook, and it outlines confirmed steps to onboard new hires as shortly as doable.
We additionally assign everybody a buddy for onboarding. Shadowing extra skilled workforce members helps new hires discover ways to cope with the pressures of sustaining the platform.
Through the first month of onboarding, we even have shows from all departments the place they clarify their internal workings and methods of contacting them.
What about individuals who discover it troublesome to work with different departments? What sort of suggestions would you give them, and the way would you assist them adapt to cross-functional collaboration?
Generally you’ve got a celebrity that delivers immense worth, however prefers to work alone and avoids instructing others. This may be good for a smaller firm, however in our state of affairs, we have to mitigate danger. Having only one one who understands an important a part of the product is an enormous downside for us.
We do our greatest to point out those that working with others is a chance to develop themselves, develop, and develop into much more beneficial. It’s about visualizing the domino impact of advantages they will generate for the entire firm in the event that they open up extra. What works finest for us is displaying how a lot much less stress and burnout they may really feel in the event that they collaborate extra.
Lots of people wrestle with delegating as a result of they need issues completed precisely the way in which they’d do it – however, simply because one thing is completed in another way, doesn’t imply it’s dangerous.
Empathy is essential, as a result of this course of can result in folks leaving the group. When that occurs, no less than you possibly can make certain that you probably did all you would to create a wholesome working surroundings for that individual.
When the method succeeds, you get to a second when it clicks, and these staff develop into true superstars which have a optimistic affect on the whole engineering workforce.
Let’s return to know-how. I do know that you simply consider that AI can create a extra personalised expertise for platform customers within the igaming sphere. Do you assume that the info processed by AI will quickly develop into important in understanding person habits and turning into really customer-centric?
100% sure.
There was a time when not everybody had an internet site, not everybody wanted an internet store, and it was fantastic for some time. Now, in case you don’t have an internet site or social media presence of any form, it’s as in case you don’t exist.
I can’t predict precisely how AI will change the world even within the subsequent 5 years, however I’m assured it should develop into important. Sooner or later, you’ll both create clever information domains inside your organization or get left behind – however we’re not there but.
As leaders, it’s our job to translate modifications into tangible advantages for our groups. You need to inform folks, “This answer saves you X hours per 30 days that you would spend constructing function Y from the roadmap, which you postponed in the mean time.” If you happen to can shift the angle, adapting to new instruments will develop into as essential as releasing new options to purchasers.
Common recommendation
Let’s sum issues up. Given all we’ve talked about, what’s your primary recommendation for leaders who need to enhance area information inside their group?
I all the time inform everybody that investing in your folks is essential. In spite of everything, all of us spend most of our weeks at work.
You don’t need folks to dread the second after they’ll must open their laptop computer once more on Monday, you need them to be excited to start out the week. If you happen to create such an surroundings, your workforce can be joyful and wanting to study new issues.
I additionally advocate fostering a tradition of transparency and communication. I’d quite over-communicate than spend time deciding whether or not individual X actually must know information level Y. Talk, study their pursuits, foster these pursuits, and set your folks up for fulfillment.
Each complaining and good vibes are contagious. If you discover what makes somebody tick at work, the passion that comes out of it is extremely rewarding to you as a pacesetter, and it advantages the whole group.
Sources
One very last thing. What sources (podcasts, books, web sites, and many others.) would you advocate to leaders who need to develop particular product information of their group?
I extremely advocate Tech Supervisor Weekly, which aggregates a considerable amount of info from numerous sources. CTO Academy is nice for a rising CTO or one that’s transitioning right into a extra strategic function. For maintaining with all of the day by day particulars, I like to recommend Hacker Information.
I additionally comply with another attention-grabbing CTOs on LinkedIn that I like or can study one thing from. One in all them is Irina Stanescu.
What’s subsequent? 4 suggestions for CTOs to develop area information
Cristina is aware of how exhausting it’s to solely rent folks with particular area information in software program improvement. All through her profession, she has developed a novel method to gaining area information in a selected trade in different methods:
- perceive which roles require new hires to come back with area expertise, and which don’t – having a various workforce with expertise in several industries is a bonus, however roles like System Architects ought to have area experience from the get-go.
- break down silos and create two-way visibility – it needs to be straightforward for engineers to know the objectives and pains of different departments and vice versa.
- don’t overlook qualitative metrics like buyer suggestions – often making everybody conscious of direct buyer suggestions helps all departments perceive the shoppers and enhance the product,
- create house for all departments to convey product concepts – prioritizing the wants of various groups is troublesome, and also you’ll must make some ruthless selections, nevertheless it ensures that the wants of stakeholders from all areas are heard and seen.
Keep in mind, it’s higher to overshare than to cover info out of your staff. Lead with transparency, make your work seen to all, and request the identical method from different departments.
