5 things I love about Sysdig

Hello there! I’m Sebastian Zumbado, and I’m currently a DevSecOps Engineer in the Sales Engineer business unit at Sysdig. My journey with Sysdig began some years ago when I was a DevOps engineer at IBM. Back then, one of my key responsibilities was maintaining and developing custom alerts for the IBM cloud using Sysdig Monitor and setting up new custom metrics. I vividly remember how Sysdig’s contributions to the YACE (Yet Another CloudWatch Exporter) open-source project helped me manage the cost consumption of CloudWatch logs at that time. This experience sparked my interest in Sysdig.

What Do I Do?

I know being a DevSecOps Engineer in a Sales Engineer department might sound odd, but I get to have lots of fun. My role revolves around ensuring that our demo environments are always ready for new prospects. Maintaining these environments involves creating custom cybersecurity scenarios to showcase how Sysdig helps secure various infrastructures. A crucial part of this task is ensuring that while we demonstrate insecure configurations, our demos and environments themselves remain secure. This delicate balance requires constant vigilance and innovative thinking.

Lately, I’ve been collaborating on the infrastructure of our Kraken Hunter workshops. These workshops are delivered globally and are meant to bring the attendees hands-on experience on keeping their environments secure and achieving that goal through different use cases. 

Automation is key to ensuring our demo environments are always ready for Sales Engineers to present to new prospects or during major technology events like Black Hat or AWS reInvent.

5 things I love about working at Sysdig

1. Collaborating with Talented Individuals

Something that you value and appreciate when you are young in your career is having colleagues with experience who have been leaders in the area you are in. Working at Sysdig has allowed me to collaborate with really talented individuals in the industry. This is a pretty dynamic and competitive industry so there is always so much to learn from others – as they say: “Never be the smartest person in the room”.

2. Flexibility and Autonomy

One of the greatest perks of working at Sysdig is the flexibility it offers. The freedom to work from home provides a sense of ownership over my schedule, significantly boosting my productivity. At the same time, Sysdig values in-person interactions, and our periodic events with peers and executives are incredibly effective for planning and addressing projects. I’m so excited to visit my peers in the Zaragoza office! This balance between remote work and in-person collaboration ensures that we remain connected and productive, providing the best of both worlds.

3. Meaningful Work

At Sysdig, I feel that my contributions matter and are aligned with the company’s overall goals. I know how crucial it is for companies to maintain cybersecurity best practices and that is no easy task at all. So when I work on reproducing a scenario for a new attack threat like SSH snake or researching the impact of a new CVE, I know that my efforts help alleviate the burden on SOC teams and enhance our customers’ security. This sense of purpose and impact makes me love what I do.

4. Innovative and Dynamic Environment

Sysdig’s dynamic and innovative environment is exhilarating. Because we are pioneers and constantly raising the bar, some processes or standards do not exist yet, so I have the excitement of helping create them and paving the way. This level of autonomy and creativity is invaluable for career growth and provides a unique experience that is hard to find elsewhere.

5. Deepening My Cybersecurity Expertise

Working with Sysdig has allowed me to dig deeper into the cybersecurity space in ways I never imagined. This past March, I had the honor of giving a talk at the first Kubernetes Community Days event held in Costa Rica. My presentation, titled “Securing Your Software Supply Chain: A Practical Guide with Falco,” was a great professional milestone, and helping the education of the open-source community has been an invaluable experience. 

Insights: Things to look for in your career

• Passion: if you are passionate about what you do, you will eventually become an expert in it because you were able to dedicate the necessary time.
• Talented Team: ensure the company you work for has a knowledgeable and supportive team to foster your growth. Being surrounded by amazing collaborators will bootstrap your career. You will find mentors, advice, experiences, and lessons from others who have been where you are.
• Purposeful Work: choose a company where your work aligns with your principles, so you can feel that what you do is making a real difference.
• Innovation: Seek out dynamic environments that encourage creativity and the development of new ideas – a place where you can learn something new every day.