Hi Adrian, thanks for taking the time to have a chat! To start things off, tell us a bit about your background and how you got involved with SkedGo.
Adrian: After studying Business Information Systems in Germany I came to Australia and did my Master’s in computer science at UNSW. My focus was Artificial Intelligence, a very interesting and exciting area dealing with unsolved problems in computer science. I started a PhD straight after. Tim & Claus from BuzzHives were looking for students for internships and their projects sounded interesting, so I started working for them. I ended up putting my PhD on ice and working at BuzzHives, later renamed to SkedGo, full time.
What’s your role at SkedGo these days?
Adrian: I’m the lead software engineer of our core team here in Sydney and doing a lot of work myself in algorithms and iOS development. I love it because it keeps me challenged and I have a direct impact on where we’re heading.
What’s your best productivity hack?
Adrian: Ernest Hemingway suggested that when you finish your day, don’t finish off completely but leave something simple to do for the next morning. That way it’s much easier to get back into your work the next day, because you know exactly what to do.
Your best tip for travelling smarter?
Adrian: On the bus, especially on long commutes, make use of the time you have. Learn something new, listen to a podcast – TEDtalks are great – or read something. Don’t just play games.
Where do you find inspiration?
Adrian: I find inspiration in the outdoors, out in nature, traveling, and riding my motorbike.
What keeps me inspired in my daily work is the knowledge that we are working on a technology which makes life easier for people and has the potential to provide smarter travelling solutions that can help relief the road congestion we have – using limited transport solutions more efficiently and contributing to a cleaner world.
We want to know what’s next for TripGo – what are you most excited about coming up in the new version?
Adrian: The Agenda feature with the built-in reminders. It means that TripGo does the work of planning for you, you don’t need to do much yourself. The trip planning is decoupled from when I go on the trip, meaning the trip is already there when I’m in a rush and I can just look it up. It’s just a much smarter app.
Thanks Adrian!
