Spotlight: Matt Wratt

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Your role at Kilterset:

Director of Engineering

Give us a high level overview of your professional background prior to Kilterset:

I started out working on flight simulators, which was an amazing first job in the industry. I was writing code and then getting to see it work inside a replica Boeing 737-800 cockpit. I then moved into web based tech, working on an escrow service for buying and selling property. This was interesting for different reasons, I learnt about the different ways people go about defrauding others! From there I moved into Trineo and worked on a lot of client projects from shopping malls to outdoor advertising companies.

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech/software development?

I started tinkering with code when I was pretty young. My family got a PC in the 90s and I enjoyed gaming but not paying for games and that is when I learnt that you can make games with code. It took a bit of digging but eventually I found qbasic on our home PC and gorillas, a game written in qbasic. I spent a lot of time looking at, tinkering with and understanding that code. From there it turned out I enjoyed problem solving and more specifically solving problems with code.

In three words, how would you describe Kilterset to candidates or other people who inquire?

People, Fun, Quality

What do you enjoy most about your role and working at Kilterset?

Getting to share in that a-ha moment when someone finally achieves something that has been alluding them. I enjoy sharing my knowledge, learning from others and that enjoyment from shared experience in solving problems and learning new things together. And as for Kilterset, it’s people people people! Such great people, always happy to help each other out and do good work!

Are there any mentors or role models who have influenced your career path?

My media studies teacher. They gave me a good push in the right direction when I had no idea. That push ultimately lead to me becoming a Software Engineer. And Abhinav. He has always been a pretty solid role model.

Here are a couple of ‘What’s Your Favorite’ questions:

1. Favorite food? Steam coriander pork dumplings - so good, we make them at home now!
2. Favorite band/singer? I'm a sucker for anything that sounds good, but, that makes me more of a generalist rather than having a favorite.
3. What are you currently reading? Or best book you've recently read? Currently reading (listening to) The Completionist Chronicles by Dakota Krout. Lately, my best read would be He Who Fights With Monsters, it's a great series!

Can you share a memorable experience or favorite project at Kilterset you've worked on?

I recently paired with my colleague Pete to work on our Kilterset Actions Assistant for Auth0 Actions. It has been really interesting working with AI and figuring out how to make it work for us.

If you weren't working in software/tech, what would be your dream job?

Fighter jet pilot. That was the plan when I was young at least, right up until I realised I was already too tall to fit in the pilot's seat!

And lastly, what activities do you enjoy outside of work?

Gaming, hanging out with friends and family, mountain biking, and if I’m honest a bit of coding for fun.