Devonte Sykes | Customer Success Manager & Architect

In the Open with Luke and Joe

Join us for a conversation with Customer Success Manager Deveonte Sykes. Topics discussed include; career paths in tech, open-source use in the real world, soft skills, and much more.

Devonte Sykes, Customer Success Manager, @DevonteSykes

Joe Sepi, Open Source Engineer & Advocate, @joe_sepi

Luke Schantz, Quantum Ambassador & Podcaster @IBMDeveloper, @lukeschantz

Key Takeaways:

• [00:04 - 00:19] Intro to the episode
• [01:59 - 04:52] Devonte's role at IBM and what led him to this career path
• [06:20 - 09:07] QUESTION: "What's your favorite, most memorable example of helping someone with technology?"
• [12:55 - 15:16] Developer advocates: The importance of curiosity, learning, and teaching
• [15:39 - 18:12] Devonte's final IBM Summit Program project: Build a chatbot
• [18:21 - 20:23] Where Devonte's love for sharing knowledge came from
• [21:36 - 23:39] How security relates to Devonte's work
• [24:38 - 27:31] Devonte's day-to-day with customers, from the open source perspective
• [28:15 - 29:29] Is there hesitancy about open source from executives? And how to approach the situation
• [31:33 - 33:35] What excites Devonte about his current work, and what's going on in tech
• [40:05 - 41:51] Is there hesitancy about open source from executives? And how to approach the situation continued
• [42:09 - 45:07] QUESTION: "Which customer is your favorite to work with? And any open source project you think that's exciting for the future of space?"

Resources:

Start Your Journey with IBM: https://www.ibm.com/careers/us-en/early-career/entry-level/

IBM Cloud Paks: https://www.ibm.com/cloud-paks

Build Conversational AI Solutions: https://developer.ibm.com/components/watson-assistant/