Rafał is a Senior Business Analyst at Ailleron, known for his boundless positive energy and diverse interests. In the following interview, Rafał shares insights about his work, and the intriguing aspects of being an analyst and gives us a glimpse into his fascinating hobby. Enjoy the read! 

1 . Hi Rafał, I’m happy you agreed to this interview. 

The pleasure is mine. 

2. You work as a Senior Business Analyst at Ailleron. Tell us more about your job. 

The role entails a balanced blend of interpersonal relations and technical duties. Primarily, it involves attentively and proactively listening to the client, comprehending the origin of their needs, and understanding the goals they aim to accomplish through their collaboration with Ailleron. These discussions unfold across various stages, from pre-sales and sales to solution design after signing the contract. 

I must also highlight the crucial role of fostering strong client relationships. The Analyst is the main contact person behind the developed solution. Often, it’s essential to address any potential discrepancies between the initial project scope and the findings that emerge during the analysis phase. This needs to be done in a friendly, respectful, yet clear, and direct manner. It involves negotiation, listening to the client’s needs, and determining which expectations are crucial for the project or product and which are “nice to have” and can be implemented at a later stage.  

Often, a single requirement, such as a functional one, consists of several smaller ones that are less important from a business perspective. Breaking it down helps to understand the problem better and propose a solution that satisfies the client and generates minimal additional implementation costs. In agile methodologies, this aspect isn’t often highlighted, but the reality is that projects with new clients rarely start under a Time and Material model. Initially, we usually have a set budget and roughly determined scope, and the deeper we delve into the analysis, the more “in scope/out of scope” decisions need to be made jointly with the client.  

Let’s move on to the more technical part of my work. At Ailleron, we follow agile methodologies, where analysis involves “taking ownership” of the project’s or product’s backlog (an ordered list of tasks) along with the client’s representative, typically the Product Owner. My responsibility is to create User Stories, which are functional descriptions of the planned IT solution. During their creation, these stories are repeatedly refined with both the client-side business representatives and the development team at Ailleron. This approach ensures that everything described in the story meets the client’s expectations and is feasible and efficient to implement. 

Precision in the User Stories is crucial for me, so I delve deeply into the details, mapping screen fields and logic to specific fields in services. This level of detail requires more time and focus, but it significantly reduces uncertainties during the implementation and testing phases. Discussions with teams at Ailleron confirm that this thorough approach is highly effective. 

3. Listening to you, I infer that your strengths lie in analytical thinking and your ability to work with large databases. When did you feel and decide that this was the right career path for you? 

In the case of an analytical mind, I agree. 😊 When it comes to aspects of data and its flow, it’s more a technical curiosity, which is very useful in my daily work. I would also add relationship-building to my strengths. The decision to pursue this career path came from my previous company, where I worked as an Analyst and Project Manager. I explored what each of these positions entailed and discovered that I needed to “understand and know” to feel comfortable during conversations with clients. An Analyst is naturally expected to understand and know. I had a feeling that this role would suit me. Over time, I see that I made the right decision.  

4. Recently, you’ve also been involved in collaborating with the sales team. What does this support entail? 

I participate in project estimations during the RFP (Request For Proposal) stage, as well as inquiries and offers. I help the team understand the scope of work and define the terms in the proposals regarding what the offered system will entail. 

Simultaneously, I am responsible for developing Ailleron’s portfolio in Low-code and No-code tools for digital process automation (DPA). The first-mentioned solutions accelerate software development processes by building systems with minimal coding effort. No-code tools, on the other hand, enable the creation and deployment of applications without the need for advanced programming skills. We recently established a partnership agreement with a technology provider, aiming to rely on their solutions to manage as many clients and lead inquiries as possible by using workflow automation. 

Exciting times are ahead. Analysts with a systems-oriented approach will excel as designers and even implementers of Low-code/No-code solutions, in my opinion. This means that analysis and deployment would be closely linked. Yet, the issue of testing and documentation remains, as the capacity of a single analyst is limited. We will see how it unfolds over time. 

5. Working with the sales team entails traveling extensively and attending various events. Last year, you participated in WebSummit 2023 in Lisbon. How do you feel about engaging with clients from this perspective? 

Surprisingly natural! I observe that aggressive sales tactics are becoming a thing of the past. What is more valued now are reliability, strong relationships, and open communication. It resonates well with my values and what I try to incorporate into my work as an Analyst. Supporting sales in this manner naturally complements these skills and values. 

6. Can you share your professional plans for the rest of 2024? Are there any upcoming trips? 

With the recent opening of our office in Vienna, we’ll be visiting there more often. Additionally, the enterprise-scale Low-code/No-code area is something I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on. 

7. At Ailleron, we value the continuous development of our #AilleronExperts, as we believe their knowledge and achievements directly impact the entire business’s success. How does the company support you in your professional growth?  

By not imposing control and taking my development ideas seriously. I am trusted to do my job well. I hear this also from the client and team members. It’s empowering and gives me the strength and energy to take on new challenges representing Ailleron. Currently, we are working on a new mobile banking service, which we aim to offer to Polish banks. Designing a product “from scratch” requires different activities from me than the initial analysis of pre-approved topics that occur in project work. This is how I understand development – as an opportunity to involve oneself in diverse tasks without monotony or a fixed, predefined job description. 

8. We’ve learned interesting facts about your job, now it’s time for some personal insights. We know you have an exciting but somewhat dangerous hobby – hang gliding. How did it start? 

It’s a lifelong passion. It began with parachutes at the age of 16, although my eyes had been wandering towards the buildings of the Białystok Aeroclub much earlier. My mom wouldn’t let me skydive, so I agreed with my dad and started a Static Line parachuting course, which involves jumps with a self-opening parachute from 1200-1500 meters. However, I never finished it. While gliding under an open parachute canopy during one of the jumps, I accidentally encountered a thermal rising (a bubble of warm air floating after breaking away from the heated ground). I discovered that without an engine, you can descend and ascend! That’s when I set my sights on hang gliders and paragliders. Hang gliding won out because of the speed and the incredible look. Plus, I like to exert myself physically, and hang gliding provides that. 

9. It sounds exciting; please continue. 

I attended a hang gliding course in my second year of university, primarily as an observer. I watched participants running down the hill with a hang glider on their shoulders, making their first jumps and flights, and I knew then that I would return and do the same. Six years later, I started the course, earned my pilot’s license within a year, and began serious flying. Initially, I flew in Poland because the country has several excellent mountain launch sites. However, I quickly learned to launch using a winch and an airplane to avoid being limited to mountainous areas. I enjoy competition, so it was only a matter of time before I tried my hand at contests. 

10. Such a passion requires courage, overcoming weaknesses, and a strong mindset. What emotions do you feel when you’re up in the air during a flight, and what do you think about? 

I mostly focus on avoiding landing too soon. In calm conditions, I can enjoy the views and experience the form of flying that is closest to nature. The only thing between me and the air is the visor on my helmet (we showcased its new design with Ailleron’s brand identity at the competition in the Czech Republic this May), which I usually keep open. The feeling of being in that space is overwhelming.  

In less peaceful conditions, flying is quite different. The air feels like boiling water, with thermal bubbles of warm air rising wherever the sun heats the ground. I must find these thermals and stay with them to rise; otherwise, I just glide slowly towards the ground. These thermals are invisible, so I rely on my glider’s behavior, other pilots, birds, scents, tiny insects lifted from the ground, and cumulus clouds to detect them. Navigating this dynamic situation and using it to fly higher and longer is challenging and stimulating. 

11. We know that you’ve already participated in some competitions this year, including flights in Slovenia and Austria, with the World Championships in Spain planned for 2025. You have achieved significant accomplishments in these competitions. As a company, we are incredibly proud – we always celebrate the successes and support passions of our Aillerons. We believe your future flights will also be memorable. 

My team and supervisors’ support, with their genuine interest in my hobby, is incredibly encouraging and much appreciated. Flexibility at work is also crucial. Free-flight hang gliding depends on the right weather conditions, which are rare in Poland, so I need to seize the opportunity whenever it occurs. The ability to adjust my work schedule and the understanding and openness of my supervisors and clients genuinely amaze me, especially when I hear about the realities of other companies in Poland from my friends and acquaintances. I feel that Ailleron stands out in this regard, with open communication and an understanding that work is not the entirety of life, but rather, a fulfilling life enriches our job. These aren’t just marketing buzzwords for Employer Branding materials – what I described genuinely reflects our work culture.   

12. Do you see any correlation between hang gliding and your profession? 

I notice it on at least two levels. First, pursuing a passion and engaging in physical activities (for me, it’s mainly flying, cycling, and swimming) offer an excellent counterbalance to the mental demands of my job. Being healthy, well-oxygenated, and rested boosts effective thinking at work and makes returning after physical activity enjoyable. This is the essence of maintaining the popular “work-life balance”. 

The second level, where I see the correlation, is more related to my role. Planning and anticipating how the air will react in a certain place at a given time requires imagination. Similarly, when planning and predicting how the designed IT solution will perform, foresight is crucial before allocating time and resources for project execution. It’s also essential to determine where to focus attention, such as in edge case analysis, pre-sales assessment, or functional and risk analysis. Likewise, during flight, maintaining maximum altitude throughout can extend the journey and be quite strenuous. Recognizing this “good enough” state is vital for meeting objectives within limited competition timeframes. 

13. Rafał, thank you. It’s been a delight chatting with someone who finds fulfillment in both work and personal pursuits. We wish you continued success in hang-gliding and your professional journey. May you always have safe winds beneath your wings! 😀 

 It was great talking with you. 😊