Get to know Rajesh Dawar
What was your last career change?
- After working as Enterprise Integration Architect for 8+ years, my latest career change was assuming the role of Director of Enterprise Architecture.
What made it successful?
- Prior to joining the University, I had held various architect positions at major corporations in Montréal and then eight years as Integration Architect at uOttawa. This work history has helped me make the transition. But the success so far that I have had is overwhelmingly due to the excellent teamwork and technical expertise of the people I have worked with.
What was the biggest challenge in adapting to your new role?
- The biggest challenge in adapting to my new role is letting go of my previous duties and responsibilities. The expectations are high, and I only have six months to deliver.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career change?
- Always look at a change with a positive angle and as a learning opportunity and don’t be afraid of the challenges that may come with it.
What do you look forward to in your day?
- Having a productive meeting which ends with a decision or an action to take.
What ingredient should never be found on a pizza?
- Anchovies
What three items would you bring if you were shipped to a deserted island?
- A Mobile phone with Satellite Internet access
- The best water filter
- A Swiss knife
How have you added AI into your regular workflow?
- Yes, we use one form or other of generative AI and soon M365 Copilot.
How has AI impacted your field of work?
- AI is a tool that helps architects to start off with new ideas, help creating mind maps in brainstorming sessions, writing emails faster and getting a summary of meetings (especially if you missed one or oversee writing the minutes). This is just the beginning and new tools are being created every day.
What aspects of your job do you think could benefit from AI automation?
- Architecture has a stake in the development methodologies; I see AI Automation can help in the productivity and quality in the development of software, annotating the code, creating automated tests hence increasing test coverage and test accuracy, and it could even help in finding errors/vulnerabilities in our code.