Ahmed has been working in software design for about eight years. In the spring of 2018, he joined ICT Netherlands from his home country of Egypt. "I knew some compatriots who were already working here and immediately liked the pleasant working environment within the company, the challenging projects and the numerous opportunities to develop yourself. As Technical Project Leader, Ahmed is currently managing two teams within a large project for a customer in the automotive industry. In total, there are about sixty engineers involved. Ahmed also coaches two other teams.
Thanks to his extensive experience in the sector, Ahmed knows how IT professionals think and work and how to share their technical knowledge. "My strength is being able to motivate people. I try to get a feeling for what drives my colleagues but also where the needs lie within the team. That means you have to listen carefully to what is going on. I really like the role of coach. It gives me a lot of energy when a colleague achieves something that he or she never thought possible. People can learn a lot by stepping out of their comfort zone. Not only within the work, but also on a personal level contact is important. During the Covid period I regularly went for a cup of coffee with a colleague or took a walk with them, just to know how they were doing. After all, everything went exclusively online.
Formally Ahmed is a 'Scrum Master', which in practice means that he supports colleagues in the 'agile scrum' working method that ICT Group uses in development teams. I see myself as a servant leader. I don't tell people what to do, but try to help them understand Scrum. My goal is to take Scrum to an even higher level within the organization, because it produces good results'.
At the ICT Academy, Ahmed has already obtained several Scrum certificates. Continuing to develop myself is important to me. I have also followed a number of language courses and now have a reasonable command of Dutch. This is important, because I want to be able to express myself well in this language as well. I am interested in everything else. I have taken a basic course in psychology, for example. I want to learn something new every day.
Ahmed's drive is also expressed in his passion for sport and fitness. "There is nothing better than letting yourself go in the gym after a hard day. In my spare time I spend about fifteen hours a week on CrossFit. You train your body with all kinds of movements. This way you get to know your body better and you exercise it in strength. It is important to be healthy and fit. It also makes you feel better about your work. It's good that ICT Group is highlighting this in the Go for IT! campaign.
Ahmed has a good idea of how he wants to develop further within ICT Group:
At the moment, I focus strongly on internal projects and the collaboration with existing clients. I would also like to get involved in recruiting new clients. The automotive industry is booming. There are so many new opportunities, take self-driving cars or electric vehicles. I think it is an incredible challenge to help our company seize these opportunities. With ICT Group, we can mean so much in this respect.
