10 Questions - Q&A with Andrew Hust

In this candid, Q&A-style interview, Verosint Principal Software Engineer Andrew Hust shares insight into his tech career spanning nearly three decades. With a multifaceted background in accounting systems, video, e-commerce, and a focus on data utilization, Andrew brings a wealth of experience to the Verosint team.

Learn about the driving force behind Andrew's decision to join Verosint, his strategies for building remote relationships, and the "constructive laziness" that fuels his superpower in automating processes to combat account fraud.

As part of the interview, Andrew discusses his favorite behind-the-scenes Verosint feature and what sets the engineering team apart. Delve into personal anecdotes, including Andrew's encounter with fraud and his life in the picturesque landscapes of Colorado.

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Tell us a little about your background and its relevance to your work here at Verosint.

I've been in tech for nearly three decades, which sounds a lot longer than it feels! In that time, I've gotten my hands dirty in a bunch of different areas: accounting systems, video, e-commerce, you name it. What I've really been doing, though, is just figuring out how to use all the data that comes my way. Whether it's making sense of numbers or tweaking systems, I've always been about finding neat and efficient ways to get things done.

What kind of experience and approach do you bring to the team?

Over the years, I've worn a lot of hats at work – from coding and testing to running the show and everything in between. It's been quite a ride and it's really shown me just how much every single person on the team matters. Whenever we're rolling out something new, I try to think about how one thing leads to another, like a domino effect. It's all about finding ways to make things work better without making them too complicated.

Why did you decide to join Verosint?

A bunch of things made me decide to switch gears. First off, I was really missing the fast-paced, customer-focused vibe you get with smaller teams – it's just not the same at a big company. Plus, I'd worked with Dan and Scott before, our system engineers, and those guys are top-notch. But what really sealed the deal was meeting our CTO, Mark, and CEO, Steve. Chatting with them, I could just feel something exciting was happening with the company, and I just had to be a part of it.

How do you approach building and leveraging relationships when collaborating with your team and customers?

Since we're all remote, it can be a bit trickier to build those office-type relationships. What I've found really helps is keeping in touch regularly and being as open and clear as possible with everyone. Being ready to jump in for pair programming, troubleshooting, or design chats is super important. Sometimes, I'll even start a huddle when I'm working through something, so anyone in the company can drop in. It's a small thing, but it really helps in creating a sense of community.

What is your superpower that will help you succeed at helping our team put an end to account fraud?

Like many engineers, my motivation stems from a kind of 'constructive laziness.' It's not about shying away from work; rather, it's about striving for efficiency – achieving perfection with minimal effort. My goal is to automate processes and procedures that typically bring tedium to businesses. Essentially, I aim to create the "easy" button for managing account fraud.

What’s your favorite feature of the Verosint platform?

It's a challenging question because there are several options, but I'll choose one that customers don't directly interact with. Behind the scenes, we operate an Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) service that enhances events flowing through the system by augmenting them with additional data. This service taps into dozens of diverse datasets and platforms, gathering, analyzing, and combining information to more accurately assess the threat level associated with each event. Remarkably, it accomplishes all of this in real-time, typically within just a few hundred milliseconds. When you explore events using our Event Explorer, you can observe the impact of this service in the risk assessments attached to each event.

What makes Verosint’s engineering team different/better/unique from other teams you’ve worked with in the past?

We have several types of backgrounds and styles in the team which helps create more robust and thought-out solutions. Best of all we are egoless—the classic "you are not your code" is in full effect here. We have opinions and strong ones at that, but it's always constructive. A few times in my career I've been on highly productive teams where we just crank out features with no drama and this is one of them. Makes for the most challenging and fun environment to work in.

Have you ever been the victim of fraud?

Yes. At a previous employer, a third-party system that our HR team used was compromised. The following year about 30% of the employees had fraudulent tax returns filed with that data. It was a major hassle to straighten out with the IRS. It's the type of compromise that reminds you no matter how tight your own OpSec is, anything outside of your direct control is susceptible.

Share about your family or hobbies.

I'm fortunate to have a wonderful wife and two incredible and smart daughters. When not working, I'm playing board/video games, hanging out at breweries, or hiking/camping in the mountains.

Where do you live, and what’s your favorite part about your area?

I was born and raised in Colorado. Outside a few short stints, I've had the privilege to live here my entire life. Couldn't ask for a more beautiful state with limitless recreation options, well except anything to do with large bodies of water.