Goodbye, Praelexis

Today marked my last day at Praelexis, which has been my place of work for just shy of 6 years now. It’s been a wonderful journey, but it’s time for me to move on. Below I’ve attached my goodbye email that I sent out to the organization on my final day.

Hi there Praelexians,

It’s finally time for me to say goodbye.

Writing this email reminded me of one of my favourite panels in Berserk. In this scene two of the central characters, Guts and Casca, stare out over the Band of the Hawk’s campsite from atop a hill. Casca likens each little flickering campfire to each of the soldiers’ dreams and ambitions. She comments how all of the soldier’s have joined together to throw their own individual, little flames into the biggest bonfire of all, so that they won’t go out. Guts refers to this as the “campfire of dreams”.

It’s been an incredible last six years warming myself by the bonfire that is Praelexis. Alas, like Guts eventually concludes at the end of the chapter, the time eventually comes when you have to move on.

I started out, like many of you, as an intern at Praelexis. I believed in ML and Praelexis to the extent that I changed my entire career plan to work here (for those who don’t know: I’m an E&E Engineer by training that specialized in electromagnetics). My belief in both ML and Praelexis still hasn’t changed.

I’ve seen us grow from around 10 employees (where we had a company-wide stand-up each morning with the “talking snake”) to now over 30, with more teams than I can remember. I was part of the first incarnation of SWAT, and remember when the concept was invented. I remember my first pull request, which was a 10 line diff, but received over 30 comments pointing out my mistakes. I remember when Praelexis still had its own data engineering and ML engineering pipeline (called Platform) that used to run on our own in-house server (Yes! We did AWS Glue before the title of “Data Engineer” had even been invented).

Despite the immense changes over the years, by far what I’m most proud of is how the culture has remained the same: Praelexians, new and old, remain some of the hardest working, kind, intelligent and brilliant people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. It permeates through everyone. This is perhaps the thing I am most sad to be leaving behind. I will miss working with you all dearly.

To the new juniors who’ve joined over the last year or so – a warm welcome. You’re in for the learning experience of a lifetime. I want to encourage you to be courageous and brave. Speak when you see things that grab your attention. Be willing to bring bad news. You have the rare opportunity to work in a company where critique is not a punishable offense. Revel in this – we rely on new people with fresh ideas and perspectives to help illuminate our blindspots, and to help keep Praelexis relevant and an industry leader. It might start with asking a difficult question, or advocating for something you believe in, but you will be rewarded for it. Do not let fear guide you on this: we need your input.

To the remaining seniors, thank you for being some of the most fantastic colleagues and mentors anyone could ask for. Remember that you are not only the custodians of Praelexian culture, but that you set the example for what a Praelexian aspires to be. Remain professional, hard-working, and kind, as you always have. You are the conductors that ensure the ship continues to sail smoothly. You know things that others don’t, and you can spot issues that will be invisible to leadership. Please continue to fight and advocate for these things – you are the only ones with the institutional knowledge necessary to set the nuanced, difficult-to-talk-about issues straight. Do so with professionalism, tact, clear eyes, a full heart, and with solutions in-hand. Remember again: you are the example.

To leadership, I want to encourage you to listen. You have some of the most brilliant people in the world available to you. Not only that, but they all care, and care deeply. It is rare for juniors and seniors to invest their hearts and minds so heavily in a company. I’ve shared time in the trenches with these people. It’s impossible to overstate how special it is that they proactively embody Praelexis and its values, culture, and future. Actively listen to them. Hear what they have to say, and make a deliberate and conscientious effort to seek out this feedback. And then take it very seriously – especially when it’s coming from the most productive people. They know what they’re talking about, and they have good ideas and good solutions. They trust you, and deservedly so – it’s been a pleasure having you all at the helm. Never forget that you should trust them back. Don’t make the all-too-easy mistake of accidentally discouraging or dismissing feedback – it’s the only opportunity you’ll have to have to gain new information and find new success. Listen! I cannot wait to see where you guide Praelexis in the future.

With all that said, I wish you all at Praelexis the very best in what is a bittersweet goodbye. My personal phone number is [redacted] and my email is [redacted]. If you ever need advice, encouragement, or a beer, feel free to reach out. I’ll be in Cape Town for the foreseeable future.

Take care, friends, and guard the Praelexiverse well.

All the best,
Michael.