In this month’s Employee Spotlight, we are excited to feature Karl Tharp, Tech Lead on the Adtech Systems team at Cognitiv. With over four and a half years of experience at the company, Karl has played a pivotal role in shaping some of our most innovative products, including game-changing ContextGPT. A passionate problem-solver and soccer enthusiast, Karl’s leadership and expertise continue to significantly impact the office and beyond. Let us look closer at Karl’s journey and the work that drives him every day.

Pronouns: He/Him

Role: Tech Lead on Adtech Systems 

Team: AdTech Systems, Engineering 

Cognitiv Tenure: 4 and half years! 

Inside The Office 

What does a typical day in your role look like?

A typical day involves working with other teams to figure out requirements for solutions to problems—or even just identifying what problems exist in the first place. I also spend a good amount of time mentoring and guiding other engineers, helping them grow in their roles. Hopefully, I also get some time to work on code myself! My favorite part of the job, though, is collaborating with other teams to design solutions to challenging problems.

What do you love most about your role?

The people I work with are one of the best parts of the role. Collaborating with such a talented team to tackle the variety of big and technically challenging problems I get to work on—whether it’s solving issues at a massive scale or tackling unique, complex challenges. There’s a lot of breadth in what I do, which keeps the work exciting and engaging.

What is a memorable moment when you felt like your work really made an impact at Cognitiv?

A memorable moment for me was when the contextual product ContextGPT, was released and really started taking off. I was deeply involved in its development from the very beginning, so seeing it come together and function successfully as a product was incredibly satisfying. Being one of the first people on the project made watching it evolve into something impactful even more rewarding.

What advice would you give to someone joining #TeamCognitiv?

My advice would be to really embrace the culture here—it’s a key part of what makes this company special, and those who do, end up truly appreciating it. From an engineering perspective, I’d also recommend taking the initiative. Everyone values when someone identifies a problem and takes the lead in solving it, or even just brings it to light proactively. There are so many incredibly smart people at Cognitiv, so if you try to learn from them, there’s so much knowledge to absorb.

Outside The Office 

What would you do if you won the lottery?

If I won the lottery, I think I would focus on trying to cure a disease. I’m not sure which one yet, but with the scale of the lottery win, I’d want to make a meaningful impact.

If you could switch roles with someone at Cognitiv for a day, who would it be and why?

Can I choose the time of year? If so, I’d pick during Cannes! I think it would be interesting to experience something on the marketing side of things—maybe Justine’s role as SVP of Marketing. It would be fascinating to see the marketing team's impact on the business and how they drive their initiatives forward.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Soccer is my biggest passion—whether it’s reading about it, playing it, watching it, or just enjoying it in any way I can. I play in a couple of adult indoor leagues—nothing too serious, but I plan to keep playing as long as my body allows me to.

What's a skill or hobby you've learned recently?

I’ve recently started getting into cheese-making. So far, I’ve only made mozzarella, but I’m definitely making progress!

Rapid-Fire Questions

1. Coffee or tea? Neither, but if I have to pick, it’s coffee.
2. Morning person or night owl? Night owl, but I'm trying to change that!
3. Favorite vacation spot? My mom is German. She has a twin sister who's lived in Munich my entire life. So, I'm going to go with Munich. Plus, it's a really fun city!
4. Favorite book or movie? My favorite book recently is Seveneves. 

Team Shoutouts 

“For nearly five years, Karl has been instrumental in leading the technical design and implementation for many of Cognitiv's products and features, including Cognitiv's wildly successful ContextGPT product. Karl's leadership and depth of knowledge make those around him, as well as our products, better every day. - Bryan Lee, SVP of Engineering 

"From the moment you first speak with Karl, his unparalleled expertise in every backend system at Cognitiv is immediately clear. He dedicates himself tirelessly to developing and optimizing our systems, ensuring seamless operations, and consistently going above and beyond to mentor newcomers and support colleagues. Despite his extremely busy schedule, he remains positive, uplifting, and eager to discuss soccer." - Mark Takatsuka,  Software Engineer

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