Our person of the day is Sami Fetyani, Business Applications DevOps Expert at CETIN Bulgaria.  

Today at People Beyond the Network, the answers reveal the real dynamics behind a field that is (unfairly) seen as “uninteresting”. Oh, and there is also a unicorn involved...

Few of the systems around people are as complex as those of telecommunications. Thousands of kilometers of network, base stations, servers, devices, and the algorithms that manage them make every “Hello” possible. And usually, it works so well that users don’t even realise the effort behind it.

What’s more, for many people telecom is something so stable that it even seems boring. Not so for Sami Fetyani. Sami and the team are responsible for the software that digitalises and optimises processes at CETIN Bulgaria. Sami himself says: “At work, days are never the same. To me, it's like being a kid in a candy store, you will always find something you like.” And we can definitely see why!

7 questions with Sami. 7 insights into the work of the Business Support Systems team.

1. Sami, your professional journey didn’t start as you expected, why?  
After finishing university in 2018, I expected to grow quickly in the tech field. But reality hit hard. The space was overcrowded, and I realised I wasn’t the only one chasing that path. University teaches you a lot, but it doesn’t fully prepare you for real life. For a while, I felt lost and even considered leaving the country to find opportunities abroad.

With the support of my family, I applied to CETIN Bulgaria and started as an OSS engineer. Over time, both the company and I grew. Today, I hold expert-level responsibilities in the Business Support Systems team, developing internal systems and applications, including several key solutions for the company. 

2. What exactly do you work on today?
In simple terms, I work on application development, process automation, maintenance, and building monitoring systems. The work is interesting because CETIN’s profile combines classic IT challenges with the specifics of telecommunications - a combination hard to find elsewhere.

It’s clear that most telecoms are modernising. We’re no longer just people dealing with fiber optics, base stations, and internet connectivity, we’re evolving much further.

3. You describe your team as quite interesting, why do you wear the “nerd” badge proudly? 
Our team brings together people with different perspectives. And we bond over movies, games, and other interests. For example, we really enjoy Harry Potter.

In fact, “nerd” is probably the most used word among the team, for us it describes highly intelligent people, often with unusual but intellectually stimulating hobbies. What seems complicated or even intimidating to others in the tech field is often fun for us, with all the risks of “breaking” something and then having to fix and improve it quickly.

4. So… no magic behind CETIN systems? Or is there a unicorn somewhere? 
Oh, no magic! 

The whole infrastructure works like a well-oiled machine, until someone like us comes along. Because we are indeed the people who break things to create. But innovation often looks like controlled chaos and I think that’s thrilling. 

But the unicorn exists… and it is our team’s mascot! 

5. How do you create an environment where people are not afraid to try? 
Overcoming the fear of trying something different is one of the most important principles in the Business Support Systems team. The work environment is an extension of your life, not the end of it. 

We’ve always tried, when someone new joins, to show them they belong here and shouldn’t be afraid of the first few months.

No. Here, the idea is for you to show that you’re motivated and to demonstrate your ideas. At every step, new team members can rely on support to grow and find the direction where they can perform best. 

6. What does digitalisation mean in a company that is already technology-driven like CETIN? 
For us, digitalisation means reducing human intervention as much as possible, automation can take us much further than most people think.

However, this comes with challenges - people sometimes feel threatened, thinking that new tools might replace their jobs.

Automation is meant to help you and make your work easier, not to make you unnecessary. It’s a machine - can always make mistakes, and without your technical knowledge and professional experience, it can’t keep moving forward. 

7. So, what sits at the crossroads of AI and the role of people? 
AI is a tool that expands human creativity - but it would be “a big mistake” to think work can be done only with machines and without people. AI will help you become more creative. If you are creative, you will always be successful. I believe that knowledge will become even more important in the age of AI.

And this is exactly the skill set I plan to invest in over the coming years - developing applications that bring a sense of satisfaction. 

And that’s a word that all of us, as humans, can relate to.

 
 Text and photos based on original publication material by money.bg.