Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

The Role of Technology

While I think about what I did through the duration of my internship, one thing that remained constant was using technology in some way or the other. While this is not surprising, it is interesting to note how technology plays an important role in companies today! Saucey is a service-based company that operates through website and app, and therefore technology lives in the core of the company.

This internship introduced me to several new tools and software that startups typically use. As a data intern, the bulk of my tasks required me to analyze data that was collected from customers and create recommendations based on their behavior in order to improve the user experience. In addition, I was able to use this data to make hypotheses on how to optimize business in certain areas. To complete my tasks, I had to use different software including Looker, Amplitude, Google Analytics, and Microsoft Excel. Reflecting on what I learned as a data intern, I noticed that technology was at the heart of all my tasks and that the boom of the tech industry resulted in the creation of the data analytics field. Saucey’s customers use the customer app (iOS and Android) or the website to place orders which requires us to track platform wise performance. To do this, I used different online tools such as Amplitude, Google analytics, and the individual app stores differentiated by the specific ecosystem to track different metrics. In addition, almost all departments use Microsoft Excel for simple data management because of its ease of use. Apart from this, Saucey takes advantage of ‘G Suite for Business’ which includes the benefits of the cloud and also creates an enclosed company environment.

Apart from the tasks I performed, Saucey as a company embraces technology in other ways too. I experienced a culture shock when I realized Slack was Saucey’s primary mode of communication unlike in any prior work experience where people chose to use their phone or talk in person. When I really thought about it, Slack is a tool that perfectly fits a work environment as it has several features that help eliminate unnecessary work and includes unique add-ons that can help a company in several ways. Another way Saucey uses technology to make things more efficient is by using Google Calendars where people can directly book time with a colleague by simply looking at their schedules to see when they are not busy. This eliminates the need for back and forth conversation and completely removes the need for assistants and secretaries. In addition, Saucey uses other online tools such as Asana that help create and delegate tasks within teams and helps managers with looking at timelines with detailed views on progress. Tools such as these were unknown to me before my internship, and after using them daily, I have been able to see the advantages technology offers. This is because these tools allow a company to automate several tasks and at the same time, they provide easy integration with other online tools.

While this internship has helped me learn about data analytics thoroughly, I have been able to learn how to take advantage of advancements in technology. Saucey has implemented several tools to minimize the wastage of time of employees by using these tools to automate tasks, and this is definitely one of my greatest learning experiences this summer. Saucey is an online alcohol delivery company, and therefore technology lives in the core of all its operations due to which technology plays one of the most vital roles in the company!