“I feel like the sky is the limit”
Avichai Yungrais, R&D Team Leader at Webbing, talks about where search for a challenge leads, how work at Webbing is changing him and the world, and why his kids believe he’s mainly playing while at work.
What I’m like and what I like
Born and raised in the Northern city of Migdal HaEmek in Israel, I now reside in Lod with my family. My hobby is spending time with my family, playing with the kids or traveling around Israel and abroad. I also play poker. I like solving problems: understanding, digging in, finding the explanations and solutions – both in work and my personal life. My mapping skills allow me to pinpoint where I can really improve something.
Looking for a challenge
Prior to joining the IDF I completed mechina. During my time in the military, I served in the 8200 unit, where I gained basic training and experience doing manual QA testing and some automation. After leaving the army, I switched to software development and worked as a programmer for about 6 years until I became a part of the Webbing team.
I joined the company 2 years ago. I was in search of a challenge, a job that could take me to the next level, and Webbing turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. Funny, but a week after I applied for a position, I heard that Avishai, the guy I used to work with at my previous job, was leaving too… to join Webbing! So now we’re working at the same place again, which is awesome.
A year after starting as a software developer, I got promoted to team lead. The team grew as well, now there are four of us in the Data Team and we’re still hiring. So now I make decisions on the tasks and the process, there’s more responsibility, and my work is a lot more influential.
What we do here has a lot of impact
At Webbing I feel like the sky is the limit. Any suggestions I bring to the table are taken seriously, and this culture is very strong at the company – everyone can voice their perspective on what the best solution is to tackle the tasks we face.
This is very motivating. I wake up every morning and think “Today I’m going to make a change”. And indeed, we are changing the way things operate in connectivity, improving it, which is not only good for our solutions and companies that use them, but also great news for everyone out there needing connectivity! What we do here has a lot of impact. It feels like I’m at the forefront of technology and am moving it forward.
How I became super professional
It’s great to work with skillful and highly competent people, and we learn from each other every day, but there’s also formal training. In the past two years I completed several technical classes and management courses. I used to joke that they couldn’t help me become more professional, since I already was professional – so I became super professional. But joking aside, I have certainly improved both professionally and personally: I’ve learned many new technical skills and leading a team is an experience I haven’t had before. It’s about always searching for ways to improve my team, too – to take them to the next level as well and see how they grow.
We truly care about each other
My work/life balance is just fine. There is a lot of work, but when my kids come to the office and see our air hockey, a nerf gun or a soccer ball – they think that dad is mainly busy playing whenever he’s at work. We’re expanding, adding more office space and a ping pong table – I wonder what they’re going to say when they see it. I do play every so often, and I took part in the office hockey championship we had last month, but of all team activities at Webbing I like trips the most – the tour to Dubai we had last year was my favorite.
What makes Webbing very special is the people. There are amazing people at Webbing that truly care about each other. We want everyone to feel good, so we really put effort into making the atmosphere friendly and informal.
For me Webbing means people, professional growth and technological progress. I truly admire the things that we do, the challenges we face and the changes we bring.
