Assigned

assigned

To push-back or just suck it up? “I wish you had told me you hated the project this bad” My manager remarked when I told him I was leaving for another team. I really liked my manager, I was proud of working in the team but among other reasons, continuing to work in technical-debt fixing for more than a year while most members of my team were busy launching a promising v1 project, was affecting my happiness. I voiced my concerns but having done it for so long, I knew the area better than others. After a year of seeing opportunities pass by, I decided to make the move thus leading my team to lose a productive employee and myself leaving a team which I felt proud by association. My story is an example of “sucking-it-up”. Regardless when I saw the , most answers seemed to suggest that is the only way. The top answer suggested: question on Quora when you are assigned a job that you are not interested in doing, and which you know is still work that needs to be done… …you do that work to the best of your ability, despite your disinterest. You are at a job. Part of that job is — in exchange for money — you give them your time, and they spend your time how they see fit. He has a valid point. However this leads to perpetuation of hierarchy-driven mindset, where being below in the chain of command you shut up and do whatever asked because you’re being paid. Apart from creating a toxic work culture, this viewpoint overlooks your life might comprise more than just this job, and everything you do in your current job gives you valuable skills for a role. After all, it’s you and only you who are the best career advocate for yourself and if you don’t look after your interests, no one else will. future When I was allocated the project, I had enthusiastically accepted it. I liked my manager, wanted to impress him, fellow team members in the project were awesome. 6 months went by, the project dragged on, scope-creep happened. I was meddling into the deepest layers of legacy code while other v1 projects had started. After voicing my discontent to my manager, he made sure I was taken out. Unfortunately I was one of the few people who knew the area well so they needed to put me back to expedite the project. And there seemed to be no end in the near-term. I was unhappy, but understood his perspective. No light at the end of the tunnel The Management Perspective In companies- particularly big ones- there is a lot of thankless, grunt work waiting for some new poor schmuck who doesn’t protest too much to take it up. Some typical examples are tools, build systems, automation which always fails thus failing to catch actual regressions and of course porting code. From the company’s perspective, this is all important work which is increasing the debt and longer left, the harder it gets to fix. It’s understandable that needs to do it. So when after management discussions they choose schmucks and you straight out say no, your manager is in a tough spot. It’s in their best interest to get you accept this to avoid immediate friction, and cycling back to rest of management. technology someone for the time being So back to the original question: how should you react when you’re allotted a project which you think is not adding to your skills but as a junior software engineer don’t want to ruffle feathers? The two main goals of a job are: To make your manager look good. Optimize for skill development, and look out for your interests So even though answer depends on factors such as timing, tenure, personalities my general advice would be a . Accept the allotment, but let the manager know you don’t want to get stuck in it for too long and let them know your areas of interest. This allows them to save face with the rest of management team and buys them time to ask for alternative resources down the line, while making your goals clear and asserting yourself as someone willing to do unpleasant work in times of need. Based on how good the manager is, and your relationship with them it is their responsibility to match your interests to your work without compromising company’s interests. While communicating this, the things to consider are timing and delivery. Don’t bring it up when your manager is in a bad mood, or this particular project has been source of immediate stress for them. It might also be worth waiting to develop a reputation if you’re super new in the team (< 6 months). However you’re never too new to communicate your interest areas to your manager. Finally speak in a way without seeming like a rabble rouser. “yes, but…” If your manager reacts like Michael Scott, do yourself a favor and leave There is always a but … However if you’re in a situation where your manager is not cooperative, gets angry, dismisses your concern or there is no project in the team which excites you the only solution might be to vote with your feet. In tech there are lots of other jobs and it’s not worth suffering through terrible projects for years because some people with authoritarian mindsets believe the person at the bottom of the chain should put up with crap. It’s true there are thankless projects everywhere and at some point in your life you’ve to work in them and if the mere thought of working in an uninteresting project makes you switch, then you’d be switching careers every few months eventually becoming unemployable. However if you’re finding yourself in the middle of a never-ending swamp, the end not being in sight and find essential skills and opportunities slipping away despite voicing your concerns, it might mean making the hard decision to change. I write more similar content in the technology section of my blog- The Travelling Engineer . Do follow the blog.

What to do when assigned uninteresting software engineering projects?

So for the Slack bot - we’re a car rental company, so we run into operational issues quite a bit. This involves vehicles getting too far away from the home location or vehicles being low on charge. For example, a few weeks ago, we had a user drive from California all the way to the East Coast - like Chicago, New York, or Pennsylvania. They drove pretty far. They were out of state, and we didn’t catch it. So I ended up creating a Slack bot, connecting our database. Like most software companies - or most companies in general - they’re just CRUD businesses, right? Like, databases with business logic on top. CRUD being Create, Read, Update, Delete. So now, essentially, if you have access to the database, you’re able to very quickly implement things based on business logic, because the database is the main component of a lot of these SaaS companies or modern businesses. Especially with direct database access, I was able to now compare every one hour - basically like a cron job that gets triggered. We go through the database, check every vehicle, check the home location, check how far it is. And if they’re very far - like over 100 miles - we just alert the team, and they know right away that they should be watching it. In this case, an expensive vehicle was thousands of miles away - an expensive asset. They’re saving possibly $5,000 to $10,000 or more in asset value. That’s a big deal. So things like this go a long way in reducing cost, maintaining security - especially in our use case with car rental or car sharing. Another thing I created was an internal dashboard - which is basically a website. First, let’s understand the pain point. We have users, and the company provides electric vehicles as an amenity. Sometimes people refuse to admit they were using the vehicle when something happened - like getting a ticket or toll. These don’t get assigned to the person driving the car at the time - they come back to the company. So every month, we get a list - say $500–600 worth of tolls - and we have to go through the painful manual process: when was the toll, what day, what time, which vehicle, etc. Then the customer service team would spend hours figuring out who it was, notating that, and charging the person. What I automated with this dashboard is: they just upload a CSV file, and a script runs. It compares the file to the database. So now, after getting the toll info - like the car and timestamp - we can find out exactly which car it was (based on the license plate), match it with the booking, and identify who was driving at that time. Then the team can bill those users in bulk. What was once a manual, time-consuming process now takes seconds. For the HubSpot integration - I haven’t fully implemented it yet, but the goal is to automate communication with users. We’re a car rental or car sharing company, so when users sign up, they go through steps like DMV checks. But some users complete only part of the process. Right now, the team goes into Power BI, downloads a list of users who didn’t finish onboarding, and emails them manually. Same for users who signed up but never made a trip, or users who haven’t booked in the past 30 days - we want to engage with them. The current process is: download that list as a CSV from Power BI, upload it into HubSpot, select a template, and send the emails. This happens a couple of times a month. The goal is to replace that with a direct integration between the database and the HubSpot API. Since the database tracks user activity, we can identify users who meet certain criteria and pass that info to HubSpot automatically - daily or weekly. That way, no one has to download/upload anything. Communication campaigns can be automated quickly across multiple use cases. For the Jira API automation, it’s just to make my life easier as a product manager. I want to talk to Claude or Cursor and ask: what Jira tickets do I have, how many in the backlog, how many story points, etc. Either through an MCP (Model Context Protocol) or directly with the Jira API, like we did with HubSpot. I’d set up a dashboard where I can talk to Cursor, linked to Jira or MCP, and get updates on what’s in the sprint, backlog, who’s assigned what, how many tickets or story points are being completed, etc. That helps me plan future sprints and product roadmaps better. This isn’t fully implemented yet, but the MVP shows promise. I’ve had Cursor output CSVs that are easy to read. I can also ask it questions like: “Let’s plan based on the backlog - we have 300 tickets - how do we break that down for the next 2 sprints? What tickets should each dev work on?” That’s the next step. All of these tools - the Slack bot, internal dashboards, HubSpot automation - were built using Cursor. I talk to Cursor or Claude, and they help me build. Mostly Cursor though. Before AI, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this. I’d have had to rely on developers. Personally, I could have learned, but it would’ve taken 1–2 months just to learn to code enough. Now, I just talk to AI in English, and it builds things. I test to make sure it works. Cursor writes the code. If there’s an issue, I copy-paste the error, and it debugs with me. Same with optimization - it suggests improvements when I ask. The key is communicating clearly. If you don’t, the AI might interpret things wrong, and the output won’t match expectations. So planning, documenting, and clear instructions are critical. For hosting: the Slack bot runs on a cron job hosted on Render.com. Same for the internal dashboard and HubSpot integration (soon). For Jira/MCP, it’s just local on my machine - only I need access. The others are used by teammates, so they’re hosted externally. Some of these tools, like the Slack bot, took about a week to build. I built three bots for three different use cases - very quickly. With the dev team, that might’ve taken two weeks or more to spec, build, test, and deploy. So this approach saved a lot of time. Yes, AI can definitely replace low-level work. What I’m doing now might’ve required a junior dev a few years ago. Now, I’m that junior dev - maybe even mid-level on some days. That’s a game changer. I can build, ship, and test faster - and support my team better.

How One PM Replaced a Junior Dev with ChatGPT and Built Three Bots in a Week

DIY Real-Time Polling App Locks Down Access With Supabase and Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling App sluit toegang af met Supabase en Permit.io

تطبيق DIY Real-Time Polling يغلق الوصول مع Supabase و Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling App блокира достъпа с Supabase и Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling aplikacija blokira pristup s Supabase i Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling App が Supabase と Permit.io でアクセスをブロック

Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela Kofutela

DIY Real-Time Polling App waxay ku qiyaasta Access iyo Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling App blokira pristup sa Supabase i Permit.io

DIY Real-Time Polling اپلی کیشن Supabase اور Permit.io کے ساتھ رسائی کو بند کرتا ہے

DIY Real-Time Polling App khóa truy cập với Supabase và Permit.io

1. Overview Gen AI and tools like GitHub Copilot are not that good at replacing programmers for serious tasks, as of April 2025. It looks like we are still many months away from that stage. Many statements seen on the Internet are either marketing campaigns trying to sell existing AI tools, or too optimistic statements not based on experience with actual tools that exist today. statements seen on the Internet statements seen on the Internet marketing campaigns marketing campaigns too optimistic statements not based on experience too optimistic statements not based on experience In this article, we are giving a summary of three articles on the Internet supporting the above statement, and the last one is this author’s personal development experience with GitHub Copilot. 2. Article 1: AI agents can't reliably debug software. AI agents can't reliably debug software. Article 1: AI isn’t ready to replace human coders for debugging, researchers say AI isn’t ready to replace human coders for debugging, researchers say AI isn’t ready to replace human coders for debugging, researchers say Summary: Even when given access to tools, AI agents can't reliably debug software.
.. (people) adjust their expectations because models aren't good enough at the debugging part, and debugging occupies most of a developer's time. That's the suggestion of Microsoft Research.
AI models… a far cry from what an experienced human developer can do
…suggest some of the ambitious ideas about AI agents directly replacing developers are pretty far from reality
… the models tend to produce code laden with bugs and security vulnerabilities, and they aren't generally capable of fixing those problems
..  the best outcome is an agent that saves a human developer a substantial amount of time, not one that can do everything they can do Even when given access to tools, AI agents can't reliably debug software. .. (people) adjust their expectations because models aren't good enough at the debugging part, and debugging occupies most of a developer's time. That's the suggestion of Microsoft Research. suggestion of Microsoft Research. AI models… a far cry from what an experienced human developer can do …suggest some of the ambitious ideas about AI agents directly replacing developers are pretty far from reality … the models tend to produce code laden with bugs and security vulnerabilities, and they aren't generally capable of fixing those problems ..  the best outcome is an agent that saves a human developer a substantial amount of time, not one that can do everything they can do 3. Article 2: Under pressure to embrace AI, developers are growing frustrated Under pressure to embrace AI, developers are growing frustrated Article 2: AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink Summary: ..AI adoption is “tearing their company apart” as a rift emerges between leadership and the employees adopting such tools.
For software developers specifically, there are concerns that AI coding tools are introducing errors into their code, failing at many tasks, and compounding technical debt.
…developer faith in AI coding tools has quickly declined
…developers describe a slew of technical issues and headaches associated with AI coding tools, from how they frequently suggest incorrect code and even delete existing code to the many issues they cause with deployments
…the use of AI tools is causing an increase in incidents, with 68% of Harness respondents saying they spend more time resolving AI-related security vulnerabilities now compared to before they used AI coding tools
GitHub Copilot... it was wrong as many times as it was right
it takes a lot of time for someone (human) to review something they (AI tools) actually didn’t fully write and understand
Executives mismanage their expectations ...company leaders who don’t have close visibility into engineering workflows
AI coding tools are still new, and figuring out how to use them effectively requires a concerted effort ..AI adoption is “tearing their company apart” as a rift emerges between leadership and the employees adopting such tools. For software developers specifically, there are concerns that AI coding tools are introducing errors into their code, failing at many tasks, and compounding technical debt. …developer faith in AI coding tools has quickly declined …developers describe a slew of technical issues and headaches associated with AI coding tools, from how they frequently suggest incorrect code and even delete existing code to the many issues they cause with deployments …the use of AI tools is causing an increase in incidents, with 68% of Harness respondents saying they spend more time resolving AI-related security vulnerabilities now compared to before they used AI coding tools GitHub Copilot... it was wrong as many times as it was right it takes a lot of time for someone (human) to review something they (AI tools) actually didn’t fully write and understand Executives mismanage their expectations ...company leaders who don’t have close visibility into engineering workflows AI coding tools are still new, and figuring out how to use them effectively requires a concerted effort 4. Article 3: GitHub Copilot (GHC) can not be trusted with a bit complicated task GitHub Copilot (GHC) can not be trusted with a bit complicated task Article 3: GitHub Copilot (Gen-AI) is Helpful, But Not Great GitHub Copilot (Gen-AI) is Helpful, But Not Great GitHub Copilot (Gen-AI) is Helpful, But Not Great Summary: GitHub Copilot (GHC)... Sometimes it is brilliant.. sometimes it wastes your time, especially because the verbose answers it gives are often off-topic
It is useful sometimes, but only for local scope problems, and cannot see the bigger picture.
...“personal feeling” is “it does not know it well”, it is “trying to guess it out”, and since it is a machine with a huge memory of millions of lines of code memorized, guesses are sometimes brilliant, sometimes off-topic.
.. a huge disappointment that it can not get the C# syntax right all the time and check the existence of C# properties/methods by itself
... it deleted the active line of code because a similar line of code was commented out
I use “ghost test” from GHC a lot, review it, and accept suggestions when I like them.
I use the GHC text-prompt page to ask for the generation of snippets or small functions with clear functionality.... No guarantees GHC will succeed here, but if it does, it can be brilliant.
I no longer try bigger changes involving 3-4 files at the same time...Answers are at best incomplete, with many errors, like C# properties and methods that do not exist (it hallucinates?)
... it is time and energy-consuming to REVIEW each answer GHC provides
...it hallucinates about C# properties and methods that do not exist for well-known and frequently used APIs...
... it generates more mess than useful code, for assigned pattern-based tasks involving 4 files.
I ask GHC for help with problems, but read max 2 chat replies. Its answers tend to be verbose... If it does not give me a good answer in 2 attempts, I will go read Google for the same problem.
GHC has a serious focus problem; answers are frequently off-topic.
GitHub Copilot (GHC) can not be trusted with a bit complicated task involving several files at the same time. In such scenarios, results are incomplete and not time-efficient compared to direct manual programming.
GitHub Copilot (GHC) tends to hallucinate about C# methods and properties that do not exist. The GHC-
The generated code does not compile right away, requiring a lot of manual work to finish it. GitHub Copilot (GHC)... Sometimes it is brilliant.. sometimes it wastes your time, especially because the verbose answers it gives are often off-topic It is useful sometimes, but only for local scope problems, and cannot see the bigger picture. ...“personal feeling” is “it does not know it well”, it is “trying to guess it out”, and since it is a machine with a huge memory of millions of lines of code memorized, guesses are sometimes brilliant, sometimes off-topic. .. a huge disappointment that it can not get the C# syntax right all the time and check the existence of C# properties/methods by itself ... it deleted the active line of code because a similar line of code was commented out I use “ghost test” from GHC a lot, review it, and accept suggestions when I like them. I use the GHC text-prompt page to ask for the generation of snippets or small functions with clear functionality.... No guarantees GHC will succeed here, but if it does, it can be brilliant. I no longer try bigger changes involving 3-4 files at the same time...Answers are at best incomplete, with many errors, like C# properties and methods that do not exist (it hallucinates?) ... it is time and energy-consuming to REVIEW each answer GHC provides ...it hallucinates about C# properties and methods that do not exist for well-known and frequently used APIs... ... it generates more mess than useful code, for assigned pattern-based tasks involving 4 files. I ask GHC for help with problems, but read max 2 chat replies. Its answers tend to be verbose... If it does not give me a good answer in 2 attempts, I will go read Google for the same problem. GHC has a serious focus problem; answers are frequently off-topic. GitHub Copilot (GHC) can not be trusted with a bit complicated task involving several files at the same time. In such scenarios, results are incomplete and not time-efficient compared to direct manual programming. GitHub Copilot (GHC) tends to hallucinate about C# methods and properties that do not exist. The GHC- The generated code does not compile right away, requiring a lot of manual work to finish it. 5. Conclusion The articles above suggest that some of the ambitious ideas about AI tools directly replacing developers are pretty far from reality. Some authors believe it remains likely that the best outcome is an AI tool that saves a human developer a substantial amount of time, not one that can directly replace the developer. 6 References [1] AI isn’t ready to replace human coders for debugging, researchers say https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/researchers-find-ai-is-pretty-bad-at-debugging-but-theyre-working-on-it/ https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/researchers-find-ai-is-pretty-bad-at-debugging-but-theyre-working-on-it/ [2] AI coding mandates are driving developers to the brink https://leaddev.com/culture/ai-coding-mandates-are-driving-developers-to-the-brink https://leaddev.com/culture/ai-coding-mandates-are-driving-developers-to-the-brink [3] GitHub Copilot (Gen-AI) is Helpful, But Not Great (March 2025) https://markpelf.com/2717/github-copilot-gen-ai-is-helpful-but-not-great-march-2025/ https://markpelf.com/2717/github-copilot-gen-ai-is-helpful-but-not-great-march-2025/

AI is Still a Long Way From Directly Replacing Programmers

Праблема ў тым, што добрыя матывы не заўсёды добрыя справы.

Umělá inteligence je stále daleko od přímé náhrady programátorů

La IA sigue lejos de reemplazar directamente a los programadores

AIはプログラマーを直接置き換えるまでまだ遠い道のりです。

អាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋានអាសយដ្ឋាន

AI ມີຂະຫນາດໃຫຍ່ຈາກການປ່ຽນແປງໂຄງການໂດຍທົ່ວໄປ

AI-ийн програмууд нь шууд өөрчлөгдөж байна

இராணுவத்தினரை விரைவில் மாற்றுவதற்கான மிகப்பெரிய வழி

I-AI Ingaba Indawo Eside Ukuguqulwa Kwesokuphepha Kwesokuphepha Kwesokuphepha

Different proxies, different purposes. Proxies can significantly impact tasks like data scraping, incognito web surfing, and account management. If you make the wrong choice, it can lead to security risks, slow speeds, or even blocks. With so many options out there, how do you know which proxy to choose? Let’s get to the bottom of it. Proxy Types Explained Proxy Types Explained What is a proxy? It is a connecting bridge between your device and the internet. When you use a proxy, your internet requests go through it first, so websites see the proxy's information instead of yours. This helps keep your identity hidden, improve security, and bypass restrictions**.** In this article, we’ll focus on three main types of proxies: residential, mobile, and datacenter. Residential Proxies - Authentic and Reliable Residential Proxies - Authentic and Reliable With residential proxies, you can blend in like a local. They will route your traffic through real devices with legitimate IP addresses. Residential proxies are great for tasks that require anonymity and reliability. residential proxies residential proxies Residential proxies assign you an IP from an actual home internet connection. This means that when you browse a website, it sees a genuine user instead of a proxy. These proxies rotate dynamically or stay static, depending on the use case. For example, businesses use residential proxies for web scraping and data collection, allowing them to gather market insights, track competitors, and monitor pricing without getting blocked. Developers rely on proxies in DevOps and automation to test applications, simulate traffic from various locations, and run automated scripts efficiently. Additionally, companies use proxies to scale cloud infrastructure by distributing workloads, optimizing network performance, and managing large-scale online operations. Price: residential proxies are priced in the mid-range. They cost more than datacenter proxies due to their authenticity but remain more affordable than highly secure mobile proxies. Price Mobile Proxies - Flexible and Minimally Visible Mobile Proxies - Flexible and Minimally Visible These proxies are an excellent choice for tasks that require high flexibility and minimal visibility. They route traffic through mobile devices, often located in various parts of the world. Mobile proxies operate by utilizing a network of authentic mobile IP addresses, typically assigned by mobile carriers. This gives them the advantage of appearing as normal users on the web. Mobile proxies are particularly useful for operations that need to mimic real mobile traffic, such as ad verification, social media management, or bypassing geo-restrictions. Mobile proxies Mobile proxies Use cases for mobile proxies are numerous. In e-commerce, for example, they can be used to perform competitor price monitoring without triggering IP bans. For social media management, they allow businesses to create multiple accounts and interact with them without risking account bans due to suspicious activity. Mobile proxies are often used for testing mobile apps or ad campaigns from various regions, simulating user behavior across different locations without raising any flags. Price: mobile proxies tend to be more expensive than data center proxies because of their scarcity and the additional costs of maintaining real mobile IP addresses. However, for tasks requiring high anonymity and minimal visibility, they represent an effective solution. Price Datacenter Proxies - Fast and Scalable Datacenter Proxies - Fast and Scalable Datacenter proxies are a popular choice for users who need high-speed, scalable, and cost-effective proxy solutions. These proxies are not linked to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Instead, they originate from powerful data centers and cloud hosting services. Datacenter proxies Datacenter proxies Since datacenter proxies operate on high-performance servers, they offer low-latency connections and rapid response times. This makes them ideal for web scraping, automated tasks, and accessing data-heavy platforms. With the ability to deploy a large number of IPs instantly, datacenter proxies are perfect for projects requiring multiple connections. Compared to residential proxies, datacenter proxies are generally more affordable, making them a budget-friendly option for users who need bulk IPs without breaking the bank. While datacenter proxies provide speed and scalability, they are easier to detect compared to residential or mobile proxies. Some websites implement strict anti-bot measures to block non-residential IPs. Take a look at the comparison of the key features of the proxies listed above: Characteristics

Mobile

Residential

Datacenter



Speed

Faster

Fast

Fastest



Reliability

Reliable

More reliable

Less reliable



Security

More secure

Secure

Less secure



Anonymity

More anonymous

Anonymous

Least anonymous



Detection

Hard to detect

Hard to detect

Easier to detect



Price

More expensive

Expensive

Most affordable Characteristics

Mobile

Residential

Datacenter



Speed

Faster

Fast

Fastest



Reliability

Reliable

More reliable

Less reliable



Security

More secure

Secure

Less secure



Anonymity

More anonymous

Anonymous

Least anonymous



Detection

Hard to detect

Hard to detect

Easier to detect



Price

More expensive

Expensive

Most affordable Characteristics

Mobile

Residential

Datacenter Characteristics Characteristics Characteristics Mobile Mobile Mobile Residential Residential Residential Datacenter Datacenter Datacenter Speed

Faster

Fast

Fastest Speed Speed Speed Faster Faster Fast Fast Fastest Fastest Reliability

Reliable

More reliable

Less reliable Reliability Reliability Reliability Reliable Reliable More reliable More reliable Less reliable Less reliable Security

More secure

Secure

Less secure Security Security Security More secure More secure Secure Secure Less secure Less secure Anonymity

More anonymous

Anonymous

Least anonymous Anonymity Anonymity Anonymity More anonymous More anonymous Anonymous Anonymous Least anonymous Least anonymous Detection

Hard to detect

Hard to detect

Easier to detect Detection Detection Detection Hard to detect Hard to detect Hard to detect Hard to detect Easier to detect Easier to detect Price

More expensive

Expensive

Most affordable Price Price Price More expensive More expensive Expensive Expensive Most affordable Most affordable Privacy-First Approach for IT Experts Privacy-First Approach for IT Experts In your daily work routine, you’re likely dealing with sensitive company and client data. The need for privacy and security has never been greater. If you’re considering implementing proxies into your workflow, it’s a smart decision. Proxies can reduce the risks of data leaks, hacks, and unwanted surveillance. What are the benefits of proxies for IT pros? Anonymity & Security as proxies mask IP addresses, preventing websites and third parties from tracking online activities.
Compliance with Privacy Regulations
Preventing Data Leaks as proxies reduce exposure to data breaches by acting as an intermediary between the user and the internet.
Access to Geo-Restricted Content as proxies allow IT professionals to bypass regional restrictions and conduct secure research without revealing their location.
Enhanced Cybersecurity as encrypted proxies prevent malicious actors from intercepting sensitive communications. Anonymity & Security as proxies mask IP addresses, preventing websites and third parties from tracking online activities. Anonymity & Security Compliance with Privacy Regulations Compliance with Privacy Regulations Preventing Data Leaks as proxies reduce exposure to data breaches by acting as an intermediary between the user and the internet. Preventing Data Leaks Access to Geo-Restricted Content as proxies allow IT professionals to bypass regional restrictions and conduct secure research without revealing their location. Access to Geo-Restricted Content Enhanced Cybersecurity as encrypted proxies prevent malicious actors from intercepting sensitive communications. Enhanced Cybersecurity We recommend IT specialists regularly update their knowledge of privacy laws, use tools that provide real-time monitoring, and implement proactive strategies to remain ahead of potential threats. It’s important to choose the right proxy solutions. These include encrypted proxies, VPNs, and secure browsing platforms with built-in privacy features. Make sure that your use of proxies aligns with legal and ethical standards, avoiding misuse or violations of data protection laws! Upgrade to Premium Proxies Upgrade to Premium Proxies Our standard proxies already provide key benefits like free country targeting, a 99.9% uptime guarantee for datacenter proxies, and no expiration date on purchased traffic. You can choose between rotating and sticky sessions and have full control over your connections. For businesses and professionals who demand top-tier performance, our Premium Proxies offer the ultimate solution: High-Speed Proxy Pool
16M+ Unique Proxy Pool
All Targeting Options Included
Personal Account Manager –
Turbo Speed
24/7 Expert Support High-Speed Proxy Pool 16M+ Unique Proxy Pool All Targeting Options Included Personal Account Manager – Turbo Speed 24/7 Expert Support A strong connection starts with a smart choice. Upgrade wisely🚀

The Right Proxy for the Job: Which Solution Is Best for You?

İş üçün doğru proxy: hansı çözüm sizin üçün ən yaxşıdır?

Pravi proxy za posao: Koje je rješenje najbolje za vas?

El Proxy correcto para el trabajo: ¿cuál es la mejor solución para usted?

Oikea proxy työhön: Mikä ratkaisu on paras sinulle?

A megfelelő proxy a munkához: melyik megoldás a legjobb az Ön számára?

د کار لپاره د مناسب پروکس: کوم د حل ستاسو لپاره غوره دی؟

Proxy-ul potrivit pentru locul de muncă: care este cea mai bună soluție pentru tine?

Правильный прокси для работы: какое решение лучше для вас?

රැකියා සඳහා නිවැරදි ප්රොක්සි: ඔබ සඳහා හොඳම විසඳුම කුමක්ද?

The Excel WEEKDAY Function returns the day of the week as the number WEEKDAY Function: A Brief The Excel WEEKDAY Function is used to return a number representing the day of the week for a specific date. This function is very helpful when you want to identify whether a date falls on a weekday or weekend or when automating schedules based on days. day of the week specific date date falls weekday weekend Objective

Value Returned by function



Aim to return a numerical weekday.

WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Objective

Value Returned by function



Aim to return a numerical weekday.

WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Objective

Value Returned by function Objective Objective Value Returned by function Value Returned by function Aim to return a numerical weekday.

WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. Aim to return a numerical weekday. Aim to return a numerical weekday. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. WEEKDAY Function will return a number of the day of the week from the given input date. WEEKDAY Function: A Syntax =WEEKDAY(date_value, [return_type]) =WEEKDAY(date_value, [return_type]) date_value: It should be a valid Excel Date value.
return_type: A number that defines which day the week starts on and this is optional.
WEEKDAY returns 1 for Sunday and 2 for Monday. date_value: It should be a valid Excel Date value. date_value Excel Date return_type: A number that defines which day the week starts on and this is optional. return_type which day the week starts WEEKDAY returns 1 for Sunday and 2 for Monday. WEEKDAY Return_type

Day



1

Sunday



2

Monday



3

Tuesday



4

Wednesday



5

Thursday



6

Friday



7

Saturday Return_type

Day



1

Sunday



2

Monday



3

Tuesday



4

Wednesday



5

Thursday



6

Friday



7

Saturday Return_type

Day Return_type Return_type Day Day 1

Sunday 1 1 Sunday Sunday 2

Monday 2 2 Monday Monday 3

Tuesday 3 3 Tuesday Tuesday 4

Wednesday 4 4 Wednesday Wednesday 5

Thursday 5 5 Thursday Thursday 6

Friday 6 6 Friday Friday 7

Saturday 7 7 Saturday Saturday Excel WEEKDAY function can number days of the week, based on the return_type argument. return_type Which day is treated as the “first” day of the week, and
What number gets assigned to each day (Sunday, Monday, etc.) Which day is treated as the “first” day of the week, and first What number gets assigned to each day (Sunday, Monday, etc.) The return_type is optional and defaults to 1. It determines how the days of the week are numbered and which day is considered the first day. Each return_type code has its own mapping, showing the numeric result for each day and the starting day of the week in that scheme. return_type 1 first day numeric result starting day Note: The WEEKDAY function in Excel will still return a result even if the date cell is empty. In such cases, it defaults to zero or may return 1, depending on how it’s used in the formula. Note: WEEKDAY date cell is empty zero 1 Basic Example: This function can be very helpful if you are managing a small event calendar in Excel. Take a look at the below example. From the example above, you can easily understand the basic use of the WEEKDAY function. I used the TEXT function along with the day number returned by WEEKDAY to show the day name (like Monday, Tuesday, etc.). WEEKDAY TEXT day number WEEKDAY day name Using WEEKDAY Function with Nested Functions: The explanation of the above examples are, The first formula returns “Weekday” because April 1, 2025 is a Tuesday, not a weekend day.
The second formula returns “Normal Work”. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it doesn’t match special conditions for Monday or Friday, so the default output is shown.
The third formula gives “April 2, 2025”. As April 1 is a weekday (Tuesday), the next working day is simply the next day.
The fourth formula shows “No, the given date is not a Sunday” because April 1 is a Tuesday, not Sunday, so the formula returns the response for a non-Sunday.
The fifth formula returns “Workday”. It checks if the day is Friday. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it returns “WorkDay” as expected.
The sixth formula outputs “Tuesday”. The CHOOSE function uses the weekday number to return the correct day name, and April 1, 2025 is Tuesday.
The seventh formula returns “01 April 2025”. The formula is designed to adjust the date only if it’s a Sunday. Since April 1 is not a Sunday, the same date is returned. The first formula returns “Weekday” because April 1, 2025 is a Tuesday, not a weekend day. first formula “Weekday” April 1, 2025 Tuesday The second formula returns “Normal Work”. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it doesn’t match special conditions for Monday or Friday, so the default output is shown. second formula “Normal Work” Tuesday Monday Friday The third formula gives “April 2, 2025”. As April 1 is a weekday (Tuesday), the next working day is simply the next day. third formula “April 2, 2025” weekday (Tuesday) The fourth formula shows “No, the given date is not a Sunday” because April 1 is a Tuesday, not Sunday, so the formula returns the response for a non-Sunday. fourth formula “No, the given date is not a Sunday” Tuesday The fifth formula returns “Workday”. It checks if the day is Friday. Since April 1 is a Tuesday, it returns “WorkDay” as expected. fifth formula “Workday” Friday Tuesday “WorkDay” The sixth formula outputs “Tuesday”. The CHOOSE function uses the weekday number to return the correct day name, and April 1, 2025 is Tuesday. sixth formula “Tuesday” CHOOSE Tuesday The seventh formula returns “01 April 2025”. The formula is designed to adjust the date only if it’s a Sunday. Since April 1 is not a Sunday, the same date is returned. seventh formula “01 April 2025” Sunday not That’s it. –Narendhiran Vijayakumar. This tutorial is originally published on How to use Excel Weekday Function? How to use Excel Weekday Function?

How to Use Excel WEEKDAY Function?

Hallo my gals and boys!! Let’s talk alignment. In fast-scaling tech companies, misalignment between product, sales, and marketing isn’t just inconvenient — it’s expensive. Teams operate on different metrics, tools, and timelines. The result? Disconnected strategies, delayed feedback loops, and missed revenue opportunities. The result? Disconnected strategies, delayed feedback loops, and missed revenue opportunities. But alignment isn’t about more meetings — it’s about building the right data infrastructure. building the right data infrastructure In this article, I’ll walk you through how we approached cross-functional GTM alignment by connecting product analytics, marketing attribution, and sales behavior into one growth engine — with practical examples of tools, architecture, and decision-making that drove measurable business impact. Start With the Right Questions (and Data Sources) We began by identifying the key friction points between teams: We began by identifying the key friction points between teams: Marketing wanted to know which campaigns led to product-qualified leads (PQLs), not just MQLs.
Sales needed context: “What features has this user tried? Are they stuck in onboarding?”
Product wanted visibility into which features actually influenced deal velocity or expansion. Marketing wanted to know which campaigns led to product-qualified leads (PQLs), not just MQLs. Sales needed context: “What features has this user tried? Are they stuck in onboarding?” Product wanted visibility into which features actually influenced deal velocity or expansion. To solve this, we mapped 3 core data sources: To solve this, we mapped 3 core data sources: Amplitude for product analytics
HubSpot CRM for sales + lead data
Segment + Google Analytics for marketing attribution Amplitude for product analytics Amplitude HubSpot CRM for sales + lead data HubSpot CRM Segment + Google Analytics for marketing attribution Segment + Google Analytics But plugging in these tools wasn’t enough. The real challenge was connecting them meaningfully. connecting them meaningfully. Build the Unified Growth Data Layer We introduced Segment CDP as the core customer data platform. Every event — from a button click in the product to a LinkedIn ad interaction — was funneled into Segment and tagged with a unified user ID across platforms. Then we pushed this data downstream: Into Amplitude to enrich product dashboards with marketing source + sales status
Into HubSpot to give sales reps real-time visibility into user behavior (“Trial user added 3 teammates yesterday”)
Into a custom Metabase dashboard, which blended marketing source → product usage → sales outcome Into Amplitude to enrich product dashboards with marketing source + sales status Into HubSpot to give sales reps real-time visibility into user behavior (“Trial user added 3 teammates yesterday”) Into a custom Metabase dashboard, which blended marketing source → product usage → sales outcome This gave all teams a shared source of truth: This gave all teams a shared source of truth: → Marketing could optimize campaigns toward feature activations, not just form fills → Sales could prioritize outreach based on product intent → Product could see what GTM levers accelerated usage Automate the Feedback Loops Once this infrastructure was live, we automated the key workflows that previously relied on manual handovers or Slack messages. For example:

When a trial user reached a key milestone (e.g., activated core feature), a HubSpot workflow alerted their assigned rep.
When a high-spend customer downgraded usage, Amplitude triggered a Slack alert to the Customer Success Manager with context.
When a lead converted to a customer, the original UTM parameters and campaign IDs were logged automatically in our analytics schema for revenue attribution. For example: When a trial user reached a key milestone (e.g., activated core feature), a HubSpot workflow alerted their assigned rep.
When a high-spend customer downgraded usage, Amplitude triggered a Slack alert to the Customer Success Manager with context.
When a lead converted to a customer, the original UTM parameters and campaign IDs were logged automatically in our analytics schema for revenue attribution. When a trial user reached a key milestone (e.g., activated core feature), a HubSpot workflow alerted their assigned rep. When a high-spend customer downgraded usage, Amplitude triggered a Slack alert to the Customer Success Manager with context. When a lead converted to a customer, the original UTM parameters and campaign IDs were logged automatically in our analytics schema for revenue attribution. This reduced lag time in handoffs by over 70% and directly contributed to a 22% increase in conversion from trial to paid over three quarters. Make It Actionable, Not Just Visual Dashboards alone aren’t enough. One of our key learnings was: Data must drive action. So we trained each team on how to actually use these insights. Marketing reviewed campaign-driven feature usage weekly, not just CPL. Sales used product activity as part of their deal scoring logic. Product started prioritizing onboarding tweaks based on drop-offs visible in multi-touch funnel analysis. We also created "Growth Syncs" — biweekly sessions with one rep from each GTM team to review data anomalies, test hypotheses, and launch small experiments based on shared insights. "Growth Syncs" — biweekly sessions with one rep from each GTM team to review data anomalies, test hypotheses, and launch small experiments based on shared insights. Conclusion True GTM alignment doesn’t happen in a slide deck — it’s built in your infrastructure. When product, sales, and marketing share a connected data foundation, they stop competing for credit and start collaborating toward growth. This approach helped us scale from siloed departments to a cohesive revenue engine, grounded in real-time insight and proactive decision-making. For anyone building or refining a GTM strategy in a digital company, don’t ask how your teams can align. Ask: What data do they need to think like one team?

Your Marketing Team Doesn’t Need Another Meeting—It Needs a Better Data Stack

This One Spark SQL Trick Will Instantly Upgrade Your Data Analysis Game

Optimizing Gas on Ethereum Isn't As Straightforward As One Would Have You Believe

Let me start with a confession. In one of my previous projects, I used to think project chaos was just part of the job. You know the vibe — people stepping on each other's toes, endless Slack threads trying to figure out who was supposed to do what, decisions made in meetings that no one remembered a week later. At some point, you just accept it as the cost of doing cross-functional work, right? Wrong. That's just lazy leadership. The more projects I led — across teams big and small, from product rewrites to data platform migrations — the more obvious it became: projects don't fall apart because of bad tech. They fall apart because of bad clarity. And I don't mean "bad Jira grooming" or "a lack of alignment on deliverables" (although, yeah, those suck too). I mean fundamental confusion about who owns what. Who makes the call? Who's doing the actual work? Who gets a say — and who just needs to be updated once it's done? If you've ever ended a week thinking, "Wait, I thought you were doing that", you've already felt the consequences of ignoring this. This brings me to the most boringly named, wildly underrated tool I know: the RACI Matrix. What the Heck is a RACI Matrix? Technically, RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. You've probably seen that somewhere before — maybe in a boring slide deck, maybe in a textbook you ignored. Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed It's like a contract that the project team makes with itself to ensure that every task has its rightful owner and everyone knows their part in the grand scheme of things. But here's what it means in real life. real life Imagine your project is a band. The Responsible folks are the ones actually playing the instruments. They're the ones up late, fixing bugs, writing queries, designing mockups — whatever it takes. Without them, there's no music. The Responsible folks are the ones actually playing the instruments. They're the ones up late, fixing bugs, writing queries, designing mockups — whatever it takes. Without them, there's no music. Responsible The Accountable one is the producer. They're not playing every instrument, but they're making sure the record actually ships. They own the outcome. They take the blame if it sucks — or the credit if it slaps. The Accountable one is the producer. They're not playing every instrument, but they're making sure the record actually ships. They own the outcome. They take the blame if it sucks — or the credit if it slaps. Accountable The Consulted are like the studio musicians or trusted friends who give you honest feedback during the recording. You want their input. You value their ears. But they're not in the band. The Consulted are like the studio musicians or trusted friends who give you honest feedback during the recording. You want their input. You value their ears. But they're not in the band. Consulted And the Informed? That's your audience, your label, maybe your investors. They need to know what's going on, but they're not getting involved in the creative process. And the Informed? That's your audience, your label, maybe your investors. They need to know what's going on, but they're not getting involved in the creative process. Informed And yes, one person or group can take on multiple roles within the project. The RACI matrix is typically represented as a table with tasks or outcomes listed in the left column and individual people or groups involved in the process listed on top. The intersection of each task and person or group indicates their corresponding RACI role. But Isn't This Just More Process? Yeah, I've heard this one before. Usually from senior ICs or managers who are allergic to anything that looks like structure. "Do we really need a matrix? Can't we just talk it through?" Sure. In a perfect world. On a team of three. For a one-week sprint. But real projects are messy. Real teams are overloaded. And real work happens asynchronously, across time zones, with shifting priorities and surprise stakeholder escalations. "Just talk it through" doesn't cut it when Bob is OOO, Sarah's on three projects, and Marketing is asking for a timeline update you didn't even know existed. The beauty of RACI is that it makes who does what explicit — before shit hits the fan. Not through another tool. Not through process theater. Just through one honest conversation about roles. And yeah, sometimes that conversation is uncomfortable. It surfaces power dynamics. It forces decisions. It makes people ask, "Wait, why am I even on this project?" Good. Because nothing kills a project faster than pretending everyone's equally involved when they're not. RACI doesn't create complexity — it exposes the complexity that's already there. You're Not Needed Here One of the underrated powers of RACI is that it gives people permission not to care about things that aren't their job. And I mean that in the best possible way. We're so used to over-collaboration — to inviting everyone into every decision — that we forget: clarity isn't exclusion. It's respect. Telling someone "you're Informed, not Consulted" isn't shutting them out. It's protecting their time. It's like saying, "We'll let you know when there's something worth reacting to — but you don't need to be in this meeting." Making a RACI Matrix That Doesn't Suck So, how do you actually build one that doesn't feel like a waste of everyone's time? Start by dumping out all the stuff your team is supposed to do. Not just the big-ticket items like "launch feature X", but the actual messy middle: writing specs, reviewing designs, testing, RFCs, whatever. Then, write down the name of every person who touches the project — even if it's just once. Yes, that one stakeholder who only shows up at the end with Opinions counts. Now comes the good part: assigning who's doing what. Not in vague terms like "we'll figure it out" or "team effort." You're putting names in boxes. Responsible is the person doing the work. Keyboard. Fingers. Doing the thing.
Accountable is the one on the hook if it doesn't happen. Usually, the person who gets yelled at.
Consulted is the person who needs to weigh in before anything goes out. Think feedback, not sign-off.
Informed is the person who just needs a heads-up. No input is required. Responsible is the person doing the work. Keyboard. Fingers. Doing the thing. Responsible Accountable is the one on the hook if it doesn't happen. Usually, the person who gets yelled at. Accountable Consulted is the person who needs to weigh in before anything goes out. Think feedback, not sign-off. Consulted Informed is the person who just needs a heads-up. No input is required. Informed The conversations you'll have while building the RACI are more important than the actual matrix itself. Once it's done? Share it. Talk it through. Make sure everyone's actually okay with their roles — not just nodding because they want the meeting to end. RACI Matrix Checklist Vertical Check (Roles): Too Much "R"? Ensure one person isn't overloaded with "Responsible" tasks. Distribute the workload evenly to avoid bottlenecks.
No Empty Cells: Evaluate if each stakeholder needs to be involved in so many activities.
Too Many "A"s? Reduce the number of decision-makers and accountability holders if possible.
No "R" or "A"? Assess the necessity of the role and consider redistributing responsibilities.
Double A/R or A/I? Stick to one "Accountable" role per stage. Too Much "R"? Ensure one person isn't overloaded with "Responsible" tasks. Distribute the workload evenly to avoid bottlenecks. Too Much "R"? No Empty Cells: Evaluate if each stakeholder needs to be involved in so many activities. No Empty Cells: Too Many "A"s? Reduce the number of decision-makers and accountability holders if possible. Too Many "A"s? No "R" or "A"? Assess the necessity of the role and consider redistributing responsibilities. No "R" or "A"? Double A/R or A/I? Stick to one "Accountable" role per stage. Double A/R or A/I? Horizontal Check (Project Stages): No "R"? Assign a "Responsible" stakeholder for each stage.
Too Much "R"? Divide complex stages into specific tasks to distribute responsibilities.
No "A"? Ensure there's accountability for each stage.
More Than One "A"? Stick to one "Accountable" stakeholder per stage.
All Cells Filled? Verify that all stages have stakeholder involvement.
No C/I? Ensure all relevant stakeholders are consulted and informed.
Too Much "C"? Limit excessive consultations; consider keeping stakeholders informed instead.
Too Much "I"? Evaluate if the information shared is truly beneficial or creates unnecessary meetings.
Double Positions? Avoid having one person take both the R and A roles, as it may lead to misunderstandings. No "R"? Assign a "Responsible" stakeholder for each stage. No "R"? Too Much "R"? Divide complex stages into specific tasks to distribute responsibilities. Too Much "R"? No "A"? Ensure there's accountability for each stage. No "A"? More Than One "A"? Stick to one "Accountable" stakeholder per stage. More Than One "A"? All Cells Filled? Verify that all stages have stakeholder involvement. All Cells Filled? No C/I? Ensure all relevant stakeholders are consulted and informed. No C/I? Too Much "C"? Limit excessive consultations; consider keeping stakeholders informed instead. Too Much "C"? Too Much "I"? Evaluate if the information shared is truly beneficial or creates unnecessary meetings. Too Much "I"? Double Positions? Avoid having one person take both the R and A roles, as it may lead to misunderstandings. Double Positions? Make sure all stakeholders agree to their assigned roles and document it on the project page. Wrapping It Up Of course, RACI isn't perfect. Like any tool, it can be misused. You'll see teams where everyone gets labeled "Consulted" just to keep them happy — which defeats the point. Or where people game the system to avoid being "Accountable" — because they don't want the heat. Or worse, people fill out a RACI matrix once, paste it in the project doc, and never look at it again. That's not RACI. That's checkbox theater. The matrix is only as good as your willingness to have the hard conversations behind it. And revisit them when things change. Which they will. Because projects evolve. People rotate out. Priorities shift. If your RACI doesn't shift with them, congratulations — you've got a beautiful artifact that doesn't reflect reality. So yeah, it takes work. But it's the kind of work that pays off before the deadline, not after. Thank you for reading! Thank you for reading! Curious about something or have thoughts to share? Leave your comment below! Check out my blog or follow me via LinkedIn, Substack, or Telegram. Curious about something or have thoughts to share? Leave your comment below! Check out my blog or follow me via LinkedIn, Substack, or Telegram. my blog LinkedIn Substack Telegram

Mastering Project Clarity: How The Power of the RACI Matrix Can Improve Your Teamwork

Stories, News & Mentions about ASSIGNED

Categories

Trending Topics

Stories, News & Mentions about ASSIGNED

Assigned’s Stories on HackerNoon

Categories

Trending Topics