Q&A with our Development Lead Mwayi Dzanjalimodzi

When did you join TR and what did you do prior to joining the company?
I joined ThoughtRiver as an engineer in August 2016. Prior to this role, I had worked for various software and digital houses producing mobile and web technologies.

What attracted you to join TR?
There were three main things that attracted me to ThoughtRiver:-

• Firstly, whilst being highly experienced within the world of web technology, ThoughtRiver’s AI proposition exposed me to a space I consider to be technologically transcendent.
• Second, the allure of working within a start-up organisation and being part of its genesis was immensely appealing.
• Third, the people. As passionate and dedicated as Tim (CEO) and Richard (CTO) were when I first joined, they remain the same today and this filters through to the entire organisation. Since that time we have been on a fantastic and pioneering journey together.

What is your role at TR and describe a typical day
My official capacity at ThoughtRiver is Development Lead and I am primarily responsible for delivering application services that serve ThoughtRiver’s Contract Intelligence capability.  As you can imagine, our technology stack is vast and has wide-reaching requirements from performance to security. I am a technical authority over various design decisions to ensure that strategic standards are being met.  I also work with multidisciplinary teams across the organisation to ensure that the often exciting but also challenging product requirements are converted into tangible and quality deliverables.  Within the development team, I am responsible for managing, delegating and coordinating development work across an international team. My day to day is split with the management of development activities whilst also getting stuck in, producing algorithmic and architectural solutions for our technologies.

What are your views on the changing legal tech landscape and what do you think the future holds?
The legal tech space is young and hungry with a lot of room for growth. In the past 5 years, we have seen a number of start-ups spring into existence and are now shaping the legal sphere in areas such as Contract Analysis and Contract Management. Combined, these companies are providing the legal space with a full Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) ecosystem where ThoughtRiver’s tools play a key role. I’m extremely excited about what the future holds and what ThoughtRiver’s AI can do for solving time-consuming legal functions. As we move forward, I am also particularly interested in the ethics of AI and how we can develop these tools responsibly to ensure that there is transparency and accountability with our software.

Tell us something people don't know about you!
This one is a tough one. Here goes. Between the ages of 6 and 8, I was a child clothing model for a Spanish modelling agency. I was cuter back then.

I look forward to what the future holds at ThoughtRiver.