Three fundamental pillars that strengthen your tech ecosystem

Tech culture can’t rely solely on technical expertise and complex engineering crafts. Such complex infrastructure will always need a strong culture to support it.

The question remains: What makes a strong and sustainable tech culture?   
We’ve asked our tech experts to help us with this one, and here’s what we’ve learned. 

Psychological safety is where it all begins. 

“The best ideas always come from people who feel safe and confident to challenge the status quo.” Those words, borrowed from Todd Parsons (CPO) in his latest discussion about tech culture [Listen to the full episode here], circle back to the idea that, when strengthening your team’s sense of community, you also boost innovation and growth for everyone.  

It's a bit like that: belonging boosts collaboration, and collaboration propels growth. So, following that logic, creating safe spaces where everyone is empowered to voice their challenges and share their ideas makes good business sense. That’s also one reason why in-person events, like tech meetups, are so important for a strong tech community like the one we’ve built at Criteo. 

“The most rewarding aspect of attending tech meetups is witnessing how people feel seen, supported, and inspired to continue building on their careers, as well as seeing how spontaneously the connections form between attendees. It’s the kind of experience that leaves you looking forward to the next one!” shares Marina Altés, Software Engineer at Criteo. 

Culture and performance don’t work separately but enable each other. In tech and beyond, it has become clear that psychological safety has a positive impact on individual and collective growth.  

Knowledge sharing: The ultimate driver for innovation 

It can never be stressed enough; tech is a terrain where you need to update your knowledge and upgrade your skills continuously. While it’s essential to be set up for success by your employer thanks to mentoring, coaching, or training programs, having the possibility to confront your ideas with others is equally essential to turn ideas into actionable feedback.    

"It's not just about using new technologies but about understanding how to make the most of them and adapt them the best way to your business needs. To ensure a positive outcome, attending meetups where external experts are present and open to sharing their knowledge is crucial if you want to avoid bad practices and the accumulation of technical debt,” explains Sylvain Dedieu, Software Development Engineer at Criteo. 

Tech is, and will remain, a complex terrain to navigate where continuous learning and curiosity are key to keeping up with our industry's constant evolutions. Performing in such context is a shared responsibility. On one hand, employers must play their role and offer learning opportunities to their tech experts. On the other hand, tech experts also have a responsibility to be proactive and continue to develop their skills. 

“I usually join meetups for technical content, to learn new information and different perspectives. I always take ideas that I can follow up on afterwards.” shares Nicu Murgu, EPM at Criteo. “Though networking sessions haven’t been my main priority up until now, I am shifting slightly now toward making connections also.”  

The tech culture we need must be one where feedback is welcome and knowledge is shared. If technical sessions are essential, creating spaces where open conversations can happen spontaneously is equally important. Safe spaces allow diverse ideas to spring, and diverse thinking is a powerful fuel that makes innovation move forward. So, let’s make room for it!  

Social Learning: Uncovering the power behind peer-connections 

 “Every time, I leave thinking to myself that I would have never met those awesome and knowledgeable people if I had skipped it!” This quote by our Software Development Engineer, Mercy Orangi, says it all!  

Peer-connection and social learning are now recognized as significant drivers of innovation. 

  “I do love the speaker dinner where you meet interesting people, build connections with the other speakers. Sometimes they share the same interests in the same tech stack, and you learn in 10min more than in two years of technical watch,” explains Sylvain Dedieu. 

In other words, when you make room for spontaneous connections, you're creating the right conditions for ideas to be turned into solutions and drive growth for all. Employers have a responsibility to build those safe spaces the right way to ensure everyone finds a path to grow.

So, perhaps the recipe to a strong, sustainable tech culture is the same as for a successful tech meetup: “The great combination of technical content, knowledge sharing, and real human connections.” - Marina Altés.