At Cloud Elemental, nurturing fresh talent is at the heart of our mission. Our Elemental Academy programme is designed to seamlessly integrate recent graduates, providing them with the skills and knowledge needed for success.
Seun Akanni, one of the newest additions to the Academy, has penned a short article reflecting on his initial weeks with us. Check out his article below to learn how he’s finding his way and how the Elemental Academy is helping him translate his academic knowledge into real-world skills.
Hello there! My name is Seun and I am one of two new additions to the Elemental Academy programme under the title of Consultant & DevOps Engineer.
Before joining, I studied Computer Science at the University of East Anglia where I developed a broad spectrum of general domain knowledge and practical experience in various computing disciplines – ranging from data science and machine learning, to general software engineering and web development – all feeding into my final project centred on analysing and researching machine learning algorithms within the domain of recommendation systems.
After securing my bachelor’s degree and a long span of job-searching, I was finally able to secure a placement within Cloud Elemental.
Why the Cloud?
My attraction to consultancy and the Cloud stem primarily from my character; who I am. I can’t say I don’t enjoy programming. The long sessions of stress wiped away by a successful output definitely play into my appreciation for the subject – though I believe soft skills pertaining to the full lifecycle of a developing project to be of great importance i.e., liaising with clients in both a formal and informal manner to gather business requirements before carefully creating a programmatic solution.
This is why a role in consultancy has been the main focus of my professional career. I believe such a balance ensures my success in projects is not restricted to just the outputs of a black and white screen, but is also encompassed by the relationships I plan to develop for future contracts and partnerships.
Cloud Elemental stood out to me for precisely these reasons. The startup environment and approachable colleagues create a setting where the emphasis is on developing each employee’s professional reputation, rather than solely focusing on short-term profits or rigid corporate structures.
My Experience with the Cloud so far
Prior to joining, I possessed a theoretical interpretation of the Cloud that a lot of people can probably relate to: it had something to do with the internet – but the specifics of what, why, and how it is utilised was a cloudy topic. In just two weeks of starting the Elemental Academy, my sights are already set on becoming a certified Cloud Practitioner and innovating practical solutions using core web services such as S3 buckets, IAM policies and Roles, Lambda functions, and KMS Key Encryption. On paper, the monolithic combination of these services can be very easy to explain, but quickly, one realises that policy permissions and encryption can be tedious to manage without previous experience.
Whilst the time and resources Cloud Elemental have allocated for me to conduct my own research has progressed my understanding of the core microservices offered by AWS, I have to commend my Associate peers.
The team has been invaluable in clarifying tasks through white-boarding and regular Mob sessions where we present solutions and generally bounce ideas off each other. Even concepts currently beyond my scope (such as CI/CD Pipelines supported on GitHub and Terraform infrastructure) have an outline to them from the progress updates we share with each other – making it simpler for me to begin using the infrastructure as I progress onto my next cycle of learning.
Additionally, one of the benefits of entering the Elemental Academy with another newcomer (Patryk) is that I have someone with a similar foundation to build this knowledge alongside.
How about the culture?
Outside of the ‘techy-stuff’, I have had a packed few first weeks at the company – filled with an array of social events for birthdays and dining experiences.
Being welcomed into the company culture so quickly has made me feel as if I have known my colleagues for many years. I can already see a long future with Cloud Elemental and hope to progress towards a possible directorship title with more responsibility on projects and client-facing experience; though we have an upcoming mini-golf social booked in, so one step at a time!
Wish me luck.
As Seun embarks on this journey, we’re excited to support him by bridging theoretical learning with real-world experiences. The Elemental Academy is more than just a programme – it’s a key part of our commitment to growth and excellence.
We look forward to seeing how Seun’s contributions will enhance our team and drive our collective success!
For more information on the Elemental Academy and how we work to support Computer Science grads futures, click here.
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Seun Akanni
Graduate Consultant & DevOps Engineer
Seun Akanni
Graduate Consultant & DevOps Engineer
