Meet Ashish Barsaiya

Earlier this year, the Office of the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President (Information Services & Technology) received a record-breaking number of nominations for the 2020 IT Awards. We are excited to recognize the individuals who were nominated and the important contributions they make everyday at the University of Alberta.

Ashish Barsaiya works as an IT Analyst/Peoplesoft Consultant in Information Services & Technology (IST) where every day is a bit different, offering new challenges and a great group of people to work with.

We spoke with Ashish to learn more about his role and what motivates him. 

What does a day in the life look like in your position?

I usually start my work at 7:45 AM. Most of the time, my day starts with a coffee, a work to-do list and emails. I collaboratively plan my day, meetings, and make sure that the most urgent work gets done first. This way I can increase my pace for doing work, and can be more productive for the day.

What’s one thing you’re working on now, and why is it important?

I’m working on improving my skills with project management and technologies right now. I have realized if I become an expert in project management and integration with advanced technologies (Machine learning, Botchat, API etc), it will make me even more productive. So I’m trying to go from ‘good’ to ‘great’ in these areas.

What have you worked on since joining the university that you are most proud of? 

An automation task from last year which I think I am most proud of. Those who work in accounts receivable at the university often have lot of recurring tasks which require manual effort, so I worked with them to identify if I could eliminate some manual effort. We were successful in automating some of the recurring and manual work. I am working on other tasks to simplify/automate. 

Why did you pursue a career in IT?

It started when I got my first computer, I was 14. Since then, I have always been curious and excited about innovation, creativity and some cool things that we can do with technology, this is why I pursued a career in IT. I love when as an IT person we are given certain tasks either to solve problems or to improve business process, that's the exciting part because when I am searching for a solution to the problem curiosity works like gasoline to keep me moving.

If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?

There are so many possibilities... maybe I could become the world's greatest Poker Master (Player and Teacher). I would still need to learn mathematics much deeper to know all about permutations and combinations of 52 Cards. Or I would love to learn and become an expert in drawing.

If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick?

Whatsapp, Pinterest and Spotify

Ashish Barsaiya was nominated for an IT Award earlier this year for his patient and polite demeanour when responding to PeopleSoft financial questions, and his focus on explaining solutions to users.