"We are pioneers in the use of AI"
Oussama Chougna | Platform Engineering Lead
After working in the banking industry for years, Oussama wanted to gain new experience. Oussama started out as a freelancer, but once he got started, he quickly realized he was in the right place. “I liked it so much so quickly that I decided to join the company.” There were several reasons for this, with technology playing a major role. “I saw an environment with plenty of room to build new solutions, where teams had a lot of autonomy, and where there were plenty of challenges. There was also the opportunity to further my professional development. Great opportunities for career advancement were offered.” He then witnessed the company’s growth firsthand. In the three years that Oussama has been working at HeadFirst Group, the engineering department has nearly doubled in size. “When I started, we had three teams. Now there are six. That really shows how fast the company is growing.”
Building What No One Sees
Oussama works on the platform team. This team handles everything that happens behind the scenes: the infrastructure, the cloud environment, security, and the technical foundation on which all applications run. “All the work we do happens under the hood of the system. We make sure the platform remains secure, stable, and scalable.” It’s precisely this combination of software development, the cloud, and security that Oussama finds so interesting about his job.
“When you’re designing, you always come across something you haven’t seen before. That’s why you never stop learning.”
One of the projects he’s most proud of is the implementation of a central identity provider. The goal is to allow employees to log in to all applications within HeadFirst Group using a single account. “Before, you had different usernames and passwords for different applications. Now we’re working toward a single central account that lets you log in everywhere.” To users, this might seem like a minor improvement, but behind the scenes, it’s a major undertaking. The team is replacing an outdated system while ensuring that hundreds of employees can continue working as usual. “Ideally, you want to replace everything without the user even noticing.” That’s why the migration is happening step by step. New components are built, tested, improved, and only then deployed. “We work iteratively. We deliver small pieces, test them, and then put them live. This allows users to benefit from improvements faster, and we keep learning as we go.”
That's exactly the kind of challenge that energizes Oussama: designing new solutions, improving existing systems, and making sure everything keeps running smoothly as the company continues to grow.
Smart solutions start with good design
Before a new system goes live, it undergoes an extensive design process. “In my opinion, this is the biggest—but also the most enjoyable—challenge of a project. You have to think carefully about how to integrate a new system into the existing landscape. How do you ensure that users can transition seamlessly, and how do you prevent anyone from suddenly having to set up a new password? That design requires a lot of attention.” During the design process, the platform team works closely with an external vendor. First, the team delves into the documentation for the new platform, followed by design sessions, and only once it’s clear how a solution best fits within the existing environment does development begin.
At HeadFirst Group, projects or processes like this are never undertaken alone. “We design everything together. It’s not like one person comes up with an idea and the rest implement it. We discuss it with each other, ask questions, and make sure we’re not overlooking anything. That ultimately makes the solution better.” This collaborative approach fits well with the way the platform team works. Everyone contributes their own knowledge and experience, and that’s precisely what leads to strong solutions.
And so every project calls for smart choices. “Another project I enjoyed working on was documenting the entire cloud infrastructure. By documenting this, we have a better understanding of everything we have running in the cloud. We document which services we use, how they’re configured, and how security is managed.” For a growing organization, this offers many benefits. The team can implement changes more quickly and maintain a clearer overview of the entire environment. “Of course, the applications can’t go offline just because we’re working on them.” No two projects are the same, and every challenge requires a different solution. “When designing, you always come across something you haven’t seen before. That keeps you learning. It’s not assembly-line work. You keep discovering new things and gain a deeper understanding of how everything fits together.”
AI is part of our daily work here
When Oussama talks about his work, one topic keeps coming up: AI. While many organizations are still exploring how to use AI, at HeadFirst Group it’s already an integral part of the development process. “I’ve never seen any other company use AI to the extent that we do here.”
That didn’t happen overnight. The team began experimenting with AI early on, even before the first AI agents made their debut. “In the beginning, we mainly asked AI questions. Later, the first tools came along that allowed us to have AI write code. Now we use AI every day.” And not just for writing code, but also for concepts and technical designs. “It helps us work faster, and sometimes you even learn new things from it.”
At first, the team used an AI tool that wrote code, but everything still had to be checked manually. These days, we use a tool for that as well, but that doesn’t mean engineers just press a button anymore. The field still requires a critical eye; we retain responsibility.
At HeadFirst Group, the use of AI isn’t an isolated effort. There’s a specialized team that supports colleagues and explores which applications add value to the organization. “They ensure that development continues. New possibilities are tested, and knowledge is shared. That’s how I keep discovering new things, too. AI is evolving incredibly fast, and we’re keeping pace just as quickly.”
We build the future together
Whether it’s a new platform, AI, or international expansion, for Oussama it all comes down to the same thing: working together to come up with smart solutions that colleagues can rely on every day. “Here, we’re working together to build something that keeps getting better and better. Being able to contribute to that every day makes this a wonderful place for me to work.”