Blink bytes: 30 seconds with Solution Architect Jonathan Roquelaure

1. Tell us about yourself and your role at Blink.‍

I’m Jon Roquelaure. I joined the Blink team last year as a Solution Architect and contribute remotely from my home in Toulouse, France.

2. What did you do before joining Blink?‍

Before I joined Blink, I was a Senior Solution Architect at AWS and prior to that I spent 5 years in a similar role at JFrog.

3. What are you working on right now?‍

At Blink, we’re building a no-code/low-code workflow library to streamline cloud operations processes. I think it’s cool because Blink shortens value and feedback flows by reducing the need for handoffs, and makes it easier to automate and connect different services together. 

As a Solution Architect, I primarily work with Blink’s CTO, Product and R&D teams building the Blink product, as well as with our marketing team. I also work very closely with Blink’s customers, which helps me to better understand the specific cloud operations challenges faced by different platform teams and organizations.

Most of my time is spent creating Blink automations with different tools to help Blink’s customers solve their most common cloud operations challenges.

4. What are some tools that you use in your everyday role?‍

The main tool I use everyday is the Blink Platform itself. At Blink, we like to say we “drink our own champagne.” 

I use Blink to manage many of my own activities and automations. Blink provides pre-built integrations with many of the tools and services that I already work with extensively, including Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Azure, Slack, Datadog, PagerDuty, NewRelic, and EDR solutions.

5. What’s your favorite part about working at Blink?‍

Early stage startups are a unique environment for innovators and builders. There is a bias towards action and collaboration. We constantly experiment, get quick feedback and when mistakes happen it is an opportunity to strengthen our skills and knowledge. It’s this process of continuous iteration that motivates me and drives innovation.

As a (self-described) geek in the tech industry and automation lover, I feel so lucky to be working on a product that integrates with so many modern tools and services. With the DevOps ecosystem growing at such a rapid pace, I get to be constantly learning new things and trying exciting new tools.

The best part is that the work I am doing will benefit and bring value to my own people, our wider technical community of DevOps, SREs and security professionals. Blink is the tool that I wish existed in my past roles, and it’s gratifying to be building it for others.

6. What do you do for fun?

I’m the father of 3 young kids, all under 7 years old, and that is a guaranteed way to ensure your house is full of fun and excitement.

I’m also a music lover. I play the piano, trumpet and didgeridoo. I love to travel, especially when I get to go scuba diving or backpacking with my wife.

Over the past few years, especially over the course of the COVID pandemic, I started spending more of my time learning permaculture at home and I really like feeling connected to nature when I’m in my garden. This is a nice balance for me, making time to be outside and with my plants and family, in addition to being immersed in the high tech industry world for so much of my time.