San Francisco – October 12th to 13th, 2015

I had an eye-opening experience these past two days in San Francisco. My school organized a visit to the Bay Area, where in the span of two days I visited over eight tech companies. My venture into San Francisco opened my eyes to the possibilities the city offers in terms of employment and opportunity. I also noticed the interesting cultural and technological shifts that will take effect in the coming years.

The culture of some of these companies is so vastly different than the classic banking and consulting jobs that you have to rub your eyes when you first see it. Although you heard of the great things at Google, have you heard that it offers its employers free food, great facilities and even educational opportunities, all on Google’s bill? When I asked an employee why they offer all these benefits, he responded, “So we don’t have to worry about the trivial things of day-to-day life like laundry and food, so we can focus completely on our work.” An expensive answer, but for a company like Google, that made $66 billion dollars in revenue last year, not so crazy.

Medallia, an Operational Customer Experience company whose revenue stems from SaaS (Software as a Service), had an office environment similar to Google and vastly different from corporate banks in New York. Every conference room had a specific country theme, such as the United States, China, Thailand, Brazil and countless others. What impressed me was the fact that the decoration of each room wasn’t done by a contracted designer, but by their own employees. Some rooms were lightly decorated with posters and signs, while others had objects pertaining to the culture of the country. The Switzerland room had a full-sized chairlift in it! There were ping-pong tables, pool tables, a ball pit and, of course, free food. Employees were encouraged to have a strong work-life balance. This meant no free dinners to encourage employees to go back home and enjoy life, unlike investment banks where employees go home at midnight. What also amazed me was the reading section. Each employee of Medallia is encouraged to grow intellectually and to this purpose has access to a library of interesting self-help, behavioral and psychology books.

These great perks were offered at almost every company I visited although that only makes up a slice of the true culture of Silicon Valley. A culture that says, “It’s not how you present, its what you say that matters.” These companies have escaped the formality of large banks and institutions where the need to be formal and follow the rules is code. Instead, hierarchy is removed and ideas flow freely. There was a feeling of friendliness and openness pervasive throughout the Talkable offices. I get the feeling that this openness helps stimulate creativity and makes the company a comfortable environment.

Another facet of learning I experienced in San Francisco was the role technology will have on all of our future. The CEO of Talkable put it like this: “I honestly don’t know how our economy will be able to deal with the upcoming advances in technology.” We are already experiencing automobile changes with companies like Uber and Lyft. Google acquired Nest Labs in 2014 for $3.2 billion, a producer of self-learning security systems that Google is working on to automate our home appliances. I look forward to the day where all home appliances are self-learning. My house temperature will change when it sees my car approaching the driveway, my washing machine will know exactly how much detergent to clothes ratio it needs.

With all the good flowing out of the valley, not everybody is affected equally. The demand for engineers is creating an imbalance in the San Francisco area that comes in the form of a real estate boom and looming gentrification. I realized pretty quickly that the surplus of new start-up and technology companies isn’t good for everybody. Apartment prices are steadily increasing, and, while they are affordable to the six-figure employees of these tech companies, other residents are suffering. It will be interesting to see how this scenario plays out in the coming years.

Overall my trip to San Francisco was a blessing and I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit these companies and explore the city as well. I’ve realized that the future is in technology and the opportunities it can bring to the world. I hope to one day reside in San Francisco working alongside these revolutionary companies and hopefully, one day, create my own.