This episode is part of a special series marking HiJiffy’s 10th anniversary, with team members sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the company. Andreia Pais was HiJiffy’s very first hire, almost ten years ago, and now leads the Engineering teams. She reflects on the technical freedom that drew her in, what it has meant to watch HiJiffy grow from two shared desks to a remote-first team of around 60, and the one thing about the product that has stayed constant since 2016: giving hotels a direct line to their guests.
Tiago Araújo (00:01): We’re here for another of our Virtual Coffees, celebrating the 10 years of HiJiffy. That’s going to be at the end of the year, but we’ve already started the celebrations. One of my special guests is Andreia, our first hire. Before we start, thank you so much, Andreia, for joining us for this Virtual Coffee. It would be great for you to share what you do at HiJiffy, and a top-level idea of your role.
Andreia Pais (00:34): Thank you, Tiago, for having me. I’m an Engineering Manager at HiJiffy. I joined almost ten years ago; this September marks ten years. And, as you said, I was the first hire at HiJiffy. I currently lead our Engineering teams and work closely with the Product team to optimise processes and make sure we’re building the right things the right way.
Tiago Araújo (01:03): Amazing. It was great to see, within the video we did recently, “Watch Us Grow,” you coming in all by yourself, no one else joining that year, and you’re still at HiJiffy. So it was a very special moment for us founders to sit down and see you being the first one to come into the video. One question I always ask people, and it’s something I, as a founder and CEO, find very interesting: in your perspective, what makes HiJiffy’s work culture what it is? In other words, what do you think is special about working at HiJiffy? Something you personally value the most?
Andreia Pais (01:50): So, what fascinated me from the start was the technical freedom. When I joined, it was just me and José, our CTO. But what really got me was being able to shape and build what we have today from the very beginning, and that’s something that’s really, really rewarding for me. And that autonomy is still there today. I have the freedom to optimise processes and workflows in Engineering, of course always aligning with Product when something needs to touch the product. That trust to propose and implement change is very characteristic of HiJiffy.
If I had to name one more thing, though, it would be the flexibility HiJiffy gives us. And honestly, that’s just something that is immeasurable. As you know, I’m a mother of two, and being able to manage work and personal life in a healthy way is just amazing. That’s not something you can put a number on, but it makes all the difference to me, for sure.
Tiago Araújo (03:07): Yeah. A lot of people tend to talk about it as the emotional salary, the added part of the benefits and package that the company can bring. I’m super happy to hear that we can bring you that balance at HiJiffy, which is so important. As I mentioned at the start of the video, you’re the first hire at HiJiffy. You’ve seen the team and the product grow a lot over the past years. Let’s look at both sides of the equation. Starting with the team: as we can see in the “Watch Us Grow” video, we’re four people when you come in, and then we end up with around 60 people. It’s not all in the video itself, some people unfortunately couldn’t come to the offsite, but it’s still 60. What was it like for you to be part of a team that has grown so much, to see all these team members adding up? And especially, what we can see in the video is that the last two years were the ones where we’ve been adding the most people. What was it like for you?
Andreia Pais (04:21): It’s honestly surreal. We went from two shared desks with other startups at the Vodafone Power Lab to a remote-first company of around 60 people. It’s just amazing. And funny enough, back then, Pedro Gonçalves, our COO, when I joined, was wearing every hat imaginable, and I remember seeing his name on our codebase in the Git commits. So Pedro back then was also doing some coding, which is fun. On a personal note, I became a mother twice during my years here, as you know, and still having the same trust from the founders says quite a lot to me. And at the company event, seeing everyone who’s now part of this is a genuine “wow!” At our last event, actually, I said to you and the other founders that even though the culture is made by the people at HiJiffy, having you still present gives me security and assurance. And this alignment that you bring, I think it carries through into what our culture is.
Tiago Araújo (05:51): That was amazing. Thank you so much for that testimonial during our offsite. As a founder, it’s something very special to hear, the founders still having an impact on culture. At least, that’s your perspective, but it’s great to hear.
Andreia Pais (06:06): It is my perspective.
Tiago Araújo (06:07): Going to the other side, Andreia, the product side. Our product has developed a lot in the past ten years. Obviously, you had a massive impact on the foundations of it; at that point, as you mentioned, it was you and José building everything. I still recall the first Console that we built when you started. But what would you say is its very core, that’s just as true in 2016 as it is today? What can you reflect on from ten years ago, in terms of product, that you still feel the product has in some essence today?
Andreia Pais (06:52): A fun fact first, and you already mentioned it: when I joined, there was something we called the dashboard, and when I started to build the new platform clients use today, we named it Console, and it’s stuck ever since. Funny enough, there’s still code running in production today that was written back then, for sure. But if I think about the core of the product, what’s never changed is the purpose: helping hotels communicate better and faster with their guests. Of course, the technology changed over time, we went from a single chat widget to everything we have today, but the goal of giving hotels a direct line to their guests has stayed the same. I think that’s the main thing that never changed over time.
Tiago Araújo (07:52): Yeah, it’s a true vision that we have, of empowering hoteliers to communicate better with their guests. It’s something that’s within our essence in terms of product and development. Last but not least, Andreia, I’m quite curious about your answer to this question: what was your proudest moment at HiJiffy?
Andreia Pais (08:15): The proudest moment was when we went through our rebranding. It genuinely gave me that “wow” feeling, seeing how much we had grown, not just in numbers, but in identity as a company. Looking at how far we’ve come since the very beginning, as a two-person tech team, and seeing what HiJiffy has become through the rebrand, it really hit me how much we had grown. That was, for me, the proudest moment: to see the whole company, all the people, amazed by the rebranding and such things.
Tiago Araújo (09:01): It was a fantastic moment, and it gave us these nice swag t-shirts.
Andreia Pais (09:07): Finally, we received some more swag, finally having socks and stickers at this Mid-Year.
Tiago Araújo (09:10): Thank you so much, Andreia, for joining. Thank you so much for all this time working at HiJiffy and continuing to empower our hoteliers with tech. Thank you.
