John Tuckner is a recognized leader in the field of security automation. As Principal Technical Program Manager at Tines, John helps new and existing customers identify more opportunities to leverage the platform, and enables them to build transformative automation workflows to improve their security operations.
Can you tell us a little more about yourself?
I’m a midwest guy who professionally tries to do my best to help protect the internet and attempt to help make cybersecurity accessible to anyone. I’m a business major that ended up doing way too many things with computers growing up, which I embrace now; cybersecurity is actually all about the two working together. I joined Tines to work hand-in-hand with customers creating automation Stories. My role has evolved into finding the right opportunities where our customer success organization can provide a more advanced support element with our product.
What drew you to Tines, and what do you enjoy most about working here?
I’m a generalist who gets bored doing the same thing daily, so I love being in growing organizations where I can experience a lot of different and creative ways to work. Joining soon after Covid struck the world, I was looking for a really interesting, remote opportunity with a reasonable working balance, and Tines checks all the boxes. I love to tell people that I get to work on the “boring” parts of cybersecurity by finding creative ways to automate repetitive tasks. It is refreshing after being close to high-pressure incidents like ransomware for the past couple of years.
What advice would you give to someone just starting at Tines?
Ship it! There is so much opportunity to make a difference, so get your ideas out there and iterate from there. You’ll receive your best feedback from putting something you might consider imperfect out there but makes your co-workers and customers' lives a lot easier by having something available. As a bonus, the concerns you might’ve had before shipping will either be validated instantly or won’t be problems after all!
What do you like to do outside of work?
Traveling to experience different perspectives and culture is tops for me— especially anything involving food or drink. At home, I'm usually cooking something new, like smoking meat, baking bread, fermenting hot sauce, or coming up with a brand new dish for dinner.
Any Tines product tips/tricks to share with readers?
I have a reputation internally for finding unique ways of using the product that is often unexpected. It is genuinely a ‘sandbox’ experience where so many things are possible, which allows you to be profoundly creative. My main advice for beginners would be not to let perfect be the enemy of good. You could have an elaborate plan and be overwhelmed by it, but by just starting and creating the first couple of automation steps, you might find you are already getting back many hours of your day.
Want to know more about Tines? Check out our About page.
Interested in joining the Tines team? View our current openings and apply here.