Life @ Cohesity Jeff Kozak on How His Customer Obsession Drives Team Success

The Life @ Cohesity blog series shines a light on the various ways Cohesians — what we like to call ourselves here at Cohesity — foster community, lead by example, and live out our RADIO values in the work that they do both inside and outside of their #LifeAtCohesity. 

In this edition, learn from Jeff Kozak, senior desktop support engineer, on why he joined Cohesity and about how his passion for problem-solving enables the success of his fellow Cohesians.  

Can you tell us a little bit about your career journey and how it brought you to Cohesity?

I joined Cohesity in 2018 and have enjoyed an IT career that spans 23 years. I love managing support teams, projects, and orchestrating infrastructure needs.

I was lured to Cohesity by a pop-up ad online and decided to dip my toe in the startup world. It’s been an amazing experience. I dove right in and contributed immediately, earning trust with my colleagues. 

What keeps you here?  

I truly believe in our core values for the company collectively and love offering my combination of technical expertise and soft skills to Cohesians. I really get a kick out of leading the IT segment of New Hire Orientation and getting our North America new hires onboarded with laptops, monitors, and accessories before their start date. My goal is to enable our workforce and for employees to see confidence in IT and be satisfied with our solutions and white-glove service. As the Zoom SME at Cohesity, I enjoy helping our great team execute.

Also, my manager here at Cohesity, Angela Franklin, is the best manager of my professional career. She’s a brilliant mentor, she listens to understand, and actions every item I bring to her. Angela models collaboration and innovation.

Can you tell us about a project that you worked on that makes you really proud?

A highlight project for me was setting up our Research Triangle Project (RTP) office in May 2019 and moving 150 people from an 8,000 square-foot space into a 30,000 square-foot facility.

Which one of our RADIO values resonates most with you? Why?

Customer Obsession transcends my job. I see that core value in every aspect of my life. I attribute my strong work ethic to my Dad, who worked for the family business. There are no shortcuts to success.

The pandemic brought new challenges for everyone. In a matter of days, our world changed. In March of 2020, IT had to quickly transition our on-prem workforce to offsite in less than two weeks … which involved so many logistics and scenarios from VPN licenses to Zoom to WebEx across the globe. I try to put myself in my customers’ shoes … thinking, acting, and talking like them to deliver value, corporate maturity, a sense of pride in our company, and continue to meet the tough demands of our internal customers and our leadership.

I share credit with my incredible team and believe recognition is important for the job … and for the soul.

Outside of work and Cohesity, how do you like to spend your time?

I’m a music geek who enjoys playing golf, frisbee golf, and building remote-control cars.

Many of my colleagues comment on my guitar collection that is on display during Zoom meetings. I love it — music bridges gaps, breaks the ice, and allows for stronger engagement.

My wife of 26 years Nicole and I have two children: Hudson (15) and Madeline (13). My family is my pride and joy. We love spending time together on our ski boat, which we treat as an extension of our living room. We enjoy being in nature, fishing, riding the tube. And in the winter season, we switch to skiing and snowboarding.