Malcolm's Ramblings

I have made it past two years at Acquia, and I am very pleased with my personal progress and growth. For those interested, check out my one year review.

In November 2024, I was promoted to a Senior Technical Account manager. I have been told by my manager that I might be the fastest to go from Professional TAM to Sr. TAM at least in the twelve years he’s been with the organization.

I had to push hard to be noticed and make my mark within the organization, taking advantage of the skills I’ve developed in hopes that they would be useful. Acquia is a big company and the TAM role is so complex and nuanced that it is easy to just put your head down and focus on the work in a way that doesn’t make any wider waves in the company.

In the fall, I was also lucky to not be selected as one of the people let go during a restructuring. Many close friends at Acquia needed to find new jobs and I tried to take time to help them where I could. Thankfully many, but not all, have found new opportunities.

One small issue with my current role is that I am not used to “just” being an individual contributor. I love to teach, train, create documentation, and improve the work of others. I don’t want those skills to wither and dull, so I am trying to do that from my current role, but my available bandwidth is very limited, especially since our son arrived.

Who knew that having a child would take so much attention away from work? (I know the answer is everyone that’s a parent.)

My current goal is to grow into a Staff TAM, which is the next step towards hopefully being able to lead a team again someday. This additional role was added to the growth structure of the TAM role this year. Previously, I would be working towards Principal TAM, but the time between Sr. and Principal was really long, so Acquia decided to add an additional title in between. I have mixed feelings on that, but now that the differences have been defined, I feel like I have a new north star to work towards with regards to personal growth.

I have become a bit of an AI voice in Acquia. On LinkedIn, I say evangelist, but really I want common sense use for AI. I don’t think it solves every problem, but it does help me find some efficiencies in certain situations.

Outside of that, I’ve been continuing to help my clients. I have swapped some easier ones for some harder ones, some smaller ones for some larger ones, as anyone with a deepening skillset should do.

When the new TAMs in Costa Rica were hired, I ran some training sessions on using AI as well as how to use Sumo Logic and have continued to be the TAM Champion for Sumo Logic over the last two years.

For some reason, I’m actually quite good in this role beyond what I ever thought I’d be. I love all of the continuous learning and development. I really enjoy working with my clients to make their sites better. I really appreciate the opportunities I’ve had to help onboard and mentor team members. There is never a shortage of things to do including defining how things could be done.

Due to the layoffs and the general employment market right now in 2025, I have to admit to feeling some trepidation. I wish there was a way to feel completely safe in my role as long as I’m working hard and contributing, but that’s just not the world we live in anymore. It isn’t just Acquia, but so many companies are looking to make themselves more efficient and the employment market suffers when that happens.

Overall, I’m enjoying continuing to grow, figure out how to balance work and fatherhood, and aiming towards the role I want. I really appreciate all of the positive responses I received upon hitting my two year anniversary. It really meant and means a lot to me.