Hagal is an important part of the green shift. That energizes me at work.

Hagal-is-an-important-part-of-the-green-shift.-That-energizes-me-at-work.
The experienced software developer, Andreas Solbrå, loves that he is allowed to be involved from the idea phase until the product is finished.

When Solbrå started in Hagal in May 2021, he was one of the first software developers to join the battery technology company. He has a doctorate in computational neuroscience and a master’s degree in physics from University of Oslo (UiO), and was a Senior Data Scientist and Tech Lead in the IT company, Cognite.

It was exciting to get into a start-up company. I didn’t know if it would still exist in a year, but Hagal was able to get funding and expand, and now I’m really happy that I took the chance and jumped on board, says Solbrå.

At Hagal, he works on developing the cloud solution that is used in connection with storage and analysis of data from battery modules. He says that Hagal uses artificial intelligence for analysis both at the macro level and on the circuit boards that monitor each individual cell in the battery packs.

What is the most exciting thing you have had to work with at Hagal?

– What’s fun is that you get a lot of responsibility and the opportunity to be involved throughout the entire process of the products. From the moment you identify which problems you are going to solve, to building it, and then taking responsibility for it working properly, up until the customer gets and uses the solution.

Solbrå says that in larger companies it’s more common to work with a very small part of the cycle. In a smaller company it’s not possible to just pass things on to another department – you and your team have to figure it out for yourself.

– You have a much better overview of the whole when you work in a company like Hagal. There will be more inertia in a large system, and not as much time to work with the actual problem solving. It’s the problem solving I like best.

– Plus, the technology we work with is very cool, he adds.

Good corporate culture and high ceilings

How would you describe Hagal as a workplace, and why are you passionate about the company?

– Ultimately, you want it to be a place where you get energy from the job. I get this at Hagal, having sustainability at our core and being an important part of the green shift. Plus, I appreciate working with extremely talented people. Being part of creating a workplace where it is fun to come to work every day, gives me energy.

Now he is looking forward to Hagal expanding with even more employees.

– I like to make people around me better – teach others what I can. But I also learn a lot from other great people.

What qualities do you think you should have to thrive and succeed in a company like Hagal?

– It’s probably important to be a little self-motivated and be able to think independently about what problems to solve. Good communication is also important. You can’t expect someone telling you what to do at any given time.

The fact that there is room to work independently and come up with own ideas without being shot down, are just a couple of things he appreciates most.

– One of Hagal’s values ​​that I identify with the most is probably ‘Transparency’. There are no secrets within the company. All decisions can be discussed regardless of who they come from. There is room to discuss everything.

Solbrå thinks it’s no problem to balance work and leisure in Hagal.

– I have always believed that if you work with something creative, it’s difficult to work more than 5-6 hours a day on this. A lot of the effort is about coming up with new ideas.

– But now I find that I sometimes get carried away and forget the time, and have suddenly been sitting coding until late evening. But that is probably just a sign that I like my job, Solbrå concludes.