References
Paul Leung
Analyst at RS Investments
Jacob was a great member of the team, always knowledgeable and responsive to the team, helping to move the technology and business side forward for RS. I’d recommend him to anyone looking for a forward thinking technology lead.
June 19, 2015, Paul worked with Jacob at RS Investments
Marvin Yee
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at RS Investments
Who needs Menthos when you have Jacob, the real freshmaker. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jacob for 8 years, during which he’s been a peer and a manager. Above all, I was impressed with Jacob’s ability to foster a collaborative and innovative team working environment within IT and among the business. His friendly light-hearted nature is unforgettable. Jacob would be a true asset for any positions requiring technical leadership, innovation, and rapid growth and comes with my highest recommendation.less
June 15, 2015, Marvin reported to Jacob at RS Investments
Christopher Bosma
Desktop Support Engineer
Jacob is the kind of boss that people love to work for – one who is both a coach and a mentor. As Head of Infrastructure at RS Investments, he completely overhauled the department, renegotiated contracts for thousands of savings to the company, and worked to change the help desk from a reactive to proactive stance on user issues. Jacob has an amazing way of finessing difficult situations and he always managed to make it seem so effortlessly. I would work for him again in a heartbeat.less
June 8, 2015, Christopher reported to Jacob at RS Investments
Simon Bullers
CEO, RedPixie
I had the pleasure of managing Jacob and I have to say he is a fantastic person to have on your team. Jacob gets on with the task at hand, totally understands the costs of projects and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get on with something completely strange and not in his normal comfort zone.
I have seen Jacob work miracles with equipment, help work with vendors to carry out significant product enhancements and deliver for both BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors amazing technology solutions that saw both firms benefit.
Lastly, Jacobs manners, professionalism and happiness make him a total pleasure to work with.less
Eric Christiansen
March 30, 2012, Simon managed Jacob at BlackRock
Eric Christiansen
Independent Consultant
For more than a decade now I’ve worked with Jacob on various projects during various stages of our corporate evolution. When faced with any infrastructure issue, from a single desktop to multiple data centers, Jacob is my number one choice as the first man to see to get the job done.
Jacob demonstrates excellent professionalism and knowledge of current technologies, vendors, offerings, and user experiences. He is able to cut though vendor, trade press, and even consulting firm hype to reliably assess real capabilities. He is not afraid to rely on a network of other experts he has cultivated over the years, and indeed Jacob’s network of technology experts and practitioners is an awesome group.
Jacob thinks hard and is sometimes slow to promise results (often wisely). Once made I have never seen Jacob or his team not deliver on a promise, although there are often many unexpected hurdles along the way requiring considerable creativity and determination to overcome.
Jacob has also demonstrated an ability to budget fiercely. He never seems to lose track of a planning dollar and knows where the current money is being spent, and usually how we could spend less.
Finally Jacob is a nice guy. He inspires loyalty from those who work for him, respect from his peers, and gratitude from his business officers.less
Stephen Vilke
Petek Utku
February 12, 2010, Eric worked with Jacob at BlackRock
Stephen Vilke
Media Lab R&D at Citrix
Jacob had one of the greatest attitudes of anyone I worked with at Barclays. He was interested, introspective and thoughtful. Considering the nature of the work was challenging and often exhaustive and impossible (research), Jacob never gave up and tackled all problems with great enthusiasm. As a result, he often managed to find a solution others had missed and the Firm was better for it. I also watched Jacob manage disappointment first hand; his grace and inevitable buoyant nature turned even the smallest setbacks into advancements. Amazing.less
May 30, 2011, Stephen managed Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
Petek Utku
Director IT Strategy, Design and Planning at Riverbed Technology
I have had a true pleasure working with Jacob in various projects and roles. I have known him for 7 years. I have been particularly impressed by the professionalism and technical innovation that Jacob demonstrated on our projects. Jacob has a unique gift of thinking outside the box and providing elegant and practical solutions on ‘any thing’.
I recommend Jacob Chirayath very highly for any position in the IT field that involves complexity and creativity, with high quality requirements. He is an exceptionally bright and hardworking person who will do his very best to do an outstanding job for whomever he works.less
Murulidhar Krishna
Luke Matam
September 10, 2013, Petek worked directly with Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
Murulidhar Krishna
Manager, Storage & Backups at Intuit
"I have worked with Jacob very closely for over 10 years. Jacob is a remarkable individual with the ability to think strategically and deliver accordingly. Jacob is very adept across all infrastructure technologies and his analytical thinking help him solve business problems. Jacob uses his influence and resources in helping out in critical situations. Jacob is amiable and overall, a great guy to work with …"less
October 5, 2011, Murulidhar worked directly with Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
Luke Matam
Jacob is very innovative and thoughtfully introduces latest technologies depending on the needs of the organization. He has often been under budget constraints and yet with increased demands from the users he has embraced leading edge technologies. With his attentiveness, responsiveness and problem solving skills, you can depend on him to overcome teething problems with new technology.
Jacob is a very likeable person and is a pleasure to work with.less
Scotia Miller
Andrew Meisel
July 7, 2011, Luke managed Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
Scotia Miller
Client Enterprise Architect at Pacific Gas and Electric Company
I worked with Jacob for over 12 years and during that time became inspired by his vision, intelligence, and technical wisdom. Jacob is a genius in all aspects of infrastructure technology and if there is some detail he isn’t sure of he has a vast network of IT contacts that are always willing to help. He thinks “outside the box”, a quality that makes him a skilled and swift problem solver. His pleasant and open-minded disposition makes him a joy to work with and gives him the exceptional ability to bring people and groups together to attain a goal. I thoroughly enjoyed having Jacob as my colleague and friend.less
February 28, 2012, Scotia worked directly with Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
Andrew Meisel
Principal Consultant at Meisel Consulting, LLC
Jacob reported to me from 1999 to 2001 when he managed the infrastructure group for the quantitative investment business at Barclays Global Investors. At that time, BGI was one of the largest systematic investors in the world, and arguably the premier quant asset management firm. Jacob joined when the quant business was on a steep growth curve toward accounting for 70% of BGI’s revenue, and grew the infrastructure to match. In spite of scaling up and introducing transformative new technologies, the quality and reliability of Jacob’s systems and team were first rate. Perhaps most impressively, he made his efforts into a driver of innovation and evolution for the entire firm. He pushed for and piloted key technologies that then rolled out to, and truly revolutionized, the firm-wide landscape. His contributions included the SAN, NAS, Linux, grid computing, high performance storage, and a multi-network Ethernet backbone — all these were first introduced to BGI through Jacob and his team. I cannot say enough about his talents and success. Professionally and personally, he is a pleasure to work with. less
June 13, 2015, Andrew managed Jacob at Barclays Global Investors
