Meet Ulkar, VP of Engineering - Solutions at Mappedin, where she leads the team behind our comprehensive suite of mapping and wayfinding solutions.
Learn more about her approach to leadership, which combines strategic vision with hands-on experience, including insights into balancing customer demands and product development.
How would you best describe your role?
I lead the team building, implementing, and delivering our solutions: Mappedin Web, Mappedin Directory, and a whole fleet of solutions for wayfinding, operations, security, leasing, and more. We make sure that maps are efficiently ingested, data integrations with existing systems are connected, and ultimately that the experiences we deliver are reliable and beautiful.
What does your typical workday look like?
Morning: Each day starts with reviewing emails and messages, making sure everything is taken care of, and sets the tone for a productive day. I evaluate my schedule for the day: if I don’t need to be in meetings personally, I delegate and pull in relevant people if key voices are missing from discussions.
I’m very intentional and critical about what’s on my calendar, keeping space open for team stand-ups and ad hoc needs, since every day can look a little different. I identify key tasks that I can tackle to help unblock my team, other teams, or customers. As I get set for the day, I focus on ensuring everyone has what they need to move forward.
Afternoon: My afternoon often includes a mix of 1-1s, customer calls, and cross-functional team chats - especially when it comes to discussing new product features or collaborating on solutioning and design.
I work closely with members across many teams to ensure projects are moving forward smoothly, and I help coordinate any necessary communication with marketing or sales when relevant updates or milestones come up. Throughout the day, I stay responsive and engaged, and by end of day, I make sure everything on Slack is answered so nothing slips through the cracks.
My go-to lunch is: A Poppy’s Bagel – shoutout to the Lox Bagel, a solid favorite!
Midnight: Back for a fully focused coding session, this is where the real experimental dev work happens. It’s less about productivity and more about curiosity, creativity, and getting that dopamine hit through code before bed. A little chaos, a lot of fun! Like a hidden vault track, the best features sneak out at midnight 🪩✨.
How do you effectively balance customer requests versus new product features/initiatives?
A big part of my role is listening closely to what customers are asking for and making sure that feedback is incorporated into our new product initiatives. It’s a continuous loop of understanding their pain points, shaping solutions around those needs, and then bringing new features back to them to show how what we’re building directly addresses their problems.
This helps build trust, keeps our product aligned with real-world use cases, and ensures we’re not just shipping features, but delivering value!
What are some of the biggest challenges you encounter in your role, and how do you overcome them?
Resourcing is often a challenge in leadership roles—there’s always more cool stuff you could build if you had more people. But not having a surplus of resources actually forces clarity and focus. It pushes you to be critical about what should be built versus what could be built. This constraint helps prioritize impact, align more tightly with customer needs, and avoid over-engineering solutions that don’t move the needle.
How do you approach adopting new technologies or frameworks within the company?
We're always open to exploring new technology stacks and tooling, especially when it comes to proofs of concept or kicking off new projects. It’s all about using whatever helps the team get the job done most effectively. With AI changing the landscape very quickly, we have to be open to new approaches to ensure we stay ahead of the curve.
What has been the most rewarding part of your role as a leader at Mappedin?
One of the most rewarding parts of the role has been seeing people grow within the company, starting out as juniors and over time becoming senior contributors who are empowered to lead large-scale projects. Being part of that journey and helping to enable their growth has been incredibly fulfilling. A big focus for me is matching team members with the right projects, not just to make the most of their current skill sets, but to challenge them in areas where they want to grow. Creating those opportunities, where people are both contributing meaningfully and in the right spots to learn and develop, has been amazing to watch.
What’s your advice for students wanting to pursue a career in tech?
Incorporate and embrace AI into your life, grow with it! You are the generation that was introduced to AI during your formative years, which gives you a unique advantage: it’s native to you. While others may still be adapting, you have the opportunity to build with AI as a natural part of your workflow, thinking, and creativity.
Lean into that. Use it not just as a tool, but as a partner in solving problems and unlocking new possibilities. The landscape is evolving quickly, and your comfort with this technology puts you in a position to lead that change.
What do you envision Mappedin to be in the next decade?
Looking ahead, we envision a future where entire cities become unified: accessible everywhere, seamlessly integrated across platforms and devices. One source of truth to power all their mapping needs, from wayfinding to operations and security. As we move into the next decade, the way people receive directions will evolve dramatically, with different methods emerging across a variety of gadgets.
Our goal is to be everywhere in terms of our footprint, ensuring our mapping and navigation solutions are embedded wherever people need them, across every surface, device, and experience.
Thanks to Ulkar for sharing what her typical day looks like. It showcases her knowledge and leadership in making Mappedin solutions an important part of any venue experience. Stay tuned for more stories highlighting our talented team.
Interested in joining our team? Explore our open roles.
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