Audible Sound Bites with Kannan Ganesan

Kannan Ganesan, a Software Development Engineer II (SDEII), collaborates with our tech team to enhance Audible’s playback experience. Whether an Audible Original, audiobook, or podcast, his work contributes to the smooth and seamless listening enjoyed by millions worldwide. This concrete impact is what makes Kannan and many of our SDEs excited to come to work every day.

What has your career journey at Audible looked like?

When I started as an SDE I at Audible in February 2020, I was amazed by how the other engineers helped me ramp up. After being promoted to a SDE II in April 2022, I am now leading projects that directly affect the playback experience for customers. The transition into my current role was very smooth, as the Audible engineering community as a whole wants everyone to grow and flourish in their roles.

What do you love most about the workplace culture? Which benefits do you appreciate?

Besides the amazing people, one aspect of Audible that I’ve always loved is how employees are empowered by managers and other leaders to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Audible cares about the mental/physical health of employees. In addition to vacation and personal days, we’re provided with three wellness days per year. This allows me to take a day to recharge and spend time with my family.
I also appreciate the hybrid work policy, a mix of working from hub for a minimum of two days per week and work from home. This is really efficient, as most meetings are done on the days when everyone comes to the office, allowing more focused time when we work from home.

How do you exemplify our People Principles in your day-to-day work?

“Activate Caring” is one of my favorite People Principles. This has driven me to think from a team perspective since day one, and I believe this principle is in the soul of every employee at Audible. In my role, I bring this to life by documenting new information, knowledge, and learnings to share with my team and other people I work with.

What advice would you have for a candidate considering Audible?

Be curious. As long as they’re curious and able to draw inspiration from culture and technology, the Audible community will help them transition and onboard quickly, so they can deliver wonderful features for customers, as well as grow their skillset and career.

Lightning Round

Favorite Genre? Non-fiction.
What hub are you aligned to? Newark, NJ.
Listening from a speaker or in your headphones? Headphones.
Morning person or night owl? Night owl who transitioned into a morning person recently.
Favorite snack? Think protein bar.

What’s your favorite listen?

A Promised Land by Barack Obama. I chose to listen to it because I love listening and reading about the personal experiences of leaders, and I’m enjoying the first-hand experience of a president who battled multiple issues that came his way.