Meet Péter, who was one of the first members of the SCALER (previously known as CodingLab) team.

Tamás got in touch with Peti in 2018. Peti was looking for a part-time activity at the time: and demand met supply.

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Developing is a science with several different fields. How long have you been doing it and which technologies are you the most familiar with?

I started working in the industry in 2010 with SQL, reports, then came the ASP.NET, WebForms and the like. I have been working with .NET practically ever since 2010, even though there were some short pauses when I only did frontend developing.

That is something I really love doing, I don’t mind if there is no backend, either. I think it wouldn’t be to my liking the other way around: backend development without frontend is not my thing.

The first project we worked on together (back then it was still the CodingLab team) had to do with the development of the MES (manufacturing execution system) for a large corporation. We had to develop a web interface which required .NET backend and Angular frontend development.

After that we cooperated in a number of small- and large-scale projects.

I have gained a lot of experience during my work, and I witnessed how easily an incomplete or badly designed system can be integrated into everyday operation as a robust albeit inefficient solution.

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What’s the big deal with the AI?

To be honest, I’m a bit lagging behind. Although I have already tested the ChatGPT, I do not use it for work. But my colleagues and friends recommend it, so I guess it will soon be inevitable to join the ranks of its users.

The greatest challenge in this respect is the first step, when you start using these technologies until they become part of your daily work, like using the ChatGPT.

We have a yurt in the countryside (actually, we have two, but I’ll get back to it later) and as it is not soundproof, I developed an app: when it hears a dog barking or similar noises, it emits a high-frequency sound that makes the dogs hush. This personal mini-project demonstrates that AI could be a great help in voice recognition, in filtering out false noises (in this case everything that is not a dog bark).

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And what is your personal opinion about AI? Lots of people have mixed feelings about it.

I think we have to understand it as it is. Obviously, I am not envisioning some Doomsday scenario like in the Terminator movies, and I think AI is not yet smart enough to pose a significant “threat”, but it is a great thing and very useful.

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If you could work for one day in another job, what would you like to do?

I was just thinking about this the other day. I think I would try my hand at driving a locomotive. An old friend of mine also became a train driver. In fact, my parents are also railroad employees. Hence the attraction.

Are you also interested in railway modelling?

No, I prefer life-size locomotives and trains. :)

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So let’s get back to that yurt. What’s the story?

My family owns a plot of land not very far from Lake Balaton which had been completely unused. I’d been thinking about how it could be put to some use, turn it into some country getaway, and once all the utilities were set up, I decided to build a yurt as a (more) environmentally-friendly solution.

Of course, building it took more time and money than I planned, and the contractor was also hindered by the Covid pandemic, but eventually we managed to create a really nice place there. We built two yurts, a bigger and a smaller one, connected by a corridor.

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Do you have any bucket list destinations?

Many years ago, I set out to travel to Saint Petersburg, but unfortunately I never made it. I saw Moscow though, but I would really love to see this historical city. However, I’m afraid I will have to postpone it once again, due to the war. I love Slavic places, but going to Paris is also a big dream of mine. Naturally, I would take the train! But I also find Poland, Finland and Scotland very exciting, and would love to visit these countries as a tourist. But the USA and Africa are not really appealing to me.

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Do you have any hobbies?

I surf on Lake Balaton. Besides, I regularly go hiking and biking. But I always set a goal for myself—I don’t like hiking for hiking’s sake.

I also find reading very relaxing, preferably in English to build my vocabulary.

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Peti also talked about the Croatian climate, about baking bread and we discussed some popular series of the past like Prison Break or La Casa De Papel.

Thank you for the interview, Peti!