“I’m not the typical startup employee. I started to work in a startup when I was 50”

Name: Ilan Maytal

Position: Chief Data Officer

Company: AU10TIX, A global leader in automated identity verification

Age: 65

Living in: Tel-Aviv

Ilan Maytal, Chief Data Officer at AU10TIX. Photo: Courtesy

For a Starter

“I started to work in a startup when I was 50. I’m not the typical startup employee. Prior to AU10TIX, I worked in Amdocs and Cellcom for years. While working for Amdocs, I lived in the United States and in New Zealand. I than worked as a consultant and AU10TIX were one of my clients. Back then, AU10TIX was a startup with only about 20 employees. It is exciting to see how much the company has scaled since. It currently has over 150 employees and it’s still growing rapidly. Older people tend to avoid risks and look for a stable environment. I was never worried of unemployment. As a part of a small group in a startup, you can genuinely impact the company. I love it."

My Daily Routine

8:00

Right after I brush my teeth, I go over emails and check if there are any urgent issues that came up overnight. With international clients such as Uber, Airbnb, Paypal, Google and others – Our team is eager to provide the best services and to quickly respond to our clients.

8:30

A cup of coffee and a quick morning catchup with my wife.

9:00

I turn on radio 103 and listen to Ben Caspit and Yinon Magal as I start a 10-minute drive from my house in northern Tel-Aviv to our offices in Hod Hasharon. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, I work remotely most days – and often give up listening to my favorite radio station.

9:30

Morning conversations with my team. Each one of my team members works on completely different tasks, so I meet with each one separately. I always start my day by catching up with them on all the latest fraud-prevention statistics of my customers from the previous night. As our identity intelligence solutions help protect some of the world's biggest companies, I still find it exciting to see the results every morning.

10:30

First coffee break. Because I can’t carry my own cup as I use crutches, my colleagues bring an Espresso cup to my office, which turns into a social hub.

11:30

I provide advice to younger co-workers from other teams about different dilemmas they face. As someone who has worked at AU10TIX for years, I’m familiar with many of our clients and with different problems we have solved throughout the years. AU10TIX's motto is “customer first” and I share my knowledge to ensure our team provides our clients accurate responses, without unnecessary bureaucracy.

12:30

Lunch time. It can either be sushi, burgers or even McDonalds.

13:30

I take time to learn the latest global market updates, while colleagues often pop into my office with questions. In my position, every five minutes are utterly different. It is exciting, it keeps me focused and it is definitely one of the reasons I love my job.

15:00

Zoom meetings with our team in the United States, located in the East Coast.

16:30

Checking in on our support “war room,” which we occasionally use to tackle technological problems, to learn of new performance trends.

19:30

Last meetings of the day with our clients who are stationed in the West Coast. Working with great companies like Uber and Airbnb – I interact with intelligent, well-organized people, which I really enjoy.

20:00

Favorite time of the day has always been eating dinner with my wife.

21:00

Netflix time. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, we used to go to the movies very often. Now we mostly watch TV.

1:00

Replying to urgent emails from our clients, just before I go to sleep.

Ilan Maytal. Photo: Courtesy

After Hours

One experience you will never forget:

When I lived in New Zealand, I went to flight school and became a pilot. Following my return to Israel, flying airplanes remained my hobby. About five years ago, I experienced a serious plain-crash as my plain’s engine failed during take-off. The doctors weren’t sure if I’ll survive, and my family was told that I wouldn’t be able to stand again. When I started walking six months later, it was a miracle.

Working from Home/Office/Hybrid?

“Hybrid is the ultimate combination. Our company decided that the best way for our employees is a mixture of home and office working, and I agree with that. I believe that face-to-face meetings make it far easier to build strong relationships and are critical for business, especially in companies that are heavily focused on team work and problem solving”.

What music do you listen to?

70’s, 80’s and 90’s songs, and especially Pink Floyd, The Beatles and the Bee Gees. I also love country music – I was recently in a country festival in Nashville, Tennessee and had an incredible time.

What is your favorite Netflix show?

Last night I watched Peaky Blinders with my wife until 1 AM. It was great.

Apple or Android?

Generally, I don’t appreciate “close gardens” and prefer flexibility and functionality. I sometimes wonder if I’m one of the only people who still uses Blackberry. I hold on to my BlackBerry not only because I’m “old school”, buy also because it’s convenient, fast and no one is able to tell if I’m using my cellphone or desktop to send emails.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Seriously? (laughing). Well, at 65, this is a funny question. I would love to start traveling again. When I was younger, I used to travel a lot. Before my injury I loved riding motorcycles and went on motorcycles tours all over the world. Now I use crutches, so I won’t be able to ride again. But I can’t wait to embark on my next journey and travel the world.