ISE Developer Blog

Michael

Image Michael Warthen pic

Michael Warthen

Michael has had some unique experiences in life, like when he almost missed out on his calling in tech as a high schooler to owning and running his own gas station while working a full-time job in financial and healthcare services.

When you get to know Michael Warthen, you may hear him call himself a Nuyorican (NewYoriCan); he is rich in culture as a bi-racial person of color, being an African American and Puerto Rican American who is also from New York City. He was in select program at Brooklyn Tech High School which offered computer classes that weren’t available in other schools. Michael was floundering, disinterested, and stopped attending class consistently. His truancy was flagged, and he was almost kicked out of the program. With the help of several passionate teachers and administrators, he found computer sciences classes he loved, and he never skipped again. This was a pivotal moment for Michael. He learned how to do things the hard way like learning to debug code…on paper, an experience he remembers fondly. He aced his AP courses earning college credits, which would springboard him right into college. As a freshman, he worked in the computer lab on campus. He was fully absorbed spending countless hours counseling upperclassman on what he knew and soaking up any new information he could. When he graduated, he was hired immediately as a tech consultant.

Michael has a diverse portfolio of work experience, from startups to large enterprises in healthcare, financial services and even media and communications. However, nothing really tops the humbling experience he had working a full-time tech job while running his own gas station. He found himself doing both due to staffing issues, which stretched him to his max; from negotiating gasoline contracts and dealing with demanding customers, to checking in and reviewing code, he managed it all with a sense of calmness. If anything needed attention, Michael got the job done.

Working on the CSE team has drawn upon his skills balancing customer satisfaction, employee health and well-being, and competing business priorities to guide his teams toward meeting the customer needs.