Meet the Team: Shivang Chheda
Tell us a little bit about yourself, background, and role. How did you land here?
I’ve been working in software engineering for about 4 years, with most of that time focused on the front end. I’ve been drawn to software development since my school days, and earned my Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from Shah And Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College. When Trestle was looking for someone with strong front-end experience, it lined up well with where I wanted to take my career.
Funny story behind how I joined Trestle:the whole interview process happened in a single day. Round one was in the morning, round two in the evening, and by the end of the night, I had closed the offer. I was the first engineer hired through that process, which made it even more memorable.
What does your daily routine look like?
The whole engineering team is fully remote, and we get together in-person for quarterly meetups. I begin my day around 8 or 9 AM, by reviewing what was completed the day before and laying out what I plan to tackle that day, including anything I need to sync on with teammates.
From there, I get into my front-end tickets. I work primarily with Redux on the front end, and I’ve also been getting more hands-on with the back end as I work toward going full stack. Right now we don’t have many front-end engineers, so most of my time is spent on front-end work such as coding, testing, reviewing tickets, and helping unblock teammates wherever I can.
AI has changed how I work day to day. I’d say my time is now split roughly 50/50 between hands-on coding and working alongside AI tools. While the AI is generating code from a prompt, I use that time to explore other improvements like automations, tooling, and new things I can pick up. Since joining Trestle, I’ve become much more hands-on with AI tooling. The team gives us the freedom to use these tools, and that’s pushed me to grow a lot in the past few months. The models have improved quickly too, which has made the whole experience even better.
What excites you most about Trestle?
Honestly, the work culture. I’ve come from a very toxic culture in the past, so the environment Kushal has built here feels genuinely different. It’s comfortable and supportive, and the way the company shows up every single day matches what was described during the interview process.
What stood out about Trestle is that whatever was promised in that early conversation has actually held true. And in many ways, the experience has gone beyond what I expected. That kind of consistency is rare, and it’s one of the best things about working here.
What Trestle value do you relate to most?
I lean most toward Figure It Out. I’m a curious person by nature; if you give me a problem, I want to dig in and solve it. That instinct shows up in everything I do.
That said, Figure It Out doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It naturally pulls in One Team and Growth Mindset, because no one person has all the answers. You need other people’s wisdom and knowledge to actually solve hard problems well. So while Figure It Out is the value I relate to most, those three really go together for me.
What’s one surprising thing that helps you do your best work?
Enthusiasm and passion for what I do. My role is fundamentally about problem-solving, and this field moves fast. When I joined Trestle, I was hand-coding nearly everything, and now I leverage AI tools for efficiency. I wouldn’t have been able to make that shift without genuine curiosity and the willingness to keep learning.
I follow a handful of people on social media who are pushing this stuff forward, and that helps me stay sharp. I’ve known for about 10 years that this is what I wanted to do, and that long-term passion is what keeps me going.
What’s a topic you could give a 5-minute impromptu talk about?
Honestly, a few depending on who I’m talking to. I could go on about cars: engines, modifications, how things work under the hood. I’m also into PC building and hardware in general, things like graphics cards, CPUs, custom builds, that whole world.
Fitness is another one. I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym dialing in workout splits (push, pull, legs) along with diet, macros, and protein, carbs, and fat ratios depending on whether you’re trying to cut, gain, or maintain.
And then there’s the money mindset side. I know about trading, how to think about your finances long-term. So really, give me the right person and the right topic and I can keep the conversation going.
