How one leader’s journey from consulting to engineering leadership illustrates the innovation, growth opportunities, and impact-driven culture that define Appian’s approach to technology and talent development.
At Appian, The Process Company that delivers software platforms helping organizations run better processes, innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a fundamental philosophy that drives everything from product development to career advancement. We sat down with Medhat Galal, Senior Vice President of Engineering, to explore what makes Appian’s engineering culture unique and why top talent continues to choose the company for their career growth.
From Early Inspiration to Engineering Leadership
Medhat’s journey began in the late 1980s when computers were still relatively new. “I fell in love with the artistic ability of using computers to make them do what you wanted to do,” he reflects. This early fascination, combined with growing up in a business-oriented family, shaped his understanding that technology’s true power lies in solving real business problems.
An early internship exposed him to technical consulting, where he witnessed the immediate impact of technology on customers. “I literally talked to the CEO of the business and said, ‘This is what I want to do when I grow up.'”
This customer-first philosophy would define two-thirds of his career in consulting before he transitioned to engineering leadership at Appian. “I found that I wasn’t really programming computers—I was mostly influencing people,” Medhat notes. “It was about making people all row in the same direction, understanding what we’re trying to help customers with, and getting clarity on actual problems versus perceived problems.”
Innovation Through First Principles
At Appian, innovation stems from fundamental philosophies rather than random inspiration. “Innovation isn’t something you wake up with one morning—there’s no light bulb hovering over your head,” Medhat emphasizes. “You have to think about first principles and operate at the ground floor.”
The company subscribes to several key innovation principles:
- Abstraction layers: Making complex tasks simpler and more accessible
- Unified approach: Integrating capabilities rather than building disparate tools
- Enterprise-grade simplicity: Delivering powerful outcomes without requiring deep specialization.
“We don’t want our customers to be high-code developers,” Medhat explains. “We innovate to make things as simple as possible, accessible to many people to do things faster, better, and cheaper.”
Real Innovation Examples
One standout example comes from Appian’s AI efforts. Rather than requiring customers to become AI specialists, the team developed what they call “private AI”—bringing AI to customer data instead of requiring customers to bring their data to AI systems.
“We coined the notion of private AI,” Medhat explains. “For highly regulated customers, we ensure their data is safe, secure, and private while leveraging sophisticated AI techniques—from prompt engineering to semantic search, all automatically optimized without customers needing to understand the complexity.”
The results speak for themselves: customers are saving upwards of a million dollars monthly using Appian’s AI capabilities for document extraction and validation.
AI Integration in Daily Work
For Appian employees, AI isn’t just a product feature, it’s integrated into daily workflows. Medhat challenges his teams with a simple question: “What parts of your job could you use AI as a consultant or buddy to do, or in some cases, do it for you?”, emphasizing that they are still responsible for AI outputs and decisions.
One particularly impressive innovation came from a long-time team member who developed a way to transform natural language ideas into high-value, consumer-grade interfaces using AI. “They shortcut the entire process—from mockups to drag-and-drop building, into minutes instead of weeks,” Medhat notes with evident pride.
Career Growth Philosophy: “Winners Always Want the Ball”
Medhat’s approach to career development centers on ownership and growth mindset. He frequently quotes the movie “The Replacements”: “Winners always want the ball.” This philosophy encourages employees to seek out challenges rather than wait for assignments.
“I challenge people to test their assumptions,” Medhat explains. “Most limitations are perceived limitations, not real ones. What would need to be true for this to be entirely different from how it’s being done today?”
Appian actively supports career transitions through its talent flow programs. Medhat himself exemplifies this, having switched from consulting to engineering after two-thirds of his career. “Growth at Appian means owning your career, your learning, and your progress. Don’t wait for permission, take extreme ownership to solve a problem no one handles today or not handled systematically”
The Hallway Test: Ensuring Aligned Innovation
One of Medhat’s key management tools is what he calls the “hallway test” – ensuring anyone can explain what the team is solving in a single sentence. “Anyone should be able to explain what we’re solving for. That alignment gives engineers autonomy and purpose while keeping us focused on advancing our customers’ missions.”
This approach ensures that innovation isn’t random but directly connected to customer outcomes. “If you set this up right, innovation becomes a habit, not an event,” Medhat reflects.
Culture and Community: More Than Just Colleagues
What truly sets Appian apart is its sense of community. “There’s an intense sense of camaraderie,” Medhat explains. “We think of ourselves as David versus Goliath – we prevail through the intensity, communication, trust, and relationships of our people.”
This culture creates lasting bonds. “People tend to become lifelong friends. A lot of former Appian employees are still buddies who hang out on weekends. Some have even gotten married and had kids,” he notes with a smile.
The company fosters these connections through location-sensitive events, team celebration budgets, weekly engineering socials, and flexible tools for social bonding at every level.
Personal Impact: Technology with Human Purpose
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of working at Appian is the tangible human impact. Medhat shares a deeply personal story about helping a small autism services organization in Pennsylvania.
“We provided both the software and AI services for free, and our customer success team helped them build a project that reduced patient onboarding time from 180 days to 10 days,” he recounts. “It doesn’t get more personal than that.”
This story exemplifies Appian’s broader impact across industries. “There’s always a human on the other side of the technology,” Medhat reminds his team. “Keep that in mind every time you’re working – it’s not fast enough, not urgent enough to get people the services they deserve.”
Why Choose Appian?
For engineering professionals considering their next career move, Appian offers a unique combination of technical challenge, personal growth, and meaningful impact. “I work on things I love working on with people I love working with, and I get paid for it,” Medhat summarizes. “That’s kind of a gift.”
As Medhat puts it: “Appian, like many other organizations, has problems. It’s our job as leaders to identify these opportunities and connect people to them. Once you create that connection aligning our needs, with people’s interests and abilities, magic truly happens.” At Appian, that connection – between people, problems, and purpose – is what transforms good engineers into great innovators and technology into meaningful impact.
To learn more about engineering opportunities at Appian and join a team where innovation meets impact, explore Appian engineering careers.
