Meet Team Rachio - Michael I

post by Michael_I on Apr 14, 2020

Hello everyone! My name is Michael and I am the new Director of Engineering here at Rachio. I have been a passionate Gen 2 16 zone customer since 2016 and am excited to be joining the Rachio team.

Delighting our customers is one of our core values and something that is important to me. To help bring our Community and Engineering team closer together, we will be introducing you to the exceptionally talented group of people who build the Rachio experience.

Also, we will be more actively engaged here in the community to better understand your world, experience, and challenges. The goal is to use that knowledge to build an even better product for you.

So to kick things off, I wanted to share a little about myself. I hope to get to know you all well soon too!

What’s one thing on your bucket list?
Circumnavigate Australia on a motorcycle. What an incredible experience!

What do you like to read?
History or non-fiction books as there are so many incredible true stories we can learn from and hopefully that information from previous generations on how to make things better.

Who do you look up to/your biggest influencers?
People who serve and have done things. So many amazing people who do great things every day in service of others. Those who have experienced trials and tribulations and come out stronger on the other side have the most to learn from in my opinion.

What about your new position at Rachio are you most excited about?
Making the transition from customer to contributor of such an incredible product. Getting to meet the team and experience the culture has been fantastic. I am very much looking forward to helping build an even better Rachio experience moving forward.

Pinned globally on Apr 14, 2020

post by laura.bauman on Apr 14, 2020

WOOOOO!!! Welcome to the team, Michael! I'm excited to have you and the rest of the eng team hanging out with us on Community!

post by franz on Apr 14, 2020

Michael! Welcome to the team!

post by CO.BRM on Apr 18, 2020

Hi Michael!
I’m glad a passionate Rachio user has joined the team as head of Engineering, hopefully you can fix the shame of HomeKit integration that has plagued the Rachio 3, I hope you know all about it and have a fix out to us mere users soon!

post by Stewart on Apr 19, 2020

If I were in Michael’s position, this wouldn’t make the top ten list. It only affects one Rachio product and is limited to users with iOS devices who have a suitable hub and have chosen HomeKit as their home automation solution. I’d guess that this is a small percentage of the user base, though they sure are vocal!

What’s strange is that they gripe bitterly about the missing feature, but rarely note the benefit(s) that they are lacking. The only one frequently mentioned is the ability to start and stop zones with Siri.

I agree that voice control is important. If you are adjusting or cleaning sprinkler heads, with wet/dirty/gloved hands, controlling zones without touching the phone is very useful. But you can do that just fine with Google Assistant. It’s IMO the more elegant solution, because it works with both Android and iOS, works with Rachio 1, 2, 3 (and I presume 3e), doesn’t require any hardware other than phone and controller, and is not dependent on specific networking setups.

post by TTeuer on Apr 19, 2020

Because when every other product in your house that that was advertised to work with HomeKit works with zero issues, you’d expect the Rachio to work as advertised.

post by CO.BRM on Apr 19, 2020

So a product sold not as described is fine by you! Awesome I have a bunch of things to sell you. They are all insanely overpriced and have features you might like but won’t work with one part of your IMO inferior choice of google home ecosystem…

post by Stewart on Apr 19, 2020

I agree completely that Google Home is a lame automation platform. I primarily use SmartThings, with Alexa as the main human input source…

post by CO.BRM on Apr 19, 2020

Wow, ok, so I’m guessing either you haven’t heard of bait and switch and the legal protections we are offered in this great and free country…

post by Michael_I on Apr 20, 2020

Thanks for the engagement everyone! I am still getting my feet under me and appreciate the suggestions for areas to dig into. I will dig in this week and see what I can learn and come up with for next steps. Hope you all had a great weekend.

post by bd08037 on Apr 29, 2020

I just wish someone would respond to my help ticket I put in 4 days ago…

post by Michael_I on Apr 29, 2020

@bd08037, what is your issue and I’ll escalate to our customer service team.

post by Michael_I on May 1, 2020

@bd08037, I reached out to our customer service manager and he or someone will be reaching out (if they haven’t already) to assist with your issue. Apologies for the delay…

post by bd08037 on May 4, 2020

Still nothing. Unbelievable.

post by laura.bauman on May 4, 2020

Hey @bd08037 - can I have your ticket number or have you DM me the email you used to send in your request?