Software engineer Sandy Lee likes to find ways to speed up the clock. From her first job building models that expedited patient care to her current role, she focuses on how to use the power of AI to work smarter – and faster. At Houzz, that means helping the pros who use our Houzz Pro software simplify tasks, improve efficiency and save time, which benefits both their business and their clients. 

How would you describe what you do at Houzz?
I focus on developing AI solutions that help homeowners and home professionals save time and enhance their experience using our software. I started by developing features, such as our background remover for Mood Boards and extracting estimates from PDFs or pictures. Currently, I’m working on AI projects, like AutoMate, our AI assistant, which uses voice activation to help pros create notes or tasks. 

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I was eight or nine years old when I first used a computer. It was this amazing thing where I could do things like contact my friends or record my thoughts. Later, I knew I wanted to become a software engineer who could design systems from scratch to help people save time, enhance their work efficiency and solve problems. 

I studied computer science for my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. AI was one of the popular undergraduate classes in my school, and that was when I first learned about it. In my master’s degree program, my professors focused on AI and how to use it to analyze DNA. I think it’s interesting that we can use AI to help us understand something we don’t know a lot about. For example, I wasn’t familiar with DNA, but I was able to use AI to familiarize myself with it and generate results to help doctors or researchers solve their problems.

How did you find out about Houzz?
After I graduated from my master’s program, I joined a medical company focused on patient care. We wanted to build a model to find patients with similar diseases to help doctors create a similar protocol to help them. Through this job, I met senior colleagues who later joined Houzz. They told me about Houzz’s culture, and I soon joined.

What do you like the most about working at Houzz?
I like the limitless potential of the massive home remodeling and design industry. The uniqueness of Houzz is that we have an all-in-one platform for consumers and professionals, so we can introduce AI solutions that help them to do more things, save time, and help make connections between these two parts of our community. 

You work with engineers and product teams that are in different parts of the world. How do you manage your day when you are working with people in so many time zones?
I think there is a 15- or 16-hour time difference across the teams I work with. I usually wake up and prepare some questions to ask the team. And then I might take a break in the middle of the day, because I also collaborate with the Israel team, which works during my evening hours. I try to finish my workday before 6 p.m., but I keep an eye out for messages in the background, so I can try to solve challenges that come up before I go to sleep.

You mentioned some of the things that you’re working on. What’s your favorite thing we’re doing with AI?
We can use AI to do more things than you can imagine. For example, if you want to create an estimate in the traditional way, you might add an item one by one, which may take maybe 10 or more minutes. But if you use AI, you can just say one sentence, and our AutoMate tool can create an AI-generated estimate that includes an itemized list of labor and materials for the project that a pro can edit. I think that’s very powerful. I like that AI has many possibilities, and we’ll be able to do many, many things that we cannot imagine now.

What’s your favorite Houzz Pro feature?
Schedule is my favorite, because it’s related to so many other Houzz Pro features. For example, a pro might schedule a task based on an estimate. In Schedule, we can split things into multiple tasks to help hit a deadline on time. And a pro can see what other team members are working on using Schedule, too. 

What’s something that has surprised you about working at Houzz?
I was surprised by the flatter reporting structure. Everyone can drive change without being limited by layered managers. I love the company’s collaborative culture, where titles don’t matter. I think that is refreshing. 

I also like the work-from-home culture, where we can manage our own time. It gives you more work-life balance, because you can really engage your work when you are busy and balance it with downtime. 

What advice would you give someone thinking about joining Houzz?
Be patient and curious. Working at Houzz gives you the opportunity to learn things aside from just engineering, like critical thinking and project management. 

What makes you most excited about the future of Houzz?
Like I mentioned, Houzz has unlimited potential within the home remodeling and design industry, and we have made significant improvements to our software through constant evaluation and innovation. We have endless opportunities for embracing new technologies and methods to make our software and future incredibly promising for Houzz and our users. 

And, finally, what do you do when you’re not working?
I love to travel and visit new places around the world. I typically schedule two or three trips abroad each year. At the beginning of this year, I visited the northeastern region of Japan. I was amazed by the towering “snow monsters” and also had a chance to hold a white fox. It was a unique experience!  

If you’re interested in joining our team, we’re hiring! Check out available opportunities at houzz.com/jobs.