Hello, this is primeNumber.
Faces of primeNumber is a series where we dive into the careers, journeys, and personalities of members who, like prime numbers, are unique and irreplaceable.
This time, we spoke with Brett Torenvlied, a New Zealander and former professional gamer, who is now working as a Solution Architect on our global team.
From a professional gamer who won major Dota 2 tournaments in Japan for three consecutive years, Brett joined primeNumber with zero data engineering experience, and is now tackling data challenges for international clients. How did he make such a career shift? What values at primeNumber resonate with him the most? We asked Brett about his thoughts on work.
From Studying at Keio University and Starting a Business in Japan to the World of Gaming – A Diverse Career Path
— Could you tell us about your career so far?
I completed a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) and Bachelors of Arts (BA) at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand. For my arts degree, I majored in Japanese, and for commerce, I studied economics. I also spent one year at Keio University in Japan as an exchange student.
After graduation, I started an internship at BMW Group Japan. My role was a “Technology Scout” in the engineering division, where I searched for interesting technologies in Japan that could be potentially used in BMW vehicles. I visited exhibitions, university labs, and tech companies, collected information, wrote reports, and sent them to the German headquarters.
I did that work for seven months, but around that time the yen was weakening significantly. I noticed there was a big price gap between used cars in Japan and New Zealand, so I saw a business opportunity and started a trading business.
— What exactly did your business involve?
Simply put, every week, I inspected and purchased cars at Japanese auto auctions, handled all the paperwork, shipped them to New Zealand, and sold them there. At the same time, I also built an e-commerce site and sold Japanese textbooks to university students in New Zealand.
— And then you became a professional gamer?
In my spare time I enjoyed gaming and became ranked among the top players in Dota 2. That made me think, “maybe I can go pro.” Around the same time, the well-known Japanese team DeToNator was recruiting, so I applied and joined.
Later, I formed my own team, which became one of the top teams in Japan. We won all of the major domestic tournaments for around three consecutive years, represented Japan in international competitions, and was featured in a documentary created by the company Valve (the developer of Dota 2).
— Why did you switch from being a pro gamer to becoming a company employee?
In 2019, my first child was born. Becoming a parent made me realize that I needed to build a more stable career. I was considering either becoming a company employee or returning to New Zealand to enter medical school to become a doctor. At that time, a friend from my Keio days invited me to join primeNumber, and I decided to take the leap.
From Zero Knowledge in Data Engineering to Solution Architect
— What do you do at primeNumber?
I currently work as a Solution Architect in the global team. I help explain our product TROCCO, propose how it can be integrated into clients’ architectures and how it can solve their data challenges.
Recently, I’ve been making proposals beyond TROCCO as well—for example, in software development projects, I listen to customer requirements and come up with solution architectures to help solve their problems.
— You also work in Business Development, right?
Yes. In Korea, I handled marketing, event and exhibition preparation, video production, content creation, marketing emails, lead management, and also worked on partnerships with companies like Databricks and Snowflake.
— That sounds quite different from your original role.
I originally joined primeNumber as a Technical Writer at a time when TROCCO had no English version. I was responsible for localizing both the platform and its documentation into English. My role went beyond simple translation—it also involved localization and internationalization (i18n) work, which required me to learn some coding.
Once the localization work settled down, I moved to the Customer Success division to handle pre-sales overseas, and eventually became a Solution Architect, which is my current role.
— Solution Architects need technical expertise. Did you already have that background?
I didn’t have much data-related knowledge. I had some experience building my own e-commerce site and websites, but nothing at a professional level. When I joined primeNumber, I knew nothing about data.
So, I started setting aside time every day to study data engineering. I learned through tutorials, books, and industry podcasts, and now I’d say I’ve become quite knowledgeable about it.
I began to approach learning data engineering and self-improvement the same way I approached games: like leveling up a character or building new skills one by one. As I gained more knowledge and grew stronger, I was able to take on bigger and more complex challenges.
— What motivated you to study so hard?
Without understanding data engineering, I couldn’t do translation work properly because there was a lot of technical terminology. Also, without knowing the subject well, I couldn’t fully understand what others were saying in important meetings, which gave me a sense of imposter syndrome. I hated that feeling, so it motivated me to keep learning.
The Sense of Urgency: Creating and Delivering Value is the Key to Growth
— Which of the 8 Elements do you resonate with most?
“Start with the problem” — Global clients rarely come to us saying, “please tell us about TROCCO.” They always start with a problem they’re facing, and then we discuss where TROCCO fits in, so starting with the problem is something that resonates with me a lot in my day to day work.
— Any others that resonate with you?
“Return value” resonates with me as well. I always think about how much value I’m giving back and want to reduce situations where I fail to do so.
— Why do you feel that way?
The global business at primeNumber is new and run by a small team, so each member has a big impact. I feel strongly that the growth of the business is tied directly to our actions, which gives a sense of urgency and pushes me to always think about how to deliver value.
— Finally, what do you think about globalization at primeNumber?
When I first joined primeNumber, I was the only foreigner and everything operated in Japanese, so understanding the language was absolutely essential.
Over the years, I’ve seen the company transform into a more global organization, and today we have several teams that operate in English. I think it’s great that even members who speak only English can now thrive.
Given Japan’s demographic challenges, I believe hiring skilled talent will become increasingly difficult. That’s why this approach makes a lot of sense to me, and I’ve also noticed many Japanese companies beginning to adopt it.
I look forward to continuing to grow with and help further globalize the company.
— Thank you very much!
At primeNumber, we are actively hiring engineers and business-side members from diverse backgrounds. If you’re interested, please check out our careers page:
