Expel culture · 4 MIN READ · SCOUT SCHOLES · MAR 17, 2025 · TAGS: Expletives
TL;DR
- Meet Andrew Regan, Ian O’Connell, and Dermot Duffy of our Expel Ireland team
- Understand the history of these Expletives, and what they want for the future
- Answer three very important questions (and uncover some hidden talents, too)
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day this year, we’re shining the spotlight on three of our Irish Expletives, to give you a peek into what working for Expel is like across the pond. And bonus–they’re hiring!
Meet Andrew Regan, Software Engineering Manager; Ian O’Connell, MDR Manager; and Dermot Duffy, Engineering Director.
Oh, and happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Their journeys to Expel
Andrew Regan, Software Engineering Manager, leads a team that enables Expel’s robotic actions and notifications (her name is Ruxie). He’s spent most of his career working as a software engineer building cloud-based systems, and was previously at Fidelity Investments and Workday. From there, he switched to people management, and joined Expel just over a year ago.
He’s lived across Ireland, from Roscommon to Galway to Dublin. Now, he’s settled in with his family in Westmeath, which is more rural. Andrew shared, “Like many Irish people, I’m also a returned immigrant. I lived in the US for a good part of my life, attending school from K-8th grade in New Jersey, before later spending time working in Texas.”
Ian O’Connell, MDR Manager, currently lives in Dublin with his wife and dog (Ted). As a manager leading security operations at Expel, he manages the team based in EMEA, and he’s worked in many SOCs throughout his career, both as an analyst and a manager. Prior to Expel, he’s worked for an Irish MSSP and MSP provider where he got to build a SOC team from the ground up.
When he’s not working, Ian is traveling or DIY-ing something. He’s traveled far and wide across Europe and beyond, and he’s also managed to find time to a build a garden and renovate his attic.
Dermot Duffy, Engineering Director, has worked across industries of all shapes and sizes, from telecommunications and business intelligence to startups and large organizations. As Expel’s Ireland Engineering Director, he was Ireland’s first hire a few years ago. Since then, he’s been recruiting and growing a team of engineers and managers across three teams: Orchestration, Reporting & Dashboards, and Ruxie.
Dermot is from Derry City in northwest Ireland. He grew up golfing on the Innisowen peninsula with his twin brother, and even represented Derry City at the top-tier League of Ireland as a student. He started his career as a programmer in London, and met his wife at the famous Temple Bar pub in Dublin.
Working for Expel in Ireland
We asked all three interviewees what drew them to Expel, and the culture was unanimously agreed upon as an attractive perk of working here. Andrew said:
“I did my homework on Expel and was impressed by the company’s reputation as both an industry leader and a great place to work. Expel’s values aligned with what’s important to me. When I had the chance to speak with my future peers and leaders during the interview process, I was convinced that the company’s values were more than just words on a website.”
Dermot added, “It’s also refreshing to have a blame free culture where things don’t go according to plan and use these experiences to grow and mature as a company with everyone genuinely working together with the best intentions and efforts.”
Ian had been following Expel’s blog while working in a previous role, and a recruiter from Expel reached out to him in a kismet moment, and the rest is history.
Getting to know the team
Just like here in the US, Expel Ireland is remote-first, and the team is spread out across the country. Some teams meet up regularly (Andrew’s team tries to meet monthly in Dublin for project planning and team building).
“Folks may not realize how diverse our team is in Ireland. We don’t all hail from Ireland, and this diversity brings varied perspectives and ideas, enhancing creativity and decision-making,” Dermot shared.
And Ian said, “We’re great craic! As much as we’re spread far and wide across the emerald isle, we still find time to meet up providing we have the weather with us.”
Their hope for the Ireland team is the same across the board—they all want to continue growing the team, helping Expel achieve our mission, and attracting top Irish talent from across the country.
Fun facts and very important questions
During every all-hands meeting at Expel, we ask our team a very important question to ponder (and maybe stress over). But before we dive into those three questions, here are some fun facts about our featured Irish Expletives:
- Andrew is incredibly handy, and if you need someone to hang a door, he’s your guy
- Ian is related to a Harry Potter actor (you’ll have to guess who)
- Dermot can walk on his hands (although he admits this is more of a party trick than a talent)
And without further ado, three very important questions:
Would you rather travel back in time to meet your ancestors or forward in time to meet your descendants?
Andrew: “I’d definitely go back and meet my ancestors. As Bill Bryson says in his book, ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’, we are the product of an unbroken chain of survival, and in a universe so vast and inhospitable, our existence is nothing short of miraculous. I wouldn’t mind getting the chance to say thanks.”
Ian: “Back to the future? Definitely forward in time!”
Dermot: “I’d probably travel back in time to meet my ancestors (only by understanding the past can you better understand the future). “Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times.” Although, there’s a part of me that would love to consult my descendants and find out how technology has progressed, simply to bring that knowledge back and be ahead of the game.”
Would you rather be constantly sticky or constantly itchy?
Andrew: “Spider-Man sticks to walls, and that seems to be working out pretty well for him. Put me down for constantly sticky.”
Ian: “100% sticky. There is no worse feeling than being itchy.”
Dermot: “Definitely sticky. The very word itchy makes me feel itchy.”
Would you rather be ten centimeters tall, or ten feet tall?
Andrew: “As an Irish person, I appreciate the mixed use of imperial & metric units. I’m going with living life as a Borrower in order to avoid children laughing at the size of my automobile.”
Ian: “Ten feet tall. The giants made the Giant’s Causeway.”
Dermot: “Ten centimeters tall. Smaller species have got an evolutionary advantage (more food for them to eat) and tend to have a better survival rate.”
