Welcome to the Formation Monthly Deploy, our monthly newsletter highlighting achievements, insights, and momentum from across the Formation ecosystem. Whether you’re a Fellow in the middle of interview prep, an Alum building the next chapter of your career, or a Mentor guiding others through the process, this space is for you.

🌎 Engineering tip from Sophie Novati

Quality is the gatekeeper to speed 🛡️

AI can generate code incredibly fast. The real challenge is maintaining quality while moving quickly.

✅ Use AI to accelerate execution while preserving quality. Fast output is only valuable if you can trust and validate it.

🛡️ Build guardrails into your workflow. Code review, testing, verification, and iteration become even more important with AI-assisted development.

❌ Don’t confuse speed with effectiveness. Generating a working app in five prompts means little if the result is unreliable or unmaintainable.

🧠 Great engineers balance velocity and judgment. Knowing when to trust AI and when to slow down is a critical skill.

At Formation, we want you to move fast responsibly, with high-quality impact as the measure that matters most.

🌊 Recent Rising Tide winner

Each month, we recognize Fellows who consistently lift others up through collaboration, encouragement, and thoughtfulness. Our recent Rising Tide winner exemplified what it means to show up well for the community.

Alec Maliwanag was recognized for the focus and positive energy he brought to Formation and to his peers. One Fellow shared: “Alec is focused and dedicated to Formation, committing full time to the program. He was also a very personable person and would make a great person to work with in any field!”

Another added: “Our pairing session this past week was awesome. He was so positive, and we had 30 minutes at the end to talk shop. It was some of the most motivating and exciting time I’ve had at Formation.”
Thank you, Alec, for the energy and generosity you bring to everyone around you.

🌟 Recent Lighthouse Award winners

The Lighthouse Award recognizes mentors who consistently guide, support, and elevate Fellows through clarity, care, and deep expertise.

Abdurrachman Mappuji was recognized for how approachable he made a first session and how well he guided the discussion. One Fellow shared: “This was my first session, and Abdurrachman was very approachable!” Another added: “Thanks for facilitating discussion so well. It must be hard when there’s so many avenues to go down.”

Nicholas Martuscelli was recognized for the clear, actionable feedback he gave on interview stories and job search strategy. One Fellow shared: “Nick had the most significant positive impact on my week by giving me clear, actionable feedback on my interview stories, sharing practical job search strategies, and providing insider advice on how recruiters evaluate candidates. His guidance made me feel much more confident and prepared in my job hunt.”

Jyotsna Ravikumar was recognized for her sharp eye in spotting weak points in behavioral storytelling. One Fellow shared: “Jyotsna is great at detecting weak spots in storytelling: is it connecting, did I provide enough data points, how does it relate to the question being asked with respect to Amazon’s LPs. I have improved my behavioral storytelling through these spot-on observations.”
Thank you, Abdurrachman, Nicholas, and Jyotsna, for the care and expertise you bring to the Formation community.

🏆 Highlighted recent placements

We’re celebrating Fellows who turned persistence into progress and landed new roles, even in a challenging market.

Mathilde Pind → Hippo Harvest
“This job market is rough, and I can’t overstate how much Formation helped me find my footing. The coding challenges that once intimidated me have become manageable, thanks to mentors who were both genuinely knowledgeable and incredibly supportive. And the Fellows made the whole journey far more enjoyable. Having people in the same boat to share wins, setbacks, and the occasional venting session made it so much less lonely. It was the support from Formation that gave me the courage to focus on the right job profile for me, rather than applying everywhere. Grateful to this whole community.”

Raji Siloju → Blue Origin
“LinkedIn and referrals were my starting point. I leaned heavily on my network to get into pipelines, and I can’t overstate how much a warm introduction changes the response rate. If you’re not actively working your LinkedIn and asking for referrals, start there. Formation gave me something harder to build on my own: confidence. My coding speed noticeably improved after just a week of focused practice, and the key for me was volume under time constraints. For system design, I spent a week going deep with Hello Interview, then came back to Formation sessions where everything clicked into place. The community sessions were especially valuable, since group practice for system design and behavioral rounds pushed me in ways solo prep couldn’t. What I’ll remember most is the people. Everyone I worked with genuinely wanted me to succeed. Lean on this community. It’s one of the best things Formation offers.”

Jonathan Villanueva → Systems & Technology Research
“Do the sessions. There is immense value in being able to learn with others walking the same path, as well as learning from others who have been where you’re going.”

🚀 What’s new at Formation

📅 Upcoming workshop

Want to sharpen your interview instincts before your next loop? Join us for this free, mentor-led Studio Session designed to help you understand what strong interview performance actually looks like.

How senior engineers land interviews

📅 July 16, 2026
⏰ 7pm EDT
🎟 Free

Senior engineers often get overlooked even when the skill is there. The problem is that their experience is not signaling seniority. In this live Studio Session, you’ll learn how recruiters actually evaluate candidates, why strong resumes read as mid-level, and how to communicate ownership and impact so your true level comes through, backed by real before-and-after examples.

👉 RSVP

See you next month

We’re continually inspired by how this community shows up, with care, persistence, and generosity. Keep asking thoughtful questions, supporting one another, and trusting the work you’re putting in.

Until next month,
The Formation Team