In this episode of Smooth Scaling, Jose is joined by Praveen Thakur, Queue-it’s Head of Technical Engagement, APAC who shares what it takes to prepare for and succeed during high-traffic online events. From coordinating mission control rooms to navigating bot threats and post-event analysis, Praveen shares lessons learned from years of hands-on experience with retailers, ticketing providers, and government organizations. The discussion offers a behind-the-scenes look at the technical and organizational decisions that shape successful peak traffic events.

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Praveen Thakur is Head of Technical Engagement, APAC at Queue-it, where he works closely with teams across the region on technical integration, performance readiness, and post-event analysis. With over 13 years of experience spanning product engineering, consulting, and in-house IT roles, he brings deep expertise in cloud, DevOps, and distributed systems. He’s particularly focused on aligning technology decisions with business goals and building resilient, outcome-oriented teams.

This podcast is hosted by José Quaresma, researched by Joseph Thwaites and produced by Perseu Mandillo.

• (00:00 ) - Welcome to the Smooth Scaling Podcast


• (01:00 ) - What is technical engagement at Queue-it?


• (04:03 ) - How Praveen became head of technical engagement


• (07:09 ) - Preparing retailers for peak traffic events


• (15:11 ) - Scheduled events vs. 24/7 peak protection


• (18:21 ) - Why you might restrict traffic intentionally


• (20:48 ) - Inside a mission control “war room”


• (26:50 ) - Post-event evaluation & common mistakes


• (28:14 ) - Covering the full user journey


• (30:10 ) - How the bot landscape has changed


• (32:22 ) - There are no bullet proof solutions against bots


• (34:07 ) - Rapid-fire questions with Praveen Thakur


• (37:42 ) - Wrapping up the episode