GET TO KNOW
But it’s silly to live life
with regrets, they only
slow you down. The future
is unwritten.
What are the region-
specific challenges
when implementing new
technologies in Europe?
nice glass of Tanqueray gin of an evening
and then I usually burn it off through my
favourite sport; cycling. Sadly, I’m too old
now to do martial arts, but that would be my
absolute favourite activity, if it was possible.
It is important to have passions outside of
work – they recharge you and help you get
your head back in the game.
You can’t concentrate on one thing all day
and you shouldn’t give 100% of your daily
energy just to work, because then tomorrow
you’ll have far less to offer, and less the day
after that. Spending your energy on many
pursuits means you can bring the most
amount to bear on each.
If you could go back and change one
career decision, what would it be?
With a time machine, I would go back and
convince my younger self to have stayed
at Pentaho for another year – there were
opportunities down the line that I couldn’t
know were coming…
Europe is a bit more
reserved. There is generally
a greater level of due
diligence and scepticism
with the adoption of any new
technologies than there tends
to be in North America.
Slower and steadier is the watchword of the
European market. It doesn’t mean they are
any less forward-thinking, but the continent
seems to run to a different timescale as
they have a different culture and manner of
doing business.
What changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how do
you see these developing in the next
12 months?
I have taken on a much greater responsibility
for the end-to-end customer journey. This is
crucial in the complex and often challenging
world of Big Data. Often, Unravel Data
will come in to help fix a mess that new
customers have gotten into under their own
efforts to master the Big Data toolset.
That’s when customers need the most
support and attention as they begin to
take control of their own data destinies and
“
IT IS IMPORTANT
TO HAVE
PASSIONS
OUTSIDE OF
WORK – THEY
RECHARGE YOU
AND HELP YOU
GET YOUR
HEAD BACK IN
THE GAME.
unravel the challenges they have discovered
are all too easy to fall into. I see the future
as the present – just more so. All of today’s
challenges will be magnified, until some
new technology transforms things into a
kaleidoscopic new paradigm. Once all the
elements have settled, people will still be
people and will want the same basic things
from their technologies, their businesses and
their lives. But the way they go about doing
it may be nothing like the way we do it now,
in a few years.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain C-level
position in your industry?
Primarily, just don’t forget the basics as you
rise. Focus on simple solutions to complicated
problems and always leave the ego at home.
Technology is still a people industry
and we’re here to help people run their
businesses better. They need help at critical
times, not whatever ego or problems
industry vendors might be having in their
own personal or professional lives.
Never get so focused on the technology
that you forget that technology was
invented to serve people. Humans are better
with technology and they need the best
technology to be the best people they can be.
Be the best people-person you can be and
everything else will follow. n
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