“The world is going through a rather amazing transformation over the next ten years – probably unlike anything we have ever seen in history. We have a convergence of so many different things and they’re all interesting on their own. But when you put them together and they start to interact, it’s going to result into something astonishing.” These captivating words were spoken by Saggezza’s own, Frank Trainer, Vice President of Process and Delivery. Initially brought in as a technical lead, Trainer had an immediate responsibility for six team members in software development. After working at a company with over 125,000 employees, “the size at Saggezza made all the difference for me”, says Trainer. In a massive organization, it’s difficult to feel a sense of worth. At Saggezza, however, everybody is important. “Everyone needs to be contributing. It’s easier to feel more visible. It’s easier to feel more listened to. You can determine your own career. I had ideas of what I wanted to accomplish and I found the support and ability to do that at Saggezza.
Humble Beginnings
After graduating from University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign, Trainer had a strong desire to start his own pizza chain with a friend, which amassed to six locations in just eight years. Much of what he discovered in his first business venture was applicable to his later career pursuits. Trainer’s experiences as an entrepreneur still hold true in many ways. “Whether delivering pizzas or working on a software team, pizza delivery is a team sport just like software development is. If nothing else, my previous work has stressed the importance of people. You cannot always assume you have the best answer and you should hire people who you trust to do their jobs well as well as those you can learn from.” Having a team mindset went in ways above and beyond writing the software itself. By taking a risk to redefine his role, his entrepreneurial background translated into something more intrapreneurial, with working at Saggezza. For example, when first joining Saggezza, Trainer believed he could utilize his own experience with agile software delivery in ways that could enhance team effort and teach them to work together collectively. Within a couple of years, he went from a tech lead of six to a Vice President, directly managing and working with fifty developers. He created his own role at Saggezza, in which he has defined and led processes, delivery and technical excellence.
How Trainer Builds Relationships Through Data
Trainer continues to proactively build and create practices in an effort to seek success with our clients. “The ability to find customers or identify the relationships with our customers can be improved by data which is why we care about the big data sets. Due to the convergence of technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, self driving cars…are all things driven by large data sets”, explains Trainer. He compares data sets to fingerprints in order to identify a business, thus introducing another basic truth: having a large enough data set is critical. “[The most valuable data is data that is unique to what a company or client has, and no one else does. What I am trying to do with clients now is determine how we get that data and ensure we have it so we can be in a position suitable enough to take advantage of opportunities that arise. I’m having conversations with our clients about algorithms to establish key business decisions].” Over the next ten years, computers will continue to show us what we can’t see through code and analytics, resulting in new opportunities. As human beings, we cannot compete with a computer on a task – we are simply not capable enough. “In order for a client to take advantage, a computer has to know what they know, which is a client’s data. I need companies to become self – aware of their knowledge. This does not lie in their people, but rather its data.”
Saggezza is a proven technology and consulting partner that delivers personalized, high-value solutions to accelerate business growth.
Share This
