Articles
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Q: What led you to join the Green Leaf team?
A: While I was in Arizona, I was looking to move to the East Coast, so I applied for a mid-level BI role where Kevin [Bucher] interviewed, hired, and managed me. A few years down the line, after we both left that firm, Neil reached out through our mutual connection, Kevin, and interviewed me for my role at Green Leaf in 2022.
Q: What keeps you here?
A: The quality of the consultants at Green Leaf is outstanding. Despite being a smaller company, the team possesses a wide breadth of experience, ensuring that I’m always learning something new. I admire the professionalism, quality, and experience of the consultants.
Q: What are your area(s) of specialty?
A: My specialty lies in my extensive knowledge of data. I’ve been in the data field for about 12-15 years, and I understand the insurance industry well. I specialize in Microsoft BI tools which I have been working on for over 10 years.
Q: Can you tell us about your journey and how your past experiences have led you to your current area(s) of specialty?
A: As a graduate student at Texas Tech, I was introduced to the business intelligence side of data engineering and found I enjoyed working with data. After graduation, I worked at a startup where I was introduced to various BI tools. My journey progressed, and eventually, I got comfortable working with cloud technology and Microsoft tools across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, financial services, and mining. Currently, I work mainly in insurance, but I consider myself a data professional who can help any organization create warehouses using the latest cutting-edge technology.
Q: What aspects of technology are you most passionate about, and how do you see these aligning with your role at GL?
A: I’m passionate about data modeling, analysis, and profiling. I enjoy figuring out why something is happening. I also appreciate the reporting aspect, especially with the new cloud technologies like Azure Synapse – I love seeing the flow of data through different layers and stages.
ROLE AT GREEN LEAF
Q: What’s one of the most important, interesting, or exciting projects you’ve worked on at Green Leaf, and what made it so special for you?
A: Since joining Green Leaf, I’ve worked on designing the reserve engine for an insurance company. They’d never had a reserve engine before, so overcoming the challenges of designing, developing, testing, and getting approval was particularly rewarding. We also created a Lakehouse solution for the firm that accelerated the data integration process, supporting their business goal of acquiring companies.
Q: Can you share a specific goal or project you’re aiming to kickstart in the near future? What makes this especially important to you?
A: I aim to have the client rely solely on our Lakehouse solution for reporting instead of ad hoc worksheets and manual processes. This requires the client’s full trust, and proving the reliability of our platform to the extent that the entire organization uses it would be rewarding.
Q: How have you seen your role evolve and how do you see it continuing to evolve? What are the key contributions you aim to make?
A: In the future, I expect to work on different clients, projects, and tools. Currently, I work with Microsoft, but I anticipate working with Snowflake and learning about it. I also aim to diversify my experience by working with various clients.
Q: Can you tell us about a personal philosophy or approach that guides your work in tech and in serving clients?
A: Listening to the business users’ problems. I focus on hearing from those who manually handle processes to understand their daily challenges and solve their pain points. I believe in prioritizing automation to solve these issues, as it ultimately benefits the company.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP & LOOKING AHEAD
Q: What leadership qualities do you think are most important for driving innovation in the technology side of companies today?
A: n a team, guiding junior developers, helping them solve design and development problems, and taking the initiative to address clients’ issues are crucial. Good leaders listen to their team members and ensure their issues are addressed.
Q: What’s a significant challenge in the tech space many are facing (or will soon be facing), and what, in your opinion, is a potential solution or approach to overcoming it?
A: Determining the correct solution among many available options can be challenging. Despite what some may claim, no one tool is going to solve every single problem, so it’s important to pick the most appropriate one for the client.
Q: How do you stay updated with the rapid changes in technology, and how do you foresee the evolution of the tech consultant’s role?
A: It can be difficult to stay on top of new technology. I like to educate myself using LinkedIn Learning, talk with my colleagues, and attend summits and conferences to keep up with changing trends.
Q: With the rise of AI and data analytics, what ethical considerations do you believe tech leaders should prioritize?
A: Tech leaders should take ownership of their data, understand what data sets are included, and verify their accuracy before looking to integrate it into their system. Some leaders push for data integration without fully understanding their data, which is a critical first step. Thorough testing of data is essential; once data is verified, any reports generated from it will be reliable and accurate.
Q: How do you tailor your advisory approach to help clients not just meet but exceed their technology goals?
A: Clients need to be involved from the very beginning. It’s essential for them to play an active role in the partnership from the start to the end. The data environment we build is only as beneficial as it is accurate, and accuracy is achieved through the client’s participation in the process.
Q:Discuss the balance between innovation and risk in technology. How should companies approach risk-taking for technological advancement?
A: Innovation always carries risk, especially with AI. For example, Facebook has vast amounts of data and can find out a lot about a person. This raises ethical concerns, as using AI to analyze and possibly sell that data could lead to it falling into the wrong hands. Companies need to carefully balance the potential benefits of innovation with the ethical and security risks involved.
Q: The role of collaboration in tech has never been more prominent. How do you foster a culture of collaboration with your client(s)?
A: We foster collaboration by helping clients better understand what we’ve successfully done in previous projects. This includes demonstrating the tools we’ve built and providing walkthroughs of our work. While this process is time-consuming, it helps clients understand our methods.
Q: What skills do you think will be most valuable for the technology workforce of the future, and how can professionals prepare now?
A: Proficiency in Python, an open-source language, will be invaluable. Additionally, gaining expertise in any cloud technology, such as Azure Synapse, Snowflake, or AWS, will help professionals stay current with evolving trends. Mastering these two areas will keep you up to date and well-prepared for future developments in the tech industry.
PERSONAL: INTERESTS AND HOBBIES
Q: If you could have dinner with any figure from the world of technology, who would it be and why?
A: Sudar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet. I’m impressed by his empowering leadership style and how he remains calm, composed and strategic in his thinking.
Q: What’s the one gadget or tech you can’t live without?
A: My phone or my Mac.
Q: Can you share a personal success story or a particularly memorable experience from your career? What made it special for you?
A: Working at a startup right out of college was one of the greatest experiences of my career. I was in an entry-level position and had to prove myself by taking on multiple roles and responsibilities. I worked on four projects simultaneously, which included setting up a data environment for a mining company. As it was a startup, we didn’t have the luxury of dedicated QA or data analysts, so I wore several hats, handling everything from data warehousing to quality testing. It was tough but exciting, and set me up for future success.
Q: Outside of work, what’s a hobby or activity you’re passionate about? How did you become involved in it and why is it important to you?
A: love exercising, spending time with my kids, and my newfound hobby, pickleball.
Q: Green Leaf is a place where there’s a good balance of serious business and good-natured humor. Can you give a fun example of when you’ve either doled out or been on the receiving end of some of that humor?
A: Green Leaf’s supportive environment is something I deeply appreciate. An instance that stands out is when I was about four months postpartum and was offered another project. The Green Leaf team’s respect for my time and workload during this period exemplified the company’s understanding and respect for personal priorities.