Roger Martella: Orchestrating General Electric’s Comprehensive and Cohesive Approach to Sustainability

Prime View conducted a freewheeling interview session with Roger Martella, who has been leading a rigorous and integrated strategy for the sustainable development of General Electric as it relates to current concerns and developing trends in environmental, social, and governance (ESG). GE’s equipment helps provide 30 percent of the world’s energy and three out of every four commercial aeroplanes are powered by GE equipment, which is a well-known name in the development and innovation of conventional, renewable, and ground-breaking energy sources.

“I’m one of those lucky people who locked onto their sense of purpose as an undergrad and has been able to stick with it every step along the way. My zeal for striving to find ground-breaking solutions for the most difficult environmental challenges has been a constant throughout my career. I’ve been fortunate to have learned from the best mentors in public service—where I served as the Environmental Protection Agency’s General Counsel and a top environmental litigator at the Justice Department; from titans of the private sector who have taught me how to operationalize sustainability for success like a business; from colleagues in environmental groups where I serve on boards; and from academics where I teach on these topics”, , Roger Martella, said.

He credits his greatest strengths to the diversity of experiences he has had, which has allowed him to approach problems from the perspectives of many different stakeholders and design solutions that would benefit all parties involved. This results in long-lasting effects, which are more crucial than ever given the current global issues of climate change, the energy transition, and sustainability.

General Electric: Innovating since 1892

Founded in 1892 by Thomas Edison, General Electric is committed to innovating the technology the world needs to lift the quality of life for people everywhere. Today, GE is at the forefront of developing technology to address two of the most difficult problems in the world. First, supporting efforts to solve the energy transition and address climate change. GE is constantly innovating existing and breakthrough energy technology to decarbonize the energy sector while electrifying the planet, including growing access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy for 700 million people without access. Second, they are inventing the future of flight by innovating some of the world’s most complex technology, jet engines, to enable more sustainable aviation. GE’s innovation and technology are essential to combating climate change, navigating the energy transition, and improving people’s quality of life globally by facilitating access to energy and maintaining connectivity.

At GE, innovation and product development are tailored in order to suit customers’ unique needs. Its objective is to provide customers with the technologies needed to reliably enable the transportation and energy sectors while reducing their carbon footprints. Customers will succeed in this manner, benefiting the globe as well as their stakeholders, communities, and local economies.

The Key Motivation towards a New Beginning

After public service at the EPA and DOJ, Roger became passionate about working for GE. It’s well-understood the government is in a unique position to serve the public interest and find solutions to significant issues that improve the world, and Roger was always proud of his public service. He noticed a growing interest in businesses acting to be a part of the solution and bringing their resources to the table to achieve public good ten years ago while dealing with businesses at a law firm. He believed that a shift in how businesses can enable some of the more expansive results generally designated for governments was about to occur. He aspired to be on the cutting edge of this change. And Roger was confident that no business could have as much influence as GE has given its strategic investments geared towards tackling global issues, its global presence in 175 nations, as well as its size and operational rigour.

What Gives an Edge Over the Peers?

No other firm can match GE’s unmatched record of tackling today’s most difficult problems with the vigour, passion, and ambition of a startup. They are a 130-year-old firm that Thomas Edison created with the single goal of innovating the technology required by the globe to improve people’s quality of life. In the energy and aviation industries, GE has developed some of the most sophisticated and important technology in the world today.

“We embrace operational rigour, a lean philosophy, and a continuous improvement mindset in everything we do to succeed for our customers and our sustainability mission. Our focus today is on bringing the “best of both worlds” approach to our legacy with a startup mindset to enable everyone in the world to live a prosperous life. This includes having more access to energy for work, school, and healthcare; being able to fly to stay in touch with loved ones and jobs; and seeing progress with the effects of decarbonizing these sectors on climate change as we go forward“, shared the visionary leader.

The Significant Elements That Facilitated Roger Martella’s Development as a Powerful Leader

The first rule is to approach obstacles head-on. I learned early on in my government career to put myself forward for the most difficult tasks, the ones that others avoided.
Second, the privilege of being surrounded by the most inspiring people. Every day I learn something new from everyone I encounter, not just about how to do my work better but also about how to be a better person, leader, and mentor.
Third—this is the most important life lesson I learned in my government service—my mantra is “It’s not about me.” When you take yourself out of the picture and focus on getting the best outcome for your stakeholders and your team.

The Industry’s Evolution Over the Years

The energy sector is transforming in real-time by increasingly becoming a united front toward shared goals of decarbonization and electrification. Increasingly, our customers and countries are united on two goals: (1) decarbonizing the energy sector over time to address climate change; and (2) electrifying their communities to grow access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable electricity. As nations seek to strengthen their energy security against emerging threats like weather disasters and cyber security, electrification has more recently become the driving factor behind the investment. However, the need for electrification also helps to reduce carbon emissions because these investments make it possible to produce clean energy with fewer emissions while also securing the grid for future electrification of other industrial sectors that will help to reduce carbon emissions.

Synchronising with the Latest Advancements

GE is at the forefront of developing the technology required to tackle some of the biggest issues facing humanity while improving everyone’s quality of life. One of their main objectives is to become a net zero firm by 2050 for scope 3 emissions, or greenhouse gas emissions from the products they sell such as energy generation equipment and jet engines. This demonstrates a commitment to invest in the technologies that customers need to decarbonize the energy and aviation industries by 2050 because they power 3 out of 4 planes and contribute to 1/3 of the world’s energy.

The Motivated and Invested Team for an Impactful Outcome

The GE team approaches every problem the firm faces with a high level of energy and a must-win mentality. They bring a staggering variety of experiences, opinions, and viewpoints to all they accomplish. This develops from GE’s distinct sense of purpose. “While we expect you to work hard, knowing your work is advancing such a critical sense of purpose as addressing climate change, growing access to energy for the underserved, and enabling all people to stay connected through aviation motivates us to fight for all the right outcomes day after day. We work as one team—seeking out the best skills and contributions by every person on the team regardless of experience, role, or background—making everyone invested in these impactful outcomes that align to a tremendous sense of pride and purpose”, quoted Roger.

A Glimpse of GE’s Future Plans

GE is successfully implementing its most significant business transformation in 130 years. The team is working to legally separate the energy company GE Vernova and the aircraft company GE Aerospace in early 2024, allowing them to fully focus on their respective important responsibilities. This comes shortly after GE Healthcare’s successful separation in early 2023, which in a short period of time pleased stakeholders and investors with its capacity to pursue its crucial healthcare mission with a single focus.

Parting Words

Define your sense of purpose as soon as possible and stay unwavering!

Christopher M. Carter: Building Meaningful Business Relationships

With almost 30 years of experience in the SAP industry, Christopher M. Carter founded Approyo to provide full SAP service technology with extensive capabilities in hosting and managing services, upgrades, and migration of its clients, running any SAP-supported core functionality. With more than a thousand SAP environments under management around the planet, Approyo supports businesses from production to landscapes to migrations onto SAP S/4 HANA. As an SAP partner, Approyo offers its solutions as a service to its clients and partners across the planet. While many Managed Service Providers are likely to provide several forms of ERP systems to expand their services portfolio, Approyo only deals with systems related to SAP directly. While the organization offers integrative services with several other ERP providers like Microsoft Azure, AWS, etc., Approyo’s primary focus is still on SAP.

The Steadfast Leader

Chris attended The Georgia Institute of Technology during his college days, where he found his love for technology. After graduating, he shortly started working with SAP and later worked in a California-based start-up, where he was responsible for running day-to-day sales and marketing activities. He then served in multiple executive positions in the SAP ecosystem. At this point of time, he founded his own business, which was sold at a later stage. After selling his company, Chris retired for a few years until one of his old friends called him to inform him about the latest release of SAP HANA. Soon after that day, he was convinced to dive back in and flew to Germany to start working and learning about SAP HANA. Later in December 2013, he founded Approyo to provide global leadership for SAP directives.

Greatest Accomplishment

As the organization’s leader, Chris is proud of the team he has been able to develop at Approyo. Chris and his team have brought in some of the best talents on the planet by expanding the firm’s reach into Brazil, the UK, Spain, and India. Presently with offices being developed in several other parts of the world, Approyo no longer must worry about resources, as it ensures the company has the right resources for its clients anywhere at any time.

Chris says, “It’s a game changer for us, and it’s a great accomplishment for our team these men and women are our incredible staff members, and we’re blessed to have them here.”

Tackling Challenges

Chris is 100% up for tackling challenges. He considers himself fortunate to be controlled and prepared to lead Approyo to new challenges and heights. He says, “I have an incredible staff around me who supported my decisions and helped me make those decisions so we could accomplish greatness for our customers. It’s all about them and my staff we want to support our customers in their needs that’s why we did some of the most unprecedented support activities during the pandemic to help them, and we will continue to support them on a global stage.”

Leadership Principles

Chris’s primary leadership principles;

As the organization’s leader, Chris trusts his team to make the necessary decisions to support customers and keep them on a proper lifestyle, as they don’t want interruptions.
He believes in training his staff and increasing their skill sets as he wants them to become the next managers or executives of Approyo.
Lastly, he wants Approyo’s customers to sleep well at night. Chris wants them to have the ability to lead the lifestyle or workstyle they deserve, and they should not have to worry about the landscapes of their systems, people, and applications.

Implementing New Ideas

Approyo is implementing its AI-based monitoring and support tool on every client the firm acquires. This tool provides the opportunity to proactively understand what’s going on with the system and how it will run in the coming weeks. This also provides valuable information on how security is being enacted in case of any vulnerabilities. It is a true AI tool that helps the company by providing everything it needs to be proactive and hyper-aggressive in supporting its clients.

Picture of the Future

Chris says, “Our future, I feel, is quite bright. We have plans with our AI-based tools to support and provide the managed services and details companies need to run their SAP and other landscapes with our managed service provider organization. We also feel that our best-in-breed SAP migration and support will continue to revolutionize the ecosystem.”

By combining Approyo’s tools, people and processes, Chris feels that the company is second to none in this ecosystem, and it’ll continue to strive to provide for our clients on an ongoing day-in and day-out solution basis.

The CEO Revolutionizing The Global Cold Storage Landscape At Lowenco A/S

The 2012-incepted, Lowenco A/S’s CEO, Mikael Hoier’s journey took a turn as he joined Lowenco A/S and became the guiding force in the expansion of the company. He is successfully spearheading the firm on its mission of revolutionizing the general perception of how ultra-low temperature-controlled storage units are built and optimized for bio-pharma companies and their high valued products.

As Mikael didn’t lay the foundation of Lowenco, he was always “on the sideline” when the company commenced its operations. “After my first meeting with the owner of Lowenco at the very early start of Lowenco, I clearly remember my own “speak to myself,” when walking from the Lowenco workshop to my car; “This is a company I really would like to be a part of.” Three years later, I became a part of Lowenco”, shared Mikael.

The leading man, Mikael Hoier, Graduated with the Academy Profession Degree in Leadership and Management and with excellent passion and dedication, progressed in the sales domain. He took the onus of Sales Manager, General Manager, Sales Director/CCO and excelled in the roles. Being an ambitious leader, he instilled values in his teams and led them to explore new heights. Having a strong back hold of his past roles and a solid skill set in the managerial domain, he is paving the way for Lowenco to the next level and beyond.

LOWENCO, ONE-STOP STORAGE SOLUTION

Lowenco A/S is one of the leading manufacturers of cold storage facilities, and they have formed a strategy on how to change the expensive, inefficient, and non-environmental friendly temperature-controlled storage. The solution has been developed under the brand names CON20 and LSSU and more cold storage facilities are under development. At Lowenco, they produce high-end cold storage facilities, refrigerated units, and freezers from well-known quality components in their facilities in Denmark, but they are also able to deliver custom-made freezers and cold storage facilities where GMP guidelines must be applied worldwide.

Further Mikael Hoier apprised, “At Lowenco we have unique product solutions to the pharmaceutical market. A product that is so much more than just a product. We are not only offering Large Scale ultra-low temperature freezer storage solutions but solutions where the highest quality goes hand in hand with the highest possible safety for the people handling the products going into the very low temperature storage area of 80C and safety of the products been stored and a unique low energy consumption per liter of product stored. In every product we are developing saving energy is essential without any reflection on the quality and performance. We want to help, making the world a better place to live. The name Lowenco comes from Low Energy Cooling and our slogan is Creating a better world one unit at a time. Every time we can replace existing solutions used in the market with our innovative solutions with much lower energy consumption, we are helping to reduce the Co2 footprint and Creating a better world.”

THE ROADBLOCKS & LEARNING

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, as Kelly Clarkson sings. Challenges in development for the human being as Mikael sees it. “We need to learn every day this is what develops you as a person, as a company as well as the whole world”, he said.

On the personal development side, the inspiring leader has learned to trust the people that he needed to hand over some jobs to colleagues and not just making everything himself. In more years he just made things himself instead of involving colleagues, who were actually hired to do parts of the jobs.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

For Mikael, success is when his staff succeeds! “Happy and inspired people makes better results better results make success, success makes happy and inspired people. The right people at the right positions in the organization are the key to success. As a leader you are only as strong as the weakest point of your organization”, said Mikael.

THE CORE VALUES OF LOWENCO A/S

The firm is its daily operations on the basis of these core values:

Creating success through team efforts and competencies
Knowing the customer’s expectations and producing solutions that help the customer in reaching their objectives
Innovation and out-of-the-box thinking and predictability
Having a common responsibility to make the world a better place

STAYING ABREAST WITH THE GROWING COMPETITION

Mikael Hoier and the whole team are closely following the trends in the market and their segment of product solutions. Their innovative prefabricated modular, scalable, and highly flexible solutions are unique to the market and with their daily development and focus on optimizing, With more and more installations made no longer only in Europe, but also in the US and Asia, they are expanding into new markets and becoming more and more visible in the field. This has been discovered by more and more clients and the best marketing everyone is when clients speak positively about you to a new potential client. And what’s great is, more and more of their existing clients buy more and more times, for expansions of the facilities but also for new sites. They are becoming “the internal worldwide site standard”.

VISION FOR THE COMPANY

Mikael’s vision is to bring Lowenco to the position of the most recognized and trusted supplier of high-end cold storage facilities for pharmaceuticals and biotech firms around the world. But not only the best-in-class product, but also keep the position of being the most innovative and “green” solution for the benefit of our clients, the environment, and for the individual all of them. Creating a better world one unit at a time.

KEEPING THE EMPLOYEES MOTIVATED

An open and honest environment, where all are important and know they are important to the company, positiveness, and humor create a great working environment at Lowenco. “Great products to work with and where people can focus on quality instead of quantity, this I believe brings pride into the job and pride brings ownership for what you do. And all summed-up gives a great working environment a great atmosphere and a great place to be, which I believe motivates all the employees including myself”, Mikael further added.

FUTURE OF LOWENCO A/S & MIKAEL’S PERSONAL GOALS

For Lowenco, Mikael’s goals are clear to continue the great developing process already started to become an even stronger and greater company to being a part of. To continue executing the growth strategy to grow the business, grow the market share, enter new markets, expand the workforce to become present more locally worldwide to serve clients worldwide even better than today.

Mikael’s personal goal as a business leader is to develop people, getting them to perform and fulfill their individual potential to become a success. His goal is to do the same for the companies he is involved in developing the company to growth and success, performing on the highest level, bringing great products and services to the clients and fulfilling the potential.

MESSAGE TO READERS

Be yourself trying to be another is not you? Develop the people around you they are the key to your success. Give yourself to the company instead of expecting to have. Give yourself to your employees and do not expect just to have. By doing so you will get so much more return than you are giving. You and nobody else can take care of your career and your life in general take full responsibility for your own personal development and you will get success in life.

Gene Saunders: Helping to Bring Loved Ones Home

Gene Saunders

The founder and CEO of Project Lifesaver, which is a non-profit 501c3 organization specializing in the radio-tracking and locating of individuals with cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Autism, and others that may tend to wander and become lost. They are located through the signal emitting from a wrist transmitter being tracked by an equipped, trained search team. The organization also offers training on the disorders for law enforcement and first responders and consulting for agencies conducting searches.

The Man Behind the Non-Profit Organization

Gene founded Project Lifesaver as a non-profit 501c3 organization. After graduating from Norview High School in Norfolk, Virginia he entered the US Army for active duty. On leaving active duty, Gene had several jobs including Virginia Power, Credit Manager, Desk Clerk, but in 1968 Gene joined the Chesapeake Virginia Police Dept. He retired in 2001 from the police dept as a Captain, having served in all areas of the police dept., including forming the SWAT Team and serving as Commander for 23 years. During those times Gene attended Old Dominion University, and the University of Louisville Southern Police Institute for 2 years before retiring from the police department.

While with the Police Dept SWAT Team, Gene and his team began having to conduct several searches for persons with cognitive disorders and were not as successful as they wanted to be. These searches took vast amounts of time and manpower, and little was known as to proper search techniques for those persons. Gene always wanted something that would enable the agencies to move quickly to locate the person before tragedy overtook them and to reduce the amount of manpower needed for such searches.

Saving Hundreds of Lives

Gene’s Project Lifesaver Program is run at the municipality level by various public safety agencies. When an agency decides to implement a program, Project Lifesaver International will equip them with all the needed technologies and provide the needed training to those involved. The non-profit organization’s training includes the use of the equipment implementation of the strategic methods specifically designed for the program, and also community policing courses that provide a basic understanding of cognitive conditions to better comprehend the behaviors of an individual with said condition.

The non-profit organization has also included the PLS Database during the training, which is provided to the member agencies free of cost. Gene says, “Completion of training is required for certification. Once an agency has become certified, they may begin acquiring clients for their local program.”

Project Lifesaver’s method relies on proven radio technology and specifically trained search and rescue teams. Those who enroll for Project Lifesaver, wear a small transmitter on their ankle or wrist that emits an individual frequency signal. If a client goes missing, the caregiver contacts the non-profit organization, and a trained emergency team responds to the wanderer’s area. The first responders then use the client’s individualized frequency to locate the position of the individual. The knowledge given from the community policing courses is best applied in this situation because the first responders know how to best approach the client once found, and allow them to be brought back to safety.

Advantage over Peers

Project Lifesaver is quite different from its peers mainly due to;

Innovation: Project LifeSaver strives to find innovative ideas to improve the methods of “bringing loved ones home!”
The program, Not a Product: It is not about wearable technology; it’s a program specifically designed to protect certain ‘at risk’ individuals.
Community Involvement: The non-profit organization, bridges the gap between the first responders and their community.
Cost-Effective: The program reduces funds, manpower, and time needed to conduct a search and rescue mission.
Proven and Trusted: Project Lifesaver is the most effective SAR program for the ‘at risk’ population.
Peace of Mind: It provides caregivers peace of mind knowing their loved ones are protected.

Tackling Challenges and Future Roadmap

As a leader of Project Lifesaver, Gene believes his biggest challenges are Supply issues and getting good staff. He feels, planning, and moving with the flow will help, in the supply issues, so he suggests to, recruit good people that have a mindset like you. Reward good performance and look out for your people.

When it comes to the future, Gene plans to continue to grow Project Lifesaver’s membership of agencies and work toward even better technology to aid in the mission he has.

Suggestions for Younger Self

When we asked Gene to provide some valuable suggestions for young entrepreneurs, he said, “If you have an idea, move on it. Do not let others discourage you! Understand there will be obstacles and make up your mind to overcome them. Never Quit!”

Freddie Savundra: Helping Clients to Connect with Answers

Meet Freddie Savundra the founder of Meet Parker, which is an AI development firm specializing in AI Assistants for the mortgage, insurance, and property sector. The organization launched its SaaS offering in January 2021, and now hosts a client bank of large and small firms, with shareholders and an advisory committee including Twenty7Tec, and other leading industry experts.

Meet Parker now designs and builds more than just the conventional AI chatbots. The firm’s experienced team offers a wide range of services for the mortgage, insurance, and property industry.

Freddie Savundra is a modern language graduate in Spanish, French, and Russian. Later he went to live in Russia, to learn more about the culture, and language. Then Freddie joined the British army and moved from the Royal Corps of Signals to the Royal Engineers. While serving the army, Freddie graduated and moved in mortgages with London and Country on their grad scheme. Later, Freddie left the organization to join Savills Private Finance and ultimately moved from being a help-to-buy Mortgage Advisor to CTO.

The History and Inception of Meet Parker

Meet Parker was programmed, by a team of mortgage brokers and estate agents to build a streamlined process that works for the client. It all started with social media, the team wanted to help clients connect with the answer they were looking for and the product has grown from there. As a firm, Meet Parker now integrates with over 10 different social channels and has insurance data and quotations provided by iPipeline, with mortgage criteria and data-led by Twenty7tec.

Freddie Savundra still remembers walking into a High Street Bank and enquiring about getting a mortgage. Freddie couldn’t believe it when he was told that he would need to make an appointment, 3 weeks from the date. It just seemed odd to him.

When Freddie Savundra saw how backward the house buying process had become and how there was a desperate need for a more practical solution, he began to design an engagement solution that ultimately formed the skeleton for Meet Parker. Since, 12 Months from launching, Freddie feels great to see how far the firm has come and how the incredible team of Meet Parker has accomplished its work.

Keeping it Simple

As a leader, Freddie understands the pain points of property transactions, so Meet Parker offers;
Premium customer service, backed by business experts during working hours. A simple to use UI, which is built for Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, and WeChat.
Meet Parker searches online to find the best rates in the market.
The firm runs an encrypted and secure service to keep clients’ data safe.
Meet Parker generates a mortgage, insurance, and property decision in principle- passing the information to its clients’ businesses.

Tackling Challenges

Freddie Savundra feels, that every aspect of start-up life is a learning lesson, it’s important to listen to the feedback and data that a team and clients put forward. In start-up life, one needs to spend months of time and development resources on projects that ultimately will need to be washed away. On the other hand, Freddie considers himself lucky, to have worked at the best fee-free brokerage in the country, it was a robust, slick, and well-driven machine. To move to SPF Private Clients and be lucky to have the opportunity to turn from mortgages into software and IT development is a chance very few people have, this is in part down to having a very supportive partner and a great mentor/support network. Ultimately, Freddie feels, it’s great to look back at the late nights and early starts and see what Team Parker has accomplished.

Mission and Vision

Under the leadership of Freddie Savundra, Meet Parker’s main mission is to engage. The firm wants to be the first contact for its clients’ businesses in order to connect seekers with experts.

As the mortgage market grows and develops, Freddie wants to put the client at the center of Meet Parker’s goal to create a seamless and frictionless client experience.

Preparing for the Future

When it comes to the future, Freddie Savundra is all excited about Parker 2.0! Freddie and his entire team hope to have reinvigorated the house buying process and raised the bar on certain aspects, in the hope that another tech firm will try to better what they have accomplished. As the founder of the firm, Freddie feels, that ultimately that level of competition is how you know you’re on the right track and will only be better for the market.

Stephen Roche: Helping Organizations Succeed

With the intent of helping those in crisis mode, Cloud Services Solutions, Inc.’s mission is to help companies manage the ERP purchasing process from cradle to grave. Cloud Services Solutions provides global advisory services for clients to measurably improve the performance & efficiency of their ERP ecosystem. It serves the global market with offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Utilizing cost-effective ERP application solutions, and strategic consulting services, Cloud Services Solutions, Inc.’s clients improve their performance and processes and increase efficiencies. This includes higher education, government agencies, and commercial clients. Stephen Roche, the CEO of the organization often says, “We sat in your seat. We are former Directors, CIOs, CHROs at global Fortune 500 companies. We understand the frustrations; blown budgets, project-stalls, understaffed and overworked.”

Under Stephen’s leadership, the organization’s goal is to remove all the guesswork within ERP Cloud Systems by providing an ecosystem that improves all aspects of any business organization. Stephen and his colleagues ultimately cut down on the time involved in the investigation, selection, and implementation process by dealing only with vendors that fit their clients’ needs. In addition, the firm advocates for its clients, through vendor sales and negotiations allowing them to save thousands of dollars.

Providing Cloud ERP for Every Need

Stephen and his team provide Cloud ERP for essentially every area of need including financials, human capital, implementation and/or upgrade, and management and planning. From start to finish, Stephen’s company handles the selection of vendors, the facilitation and implementation of clients’ ecosystem, and any necessary training to ensure they understand the ins and outs of the new Cloud ERP.

With the Vendor Assessment Matrix, the firm successfully removes emotions from the vendor selection process. Its experience has taught it that when selections are made based on facts, not emotions, clients save both time and money. The company’s product-agnostic approach enables it to help its clients select the correct products for their unique needs.

After 20+ years of experience on ERP projects costing $5M+, Cloud Services Solutions’ trusted experts have developed 10-steps that companies need to follow to have a successful ERP rollout. The company’s proven system for integration of your needed ERP cloud solution is time-tested and optimized to save you time and money.

Serving Clients Proactively

Cloud Services Solutions serves a variety of clients across the globe including the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The firm’s international team of ERP experts enables it to meet the needs of the clients in both a proactive and comprehensive manner.

Stephen believes clients choose to work with Cloud Services Solutions because it takes a holistic approach to human capital management. Stephen and his colleagues help their clients walk through the entire process, from choosing the right software to selecting the best implementation partner. This level of service and expertise translates into cost and time savings for the clients of Cloud Services Solutions.

When the Pandemic Happened

One of the biggest challenges Stephen, and his team have faced, over the last few years, has been the worldwide pandemic, which has touched almost every aspect of not only their business but commerce on a global scale. While it’s been challenging to navigate the restrictions, Stephen has found, that Cloud Services Solutions’ business; and its team, are very resilient, and has adapted to the changes well.

Another unforeseen challenge the firm is closely monitoring is what people are calling the “mass resignation”. For what many find to be a complete mystery, people are resigning from their positions in high numbers. And it’s not just a select group of people. It’s people from many different industries with different levels of seniority. While Cloud Services Solutions has not faced this challenge internally yet, the company leadership is proactively keeping their eyes on the phenomenon.

A Good Team is Key

Cloud Services Solutions’ team is essential to the success, of itself and the client outcomes. When Stephen looks for new candidates to join his team, he requires at least 10 years of global experience. And with offices across the world, Stephen’s international team can serve a variety of cultures. While competitors might find this challenging, Cloud Services Solutions find that its international presence and attention to detail from a cultural perspective give the company a competitive advantage.

Daily, the firm utilizes the talents of its staff to be the best possible advisory experts and client advocates possible. Stephen likes to think of Cloud Services Solutions as an insurance policy for its clients and when recruiting, he desires to build his team with the best and brightest individuals who bring experience and excitement to the fast-paced company.

Future Roadmap

Looking forward, one of Stephen’s primary points of focus this year is expansion into the European and APAC regions. As the pandemic is slowly receding, he and his team have seen many projects that were put on hold, start to resurface. So, they have begun re-engaging with clients and talking about resuming their projects.

Lane Mendelsohn: Vantagepoint A.I., the World’s 1st Company to Give Independent Traders the Power of Artificial Intelligence for their Computers.

The Prime View magazine is pleased to present a trailblazer in the FINTECH industry; founded by Louis Mendelsohn, this remarkable company is Vantagepoint A.I.

Founded in 1979, Vantagepoint A.I. was the first company in the world to offer traders the power of artificial intelligence for their home computers. Louis Mendelsohn has been dedicated to levelling the playing field for independent traders, helping them to control their own destinies, and creating the freedom of life lived on one’s own terms. Their patented, predictive technical analysis forecasts and patented Global Intermarket Analysis help traders in over 160 countries trade smarter and be their own trading guru. They no longer need someone to send them trade signals, they aren’t reacting to the headlines, they aren’t getting caught in trades for too long or missing out on prime opportunities because they are hobbled by lagging data.

A Family Commitment to Excellence

Lane Mendelsohn, Louis Mendelsohn’s son, has taken the role of President of Vantagepoint A.I. He is recognized expert in his own right in the financial space and has continued to grow the company his father founded. Lane has been involved in the world of trading since childhood, he was passionate about the markets from the time he could read and has been actively involved in the company since he was a child. Lane has worked in every aspect of the company and today leads with a comprehensive understanding of controlled growth, superior customer care, and a company culture that maintains the core values of teamwork, innovation, communication, passion, purpose, positivity, integrity, and respect.

STRAIGHT FROM PRESIDENT’S DESK

This story begins with Lane Mendelsohn’s father, Louis Mendelsohn. He was the first person to introduce strategy backtesting to the financial markets. He created the FinTech industry with the release of the first version of his software.

“As a child I was at his side, formatting the big floppy discs for traders to use on their home computers (most of which did not have a hard drive!) at a time when very few people actually had a “microcomputer.” Over the years, I held every position in the company related to sales and marketing. I built our first website. I also become a Charted Technician through CMT at 13 years old. That was a huge accomplishment and has been part of my success over the years. I was fascinated by the financial markets and I continue to be – I’m always working to improve my own knowledge and carry that innovation into our company so we can use it for the good of traders around the world.”

“My father took an early interest in Artificial Intelligence and how it could be used to automate repetitive tasks, he wanted people to have more time for what matters to them and for innovation. Today, our company provides patented, predictive market forecasts created by using artificial intelligence to traders around the world. I’m very proud of that. Our predictive forecasts reliably help traders anticipate market movements up to 3 days in advance with up to 87.4% accuracy. We’ve been training our neural networks for over 30 years and our forecasts just continue to grow in accuracy. We safeguard our traders by ensuring that we can forecast a market with a minimum of 70% accuracy before it is incorporated into our software; each year we are adding more and more markets as the machines are learning faster. Our software is performing valuable analytic functions for our traders so they can trade with calm, assured confidence even when the markets are extremely volatile.

Since my father stepped back from the daily operations of the company, I have been leading our team with a focus on our growth, product improvements and new capabilities for our traders. We are dedicated to growing our family of traders and our team without ever sacrificing the quality and customer care we are known for”, explained Lane Mendelsohn.

THE INNOVATIVE TEAM AT VANTAGEPOINT

The team at Vantagepoint is exceptional and Mendelsohn works hard to support them in all they do including driving Vantagepoint’s unique company culture. The team is fiercely dedicated to their core values which guide every decision they make and every action they take. The team is all-in on Teamwork, Innovation, Passion, Purpose, Positivity, Communication, Respect, and Integrity. As a natural extension of those core values, the team is also dedicated to giving back to their community. Vantagepoint A.I. regularly donates a portion of its profits to Shriners Hospitals for Children, The Children’s Cancer Center, and many small, local charities that are often overlooked by large corporate giving programs.

COPING WITH TODAY’S “NEW MARKETS” AND STRATEGIZING FOR THE FUTURE

The financial markets are very volatile right now; anyone trading in the financial markets will acknowledge it’s been quite a rollercoaster. Independent traders are being pushed and pulled not only by the ups and downs of the market but also by a huge disparity of opinions about what’s next. VantagePoint software gives traders the power of artificial intelligence with a predictive moving average. Traders have the tools at their fingertips to get off the rollercoaster and start looking at the markets from a data-driven predictive perspective. VantagePoint also helps traders find hidden opportunities in the markets with their Global Intermarket Analysis and their IntelliScan feature. But probably the greatest protection their software can offer any kind of trader is their predictive market high and low each day. Traders can trade more confidently when they see where to set their stops, what the momentum looks like, and how strong the trend is that they’re trading. Most VantagePoint traders say they can’t imagine trading without that edge!

THE TOUGHEST DECISION MADE

We asked Lane what the toughest decision is that he’s had to make along the way. He said, “Like most people running a company, the pandemic forced us to take a whole new approach to the business. Vantagepoint had a very vibrant in-office culture. It was tough on everyone when we had to deploy our team to work from home. Since then, we’ve worked to find new ways to hold the fabric of culture together while we’re physically apart. It’s worked really well and I credit my leadership team for their flexibility and innovation. Because the team has been able to adapt so well, I’ve made the difficult decision to maintain a remote working model. I do miss some of the excitement of our daily office atmosphere but I also want to ensure my team is safe, healthy, and protected. It was a difficult choice but truly the best one for taking care of my Vantagepoint family.”

WHAT’S ON THE VANTAGEPOINT HORIZON

Vantagepoint is known for its high-calibre customer care. The company has been growing quickly but with great care. Lane and his father both believe in a controlled growth model. This mindful approach to growth is a contributing factor to why Vantagepoint has been around for over 40 years and maintains an A+ Better Business Bureau rating. “Yes, we’ll continue to grow, expand, innovate and bring even more functionality to our traders,” says Lane, “but we are fiercely committed to ensuring our growth includes being able to provide the services, training, and level of support we believe is required of us and that our traders deserve!” That said, they are looking for all-stars to join the team on a regular basis and they will continue to expand – always with the utmost care.

GIVING BACK MEANS MORE THAN WRITING A CHECK

As mentioned before, Vantagepoint A.I. regularly donates a portion of their revenue to Shriners Hospitals for Children and The Children’s Cancer Center. But there’s more to their philanthropy! The team involves their patient ambassadors in their Vantagepoint family too – they join into their events, fun contests, and quarterly meetings. The team also supports local food banks, homeless shelters, veterans’ programs, and other local charities where they know they can make a difference in people’s lives in their community.

“For businesses in the fintech space that are looking to establish themselves and offer a service to people, my first advice is to help make your customers’ lives easier. Give people something that is useful, practical, and helpful. In the world of software, you can design all kinds of shiny widgets and cool interfaces, but at the end of the day does it make people’s lives better? It’s also important to have integrity in business; we hear so many horror stories from traders and we work to do our best to take good care of our customers – we call them our Vantagepoint family, and we mean it. Our customers’ success with our software is our true measure of our own success!” shared Lane Mendelsohn. “Our third generation of family leadership is already in training. My girls (12 and 8) understand how important our traders are, how vital our team is, and what principles we are dedicated to in our business. I can’t wait to see what innovations they bring to our company!”

Mark Kidd: Enabling Businesses to Perform Better

It’s a real honour to be selected by Prime View as a business leader making a difference in 2022. The reality is there are thousands of business leaders out there making a difference every day who are highly motivated to do inspiring things in their community or society, so I am proud to be asked to share some of my insights.

The Safe365 story has been driven by wanting to make a difference. Internationally the data on the level of workplace safety and associated harm is quite staggering. We could see that results weren’t improving, mostly because standard approaches weren’t changing either. The Safe365 journey has been about wanting to disrupt the norm and reset expectations on what great safety could look like using technology as an enabler and removing barriers to creating safer workplaces around the world.

This philosophy is very much engrained in the Safe365 vision and values. Everyone in the team is passionate about making a significant social impact in the community through reducing harm in the workplace. Better decisions on workplace safety culture and performance can only be made with better insights. The road to improvement starts with those insights about what the key strengths and weaknesses are and what needs to be done to improve outcomes.

Safe365 is essentially a safety ecosystem for businesses, allowing them to have everything at their fingertips with resources to improve their safety using mobile friendly technology. The insights generated on health and safety performance and the ability for businesses to benchmark themselves over time, and compare themselves at a sector and a country level is a key driver to propel positive change.

Transparency, engagement, assurance and governance need to be woven into everything relating to safety and risk management if it is to be successful.

As a team we fundamentally understood that one of the key barriers to creating safe workplaces was poor information flows and engagement between employers, employees, contractors and community. Core to our proposition was to create a seamless, intuitive experience for all workplace participants so we could increase engagement and awareness, making everyone part of the solution and not the problem.

While it is incredibly gratifying to win three international awards in the last 12 months, judged by some of the leading safety, risk and tech experts on the planet, the most gratifying aspect for us is hearing from our clients globally that we are making a difference to their safety performance.

Our number one goal is to have more workers return home safely every day, but to do that, businesses often need to change some deep seated behaviours and create a culture where safety becomes part and parcel of their everyday organisational performance.

After only six years in operation, we are fortunate to have thousands of clients across every sector of the economy in 40+ countries. Our clients are part of our family, they have become our biggest champions and sales channel, actively promoting Safe365 into their networks.

Our client list ranges from Amazon right through to small sporting organisations with 2-3 people. I am extremely proud of the work we with do with charities, giving them our product at cost price as well as our efforts amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, in making our product available free to organisations during a really tough time. This was an easy decision for our team and while we all had to work our butts off to make this happen it was the right thing to do at the time and truly aligned to our values.

A key philosophy for our business and a strong mantra is ‘outside-in thinking’. Putting the customer at the forefront of everything we do is critical to our business success. I’m proud to say there is nothing built in Safe365 that hasn’t come from our customers. That’s because we are in the business of solving their problems, not ours.

Personally I think it is incredibly conceited to think you know what’s good for the market. Our approach is guided by one of my favourite sayings ‘feedback is the lifeblood of champions’. This applies to our clients and staff, the need to have open conversations about what is working, what is not and what needs to be done differently. Having an agile mindset is critical along with an environment where everyone feels they can contribute. We give everyone the license to provide feedback.

However, it has not always been plain sailing. Creating change always has its detractors. Being extremely disruptive means changing the paradigm. In entering the market our biggest resistance came from existing safety professionals worried that we were going to ‘cut their lunch’. However, once they understood that they could bundle our offering into theirs to help them grow their own business while improving safety outcomes for their clients, their position changed. We now have premium partners across multiple countries.

Creating and having the right team, with the right values is critical. We have been very conscious of getting the right skills and expertise in the business. People who know their stuff in the disciplines they excel in. They also need to be passionate about safety and the difference we can make at a societal level and take pride in what they are doing, with loads of drive, energy, tenacity and resilience. They all have these attributes in spades to the point that several are now shareholders in the business, investing their own money to join the journey on another level. They are also having fun with purpose, critical to business success!

Some parting observations: I personally think of business as a team game. If you treat your business like a sports team things will happen. You need a vision for what outcome you are trying to achieve, you need the right players with the right skills, attitude and behaviours aligned to the vision. You have to love your players as both professionals and human beings and respect diversity on all levels. Take the BS out of the environment and enforce a ‘no poor-behaviour’ mantra as it can destroy your culture in a heartbeat. At all times remain yourself and let others be themselves, let them breathe and grow. Authenticity is critical, your team and customers can smell inauthenticity at 100 metres.

By all means be aware of your competition but don’t be obsessed with them. Instead become obsessed with your own game and the market you serve. Iron out your weaknesses, adapt, change and learn. Really get to understand the underlying problem and the solutions that address it. Learn from things that don’t go well – ‘it is only a failure when you don’t learn from it and adapt’. Surround yourself with people who are better than you, remain agile, pivot in need and always listen, listen, listen to your customers. You can’t be world class with a closed mind.

There will always be challenges in business so confront them. They only become a problem when you don’t address them and find a solution.

I am excited about 2022 as it will see a return to normal, albeit a new normal. Covid-19 has left an indelible footprint. People are more digitally aware and tech savvy, having been forced to engage, communicate and survive using technology. Great for SaaS businesses like Safe365.

Boards, executive teams and businesses have a greater awareness and appreciation of safety, health and well-being. The latter will have even greater importance especially as businesses adapt and accept flexible workplaces, people working remotely and the impact this has on developing safe and endearing cultures and workplaces at home and at work. 2022 promises to be an exciting year for change.

Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes: Helping Organizations to Manage Confidential Data and Optimize their ROI

Softhread was founded with the intent to provide a unique technology platform that mitigates the operational, financial, ethical, and reputational risks organizations are facing due to the exponential growth of networks. It is an information technology company providing industry-agnostic, environment agnostic, and platform-agnostic software that enables organizations to manage highly confidential data within their networks, environments, and devices more securely.

Currently, Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes is serving as the CEO of Softhread Inc. In addition to her medical and business degrees, she holds several certifications, such as Bioethics from Harvard, Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy from MIT Sloan, Blockchain Technology and Business Innovation from MIT Sloan, Finance from Harvard Business School Period, Negotiation from Harvard Law School , Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Patient Safety Officer by the International Board Federation of Safety Managers, and Master Black Belt in Lean and Six Sigma Management. She is a Faculty Member of the WBAF Business School-Division of Entrepreneurship and teaches the Executive MBA Business Technology Course at the University of Miami, Harvard Business School Period.

Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes has extensive leadership experience, such as being a Founder and CEO of The Science, Entrepreneurship, and Investments Institute, Founder & CEO of Revexpo Consulting, and currently serving as a Country Director for WBAF USA, Senator of WBAF. Additionally, she is an active member of the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum, acting as the Chief Innovation Officer for Government Blockchain Association and a board advisor for Partners in Digital Health Institute. Most recently she served as President of Detect Genomix, Chief Quality and Safety Officer Chief and Innovation Officer for MEDNAX, Chief Quality and Safety Officer, and Chief of Compliance for the University of Miami UHealth System.

Preserving Confidentiality

Softhread uses Chios™, which is a patent-pending blockchain and AI-enabled platform that preserves confidentiality and optimizes network security while enhancing operational efficiency. Through its decentralized system that empowers state-of-the-art interoperability, Softhread builds scalable enterprise solutions that are highly customizable, industry-agnostic, cloud-enabled, and cloud-independent, and optimize the ROI of data management.

Chios™ has been specifically designed for the confidential computing and compliance requirements of highly regulated industries, such as healthcare, life sciences, insurance, and government technology domains. Our existing projects and ongoing relationships with several technology companies have demonstrated our capabilities within life sciences and healthcare, space industry, web 3.0, and smart cities cybersecurity.

The Globally Recognized Leader

When asked about the key factors that influenced Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes’ decision to be an author, she said, “The decision to publish was suggested to me by several colleagues after I received numerous global awards and being named a global thought leader for a variety of technology-related topics.”

Multiple publishers also recognized the value of sharing her broad expertise in a variety of domains including digital ethics, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and smart cities deployment with a much wider audience. Most of her articles or books target key decision-makers, legislators, business leaders, and academicians. She hopes that they serve as a call to action and contribute to a change in paradigm for the global business ecosystem.

Helping Clients with Enterprise Solutions

According to Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes, Softhread is offering Chios™, which is an industry-agnostic platform offering a full portfolio of enterprise solutions that enhance privacy, confidentiality, and security of data management across IoT networks. Softhread’s completed pilots span across life-sciences, healthcare, gov tech, supply chain, and its upcoming projects will revolve around smart cities, precision health, space tech, and insurance industries.

Also, as the Founder of Institute SEI-a Think Tank with a vision to be the main catalyst for scientific and digitally driven entrepreneurship, as well as to promote sustainable economic growth, she has collaborated with other global, not-for profit organizations that are aligned with the UN SDG 2030 Agenda and promotion of social entrepreneurship.

Adapting to the Changing Market is Key

Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes believes global business leaders who wish to gain a competitive advantage in this digital era must be prepared to engage in a continuous digital and business transformation journey. Additionally, being able to dynamically adapt to various economic demands and offer solutions that cover multiple industries will be a coveted feature in this highly globalized and hyper-connected world.

She also says, “I have always emphasized the need for integrity, life-long learning, aiming for excellence, demonstrating resilience, embracing an abundance mindset, and designing a customized pathway to success that uniquely suits each individual’s passion, expertise, or skill sets.”

Indiana Gregg: Adding Value to All Modern Users

Meet Indiana Gregg, the founder and CEO of Wedo, a communications and banking services application that allows anyone to set up video and audio chats, take payments in-stream, send and receive invoices & money and transact like a global company, without the hassles and costs.

Indiana has been developing tech for more than 25 years, she’s founded five companies and has never been employed. She is a former U.S. national dance champion, was a recording artist as a young single mother of three, and later developed the streaming platform Kerchoonz, which was a music industry first and helped form the basis of the digital music streaming industry.

Indiana believes in conscious capitalism that empowers people to do what they love. She has been in the fintech industry, specifically, for the past decade and she loves to innovate and develop in this space.

The common threads throughout Indiana’s career have been creativity, problem solving, and an intense focus and persistence. Going back to the early days, the decision that influenced her the most was having children and the responsibility to provide for them, along with the desire to create a career path where she could grow. Indiana is a curious person, so she is constantly learning and upgrading her “system” and her toolkit of knowledge.

Improving People’s Lives

Wedo is a set of tools that’s as easy to use as any social media app. Clients can point, shoot, and live stream to up to a million people per call, connect with their clients and have a steady communication flow with them in a one-to-one or group setting. The Wedo team has built the platform so that virtually any business can use the app to save the time, money, and energy that it takes to chase down payments and have an easy workflow with their customers, family, or audiences. It’s been designed to improve the lives of people and level the playing field for small businesses and freelancers everywhere.

The best part of Wedo is anyone, from small businesses and freelance consultants to entrepreneurs and their large teams, can benefit from it. The company is entirely focused on the seamless tech that empowers its customers. Indiana believes that the best way to establish faith and trust is through transparency, honesty, and clear communication. No company is infallible; however, ensuring a great customer experience, transparent terms, and a fair deal is what Indiana and her team are after. Wedo is a team made up of multicultural and diverse people who are completely dedicated and love their work. It starts with the Wedo team and that spreads to the outer world. Indiana sums up what they do with this statement: “We are humans helping humans to help more humans.”

Tackling Challenges

There are always challenges when a company grows from a small unit of people into a bigger organization and then onward at scale. The main challenge is to fill roles within the company with people of integrity first, and then likewise the skill sets the company needs for near-term and long-term success. Indiana considers culture fit just as important as skills. She and her team appreciate a mixture of hard skills and soft skills, but soft skills in particular are very important in a diverse team like theirs. The energy of the team is infectious and Indiana wants to keep it that way.

Mentor’s Guidance

Indiana feels she got where she is today by being true to herself and others and doing the things that she loves. Indiana loves growing and leading teams, building things, and creating, in general, regardless of the industry. Making a consistent commitment to her education has probably been the best decision Indiana has ever made, as it has given her the freedom and flexibility to pivot in her journey as a creator.

Indiana has had several mentors, advisors, and coaches throughout the years, who have helped her, nurtured her, taught her, and befriended her. Without them, Indiana wouldn’t be the person she is today. Indiana feels she was lucky in school and university to have outstanding teachers and professors, amazing men and women who took an interest in her from an early age.

Indiana wasn’t born into a situation of privilege, but she has great parents who believed in her, supported her, and loved her, and she has learned a lot from raising three children of her own. Indiana’s life has been a combination of years of hard work, humility, and love.

Future Roadmap

Wedo plans to continue to innovate boldly, create great products and features, and roll out globally. Indiana is most excited about helping millions of people live their dreams and start or grow their businesses through the use of Wedo’s tools. She is looking forward to watching them build their communities via the application and feel the support of their peers, so they can grow and develop the next generation of awesome entrepreneurs.