Software People Stories

In this conversation, Bill Hall, President of Simulation Studios shares

• How he used to be part of a band
• Then deciding to go to college and doing some work for Apple
• Getting into roles that needed to turnaround organizations
• Importance of getting people to be behind the turnarounds
• Getting an inspiration to start simulation studios
• The importance of unlearning in a turnaround situation, along with relearn and learn new
• Challenges of changes in an organization across teams, geographies etc
• Technology should not come in the way of learning
• Team and learning architectures for transformations
• Using personality profiling tools, such as MBTI
• How he got into simulations or games, as he calls them
• How a typical sim session looks like
• Attributes of an effective sim
• Identifying metrics and justifying investments for a turnaround

I asked how simulations help with individual contributors taking up transformation leadership roles.

The answer to this question and more in the next episode.. When Bill starts taking about some failures he had faced in his career

Bill partners with companies and individuals to build highly strategic mindsets resulting in accelerating change. Utilizing business simulations, leadership development, and business coaching, Bill helps shift mindsets and build skillsets resulting in driving positive change more quickly and with less friction. Currently President of Simulation Studios, Bill closely partners with companies and people in all types of corporate development scenarios. Bill has successfully worked for and with companies such as Apple, Sony, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Korn Ferry, Caterpillar, Sephora, and many more. Prior to Simulation Studios, Bill managed Skype’s global strategic software business, was in executive marketing roles at AOL and Nortel, and enjoyed working with Steve Jobs on various strategic projects during his 15+ years working with Apple where he was a five-time Apple MVP, and a Golden Apple Award winner. Bill authored a #1 Training and Development Amazon best-selling book, been featured in major publications and podcasts, and earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship and a Strategy Execution certificate from Harvard Business School. Bill spends the majority of his time with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 Book Link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMBP1TA

 Forbes Articles:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/people/billhall1/?sh=373b957726aa

Contact Info:

Contact at SimulationStudios.com and ask for Bill

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/wphall

In this episode, I continue the conversation with Steven Aberle, founder of a company in stealth mode, working on domain aware, large language model based processing for very niche applications.

In the previous episode, Steven spoke about his origin story and also how he got into and some of the technical challenges related to a domain aware large language model solution - and his patent in that area.

He continues to share about

• How the same engine can still retain some originality and uniqueness
• How updates to the base model can happen, to mature the model over time
• How ingesting content from various sources is becoming easier with APIs
• Then the reverse podcast starts! The questions are Steven’s and responses are mine
• Steven asked about where young companies could go wrong
• Founders’ passion
• Chemistry with the investors
• Scaling too fast
• His own trigger to jump into this venture.. That it was born out of hating some of the persistent pain points in the area of work
• His philosophy of ‘what you do is what you are’
• Fremen culture - from Dune
• The importance of being frugal during the startup phase and being funded by customers
• His experience of playing a CEO role; the moment when he made the decision and support from his family
• You must take care of the people in the community you are trying create and be fanatic about solving their problems
• His personal practices to stay calm
• Not measuring success only by monetary standards

Steven Aberle is the Co-Founder of The Rohirrim, a start-up bringing Domain-Aware Generative AI to the Enterprise. He has 18 years of leadership and executive-level technology capacities and is a recognized expert in unstructured data processing at scale. Steve holds the patent for Domain-Aware Generative AI, Generative Stitching and Vector-Attributable Large Language Models.

Hope you had a wonderful start to the new year.

This episode is special for multiple reasons.

This is one of the few episodes when I had the conversation with a guest in person - and that was also video recorded, with a fireplace in the background, on a cold day!

You would be able to watch this conversation as a video on the PM Power youtube channel.

This episode was recorded in November, 2022 - much before ChatGPT was made available to the public and the subsequent increased interest.

My guest today, Steven Aberle, is a founder of a company that is in stealth mode, working on domain aware, Large Language model based processing for very niche applications.

In this conversation, Steven shares

• How he joined the military half way through college and then went back to finish his studies
• Getting interested in IT during the military service
• Navigating away from the back end to the front and, focusing on how the users interact with the systems
• Being in the Washington DC area, getting to work on Defense related areas
• Working on defense proposals, that need to be technical, unique and bring out the uniqueness of the proposed approach
• Creating a piece of patented technology for domain aware generative AI, based on Large Language models and transformers
• The challenge for small technology companies to break into the defense procurement space
• Couple of challenges with the open LLMs
• Trained on open content available, thereby missing contextual insights that are more valuable
• None of the data that is generated, can be attributed to the source material [explainable AI]
• How he organizes his own learning even when moving across specialization areas
• It is always about the data
• His exposure and experience with ETL approaches, including working with unstructured data
• About being a full stack engineer, to be aware of many areas
• Not be as much of an expert as one may want to be in any one area, but connect the learnings to the new areas as well
• His approach for being a T-shaped individual, going deep into LLM, on how they are trained 
• Transformers are the next big wave now, after the cloud a couple of decades ago
• The concept or role of a solutions architect and how that may be implemented in a large language model
• Aspects related to LLMs and content / data more than just text, to also include images, figure descriptions etc
• How generative AI has made the life of graphic designers / UX specialists much easier
• Capturing conversations with solutions architects, use a transformer to generate a proposal-language based output

His answer to that question and a lot more - including questions he asked me, related to startups - effectively making role reversal - the guest becoming the host!

Steven Aberle is the Co-Founder of The Rohirrim, a start-up bringing Domain-Aware Generative AI to the Enterprise. He has 18 years of leadership and executive-level technology capacities and is a recognized expert in unstructured data processing at scale. Steve holds the patent for Domain-Aware Generative AI, Generative Stitching and Vector-Attributable Large Language Models.

This is another year end special episode.

As coaches engaged with various organizations and teams, PM Power coaches are always learning, adapting, helping others internalize good practices in work and life situations.

We have the personal reflections of some of the coaches at PM Power Consulting on what they have learnt during the year and what they plan to learn in the coming year.

As Shiv - Sivaguru - reflected on 2022, these were his thoughts

• He talks about  hybrid working model
• How he could start reading books again
• How we handle longer podcasts
• What he would like to do for 2023

Anantha Natarajan, or Anand, as he likes to be called, shared this

• Vision, Love and Courage : 3 words that are his key reflections of 2022
• How he learnt the importance of coaching in his life
• The vital life lessons from his experience
• Focus areas for the upcoming years 2023

This is what JV, had to say

• How things have changed after Covid.
• How at Pm Power we found innovative ways to handle online workshops
• Helping customers in their Enterprise Agile transformation journey
• What we can expect in 2023

Next, here are the thoughts from Zafar Ahmed

• Engaging with people in person though technology had brought us together virtually
• More and More organizations are embarrassing Agile
• If Agile coaching needs domain knowledge or is it domain independent

Always Mindful, Vishu's reflections are next.

• Engagements and contributions in Agile transformation, leadership development
• How fulfilling was Mindful leadership coaching

Below is the link to know more about our PM Powerian’s

https://pm-powerconsulting.com/experts/

Also, watch what our PM powerian’s have to say  on YouTube 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3F2N5Abhcz-OEcqg9B20OQ

This is a special episode.

After a long time, the co-hosts of the show had an opportunity to get together to reflect on what the impact of this podcast has been on our own lives and ways of working.

We also talk about what else or more we can do for you, our listeners in the coming year.

We hope that this podcast has brought cheer and some inspiration over the last 200+ episodes and thank you for the love and support.

Do share your reflections as well with us.

You can subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast client, so that you don't miss any of the exciting episodes.

You can also subscribe to the PM Power newsletter, S-curve - on LinkedIn. 

Thank you

In this episode, the conversation continues with Bhaktha Muralidhran, AVP, Unified Communications at Sompo International..

In the first part, he shared:

• A brief history of some of the computer networking technologies based on his experience
• Working on some of the emerging standards at that time
• Exploring roles in sales and marketing support
• Preferring to work with customers and solve their problems using appropriate technologies
• I asked him about: how comfortable it was to be working with customers and supporting them, coming from an engineering or developer mindset?

We continue the conversation with Murali sharing 

• The importance of understanding the customers’ temperament, beyond technology glasses
• Being comfortable with not developing cutting edge technology
• The experience of being part of a sales team
• The importance of considering the cost of solutions
• His move to the current role, working with a Japanese firm
• The impact of covid on the collaboration infrastructure
• Some interesting metrics about when meetings really start
• The shift from being an individual contributor in technology to an enabling role
• Some options he considered from a career advancement perspective
• The stress when one has to let team members go
• His suggestions on what can be done to increase and improve the adoption of technology, to be more effective

Over three decades of experience in software development in computer networking technologies and support. Experienced in managing a team of engineers. Led several projects from concept to delivery. 

Specialization: VoIP, Cisco Collaboration technologies, UNIX, Embedded Programming, TCP/IP, QoS, SNMP, Wireless, ATM, Frame Relay

https://www.linkedin.com/in/baktha-muralidharan-2221344/

In this episode, Bhaktha Muralidhran, AVP, Unified Communications at Sompo International shares:

• His first job to develop electronics solutions for use in the Indian Navy, for data collection
• Getting an exposure to software towards the end of his course and liking it
• After masters, getting a job at Digital and getting an opportunity to work on ethernet that was just becoming more widely adopted
• Creating an ethernet with existing hardware and infrastructure, in the lab - to connect computers
• Exploring client server approaches in the early days, understanding the close relationship between computers and networking
• Developing a print server and later working on frame relay technology and network management
• Learning SNMP [Simple Network Management Protocol] that opened up new opportunities for his career
• Moving to Lucent, when AT&T was split up
• Working on MIB - Management Information Base - for knobs that could be manipulated to change the behavior of networks
• How DSL technology enabled having multiple phones [numbers] in a home
• Moving to Cisco, when the company was acquired
• Preferring to work more with technology and interfacing with people - read customers - and so, taking up roles in service, over software development
• Why one needs appropriate technology and not necessarily the latest technology, when IT is an enabler for the core business

Over three decades of experience in software development in computer networking technologies and support. Experienced in managing a team of engineers. Led several projects from concept to delivery. 

Specialization: VoIP, Cisco Collaboration technologies, UNIX, Embedded Programming, TCP/IP, QoS, SNMP, Wireless, ATM, Frame Relay

In this episode, the conversation continues with Maha Mahadevan, CEO of BOSS Solutions - a company providing technology solutions for ITSM, Help desk and 811 ticket management for the damage prevention industry. Maha talks about

• How he built and kept the team together and stay motivated
• How he bridges the gap between developers and actual users
• How they sharpened the positioning and chose industry segments to operate in
• How to handle scale and stay current, as the # customers and team size grows
• His secret sauce about acquiring and retaining new customers and growth
• The importance of new member selection, onboarding and cultural integration for building a high performing team
• Motivating team members
• His career guidance tips for mid career transitions as well as entry level 
• Domain expertise and experience in industry segments

Maha Mahadevan is the founder CEO of BOSS Solutions, an Atlanta GA based company providing SaaS solutions BOSSDesk for service management and BOSS811 for Onecall ticket management for the damage prevention industry. The company started off as an IT staff augmentation business and transformed into developing innovative solutions providing SaaS solutions to a sizable customer base across the US. Maha has a bachelors in engineering from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and Masters from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is a regular tennis player and practices yoga. He enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.

In this episode, Shiv is in conversation with Maha Mahadevan, CEO of BOSS Solutions - a company providing technology solutions for ITSM, Help desk and 811 ticket management for the damage prevention industry. Maha shares

• His origin story of getting into IT after graduating in electrical engineering
• Getting a call from a friend asking if he would like to start a business
• Wanting to create IT solutions
• How he approached a selling role, that was needed for the startup
• Providing staff augmentation services to start and developing a solution to help with Windows NT migration
• Extending the solutions with additional products, some based on suggestions or requests from customers
• How a ticket management solution could be enhanced to manage a solution for utilities and serving many customers for over seven years
• In hindsight, learning that drastic steps and dropping the old could be very risky - and happy that his bets have proven successful in the longer run
• The context when he chose to become an entrepreneur, and the risks he faced at that time
• His advice: do it as if there is no other option, network and tap into your network
• How to retain confidence, when things may not appear to go the way one would like to
• Being ready to adapt and change, when in uncertain situations
• His personal practices to stay calm under all circumstances
• How to communicate the value of IT solutions - in terms of benefits and not features
• Whom to engage in a customer organization, not just what to communicate
• How he built and kept the team together and stay motivated

Maha Mahadevan is the founder CEO of BOSS Solutions, an Atlanta GA based company providing SaaS solutions BOSSDesk for service management and BOSS811 for Onecall ticket management for the damage prevention industry. The company started off as an IT staff augmentation business and transformed into developing innovative solutions providing SaaS solutions to a sizable customer base across the US. Maha has a bachelors in engineering from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and Masters from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is a regular tennis player and practices yoga. He enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.

In this episode, the conversation continues with Jutta Eckstein, an independent coach, consultant and trainer, based in Germany. 

In the first part, she shares-

• Her origin story as a product engineer
• Transition from an engineer to a coach
• The importance of listening

We continue the conversation with: 

• In her initial explorations with organizations, one pattern she found is

1. The understanding for leaders to introspect and understand their own responsibilities
2. That it is not always only technical aspects, but also the social aspects

• How having a common purpose helps in aligning team members together
• Also creates a better buy-in and the work she had done with Diana Larsen on the book liftoff
• How she finds and manages time to do so many things - liking her job and what she does!
• Doing what she feels is important
• The advice she got from Alistair Cockburn - what is the maximum money you want to make in a year?
• Making time to help others, not for money, at least immediately
• How she reconciles different perspectives she gets from her network - by keeping some ME time, doing yoga, exercises etc and not forgetting self care
• Her thoughts on sustainability - that is her current passion as the planet is on fire
• Social, environmental and economic pillars 

1. Diversity, inclusion, accessibility, equity 
2. Carbon footprint, waste
3. Holistic picture of the product: is or product improving lives everywhere or in a limited area

• The carbon impact of products during their lifecycle is more during the usage
• How to find a balance between consuming more computing resources and the carbon footprint
• Some career tips in the area of IT and sustainability

Jutta Eckstein works as an independent coach, consultant, and trainer. She has helped many teams and organizations worldwide to make an Agile transition. She has a unique experience in applying Agile processes within medium-sized to large distributed mission-critical projects. Jutta has recently pair-written with John Buck a book entitled Company-wide Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space & Sociocracy (dubbed BOSSA nova). Besides that, she has published her experience in her books Agile Software Development in the Large, Agile Software Development with Distributed Teams, Retrospectives for Organizational Change, and together with Johanna Rothman Diving for Hidden Treasures: Uncovering the Cost of Delay in your Project Portfolio.

Jutta is a member of the Agile Alliance (having served the board of directors from 2003-2007) and a member of the program committee of many different American, Asian, and European conferences, where she has also presented her work. She holds a M.A. in Business Coaching & Change Management, a Dipl.Eng. (MSc.) in Product-Engineering, a B.A. in Education, and is trained as pollution control commissioner on ecological environmentalism.

links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juttaeckstein/ https://www.jeckstein.com/

https://www.agilebossanova.org

https://jeckstein.com/sustainability