Once again I feel privileged to share the stage with such an incredible group of humans.
Here is a new episode of "We Are Data"
On this occasion, I interviewed Ruairidh Smith aka Rory Smith.
Rory is recognized as a very active member of the TimeXtender partner community. He is never afraid to share his opinion and engage in debates and has a wealth of knowledge about data, computers and strategy, he also has various other hobbies!'
Rory has an incredible story to tell about his data journey; with a background in Computer Science and the Open Source movement. He is now a Managing consultant at E-mergo.
"When I joined E-mergo 6 years ago, we were 28 people.
Today we are 65 people and growing. Our philosophy is clear, you can grow your company with more human resources, but that can only get you so far. Using modern systems to automate as much as possible and make you capable of doing more and more with the small amount of time and resources you have, is what we aim to do."
Rory works day in and day out with data, but he is passionate about other technologies.
"So to me (AI) sounds a lot more magical than in practice. There are definitely things going on there that are pure wizardry, but it doesn't excite me as much. What excites me is the relatively complex and advanced stuff available to the general public.
3D printing is one thing I really, really like. The other is the concept of low-cost computing. Stuff like Raspberry PI's a credit card-sized PC that costs maybe €40. Anybody can learn to do electronics projects around it. There's also a great community that's really powerful."
I think the combination of pretty advanced technology is becoming almost a commodity. The fact that there are very enthusiastic people willing to educate other people in their use is really great.
As a long time engaged partner, I couldn't help but ask about his perception of TimeXtender Partner program.
I think that the way TimeXtender interacts with partners is excellent.
When you're a new partner and starting up, you get a lot of support. Our local Solutions Specialist, Alex, is great. With TimeXtender, back and forth discussion and feedback always flow rapidly. That makes you feel part of a community, which is really important instead of being treated as a vendor.
It is always a pleasure to discuss data and technology with our partners, but also to get to know the human.
I enjoyed it so much that I never manage to keep the conversation scheduled time on track. I should know that time matters, but there is always something new and exciting that I learn from these folks.
Now, enough about me; without further ado, here is the interview.
To know more about the TimeXtender Program visit our partner section. As Ted says, you are not a logo on our website. We are Human to Human.