About Ken

Tell us a bit about what you do here.

I oversee our worldwide business development efforts, which means I interface with both the strategic and tactical partners in expanding our presence globally. Concurrently, I identify and nurture the right partnerships to grow our ecosystem and expand our footprint in the Big Data space.

What do enjoy the most about the Big Data industry?

It’s really a lot of fun to be in a space that’s continuously developing and expanding, and where the industry in general is putting a lot of focus in the transformation of businesses.

What’s also great is that I work with a very wide range of women and men, who are all incredibly smart and very passionate about what they’re doing.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job?

It’s probably the opportunity day to day to engage in new and interesting challenges, both internally and externally. This is a new industry that’s growing. No two days are alike. You get up every morning and you know there are going to be some new challenges to take on.

What kind of personal qualities do you think make a good VP of Global Business Development?

Active listening. In general, when doing business development, you’re actually building strategic relationships; the most important part of the interaction is to listen closely and try to really understand what someone is saying, where they’re trying to go, what their business challenges are— so that you can process and understand what they need.

Describe one or two reasons you enjoy working at Guavus.

People are the number one reason I like it here—it’s an exciting group of professionals from various corners of the data field, and even from other industries. They’re not all just from the Big Data space- they come from telecom, from software development… a very wide range of colleagues I get to work with. I just love it.

Another reason I wanted to be here is that Guavus sits at the intersection of Big Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence, a growing space with much to discover for all of us, every day. I’m incredibly lucky to work in this role.

3 words to describe Guavus

Up-and-coming!

How do you spend your time outside of Guavus?

Well, I spend a lot of time in Guavus. But on weekends I love riding my bike, and I really enjoy both skeet and trap shooting.

Tell us an unexpected fact about you.

I was once fortunate enough to join Muhammad Yunus at a dinner, in Dhaka, shortly after he won the Nobel Prize. He’s an amazing man and I will always remember that experience.