{"id":30629,"date":"2023-10-09T15:10:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T14:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/?p=30629"},"modified":"2024-01-23T12:22:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T12:22:03","slug":"get-to-know-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/2023\/10\/09\/get-to-know-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know: Andrew Winlaw, Vice President and General Manager Australia and New Zealand, Amelia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andrew Winlaw, Vice President and General Manager Australia and New Zealand, Amelia, shares what lawnmowing means to his mindfulness – amongst other insights.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My move into sales occurred quite a long time ago, while I was with IBM. Back in 2003, I helped the division I was working in develop a sales function. We identified a massive opportunity which culminated in IBM scoring an eight-figure deal with a household name grocery company. Seeing the contract signed was exhilarating and it was at that moment I realised that what I really wanted to do in life was to go out and sell. It was a big leap for me but, having made it, I\u2019ve never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What first made you think of a career in technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In common with many people in the nineties, I stumbled into the sector by accident, when I was offered the opportunity to be part of an IT project team at the insurance company NRMA, my employer at the time. They wanted to computerise some of their systems and needed a subject matter expert. Off the back of that experience, I scored a management role at IBM and ended up spending 13 years there. During that time, I had about five different \u2018careers\u2019. If you were looking for an all-round education in IT, there was nothing better than working for Big Blue back then \u2013 getting that initial opening really was the bee\u2019s knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re a thousand-person company but there are only 10 of us in Australia. In that setting, I believe you need to channel your inner Greg Chappell or Ian Botham because what\u2019s needed is a fast-paced all-rounder \u2013 someone who can confidently have a crack at doing whatever the team needs to succeed. So, for me, effective management is a balance between diving in and helping where needed and knowing when to hold back, so we develop our people and their competency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think is the current hot technology talking point?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artificial Intelligence. Amelia is at the heart of it right now, which is exciting. We\u2019d been waiting for something to ignite the AI wave in Australia and then Chat GPT was launched. Since then, we\u2019ve seen an extraordinary surge of interest. When it\u2019s harnessed and deployed by people who understand how it works best, AI can be a gamer changer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suspect I need to do more of everything in that area! There\u2019s the odd round of golf, I enjoy socialising with friends and I find gardening is very therapeutic. I know it sounds strange but I don\u2019t mind getting behind a lawn mower because when I do, I completely shut off \u2013 I\u2019m not thinking about other things, I can just be focused on that one particular thing. Family is also a huge part of my life. We have two girls, one doing her HSC and the other at university. Watching them grow up has been a joy. Whatever your job entails, you can\u2019t allow yourself to think about work all the time. It\u2019s important you have an off switch and you\u2019ve got to find the right button for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s been a career decision, per se<\/em>, that I\u2019d like to wind back the clock on. I\u2019ve really enjoyed my journey, working with companies both large and small. Shifting into the start-up space has given me more opportunity to influence the direction and trajectory of the organisation I work for and that\u2019s incredibly rewarding. One thing I might do differently though, if I had a Back to the Future moment, would be to become more forthright, at a younger age. Feeling comfortable speaking up and saying things others may be thinking but aren\u2019t game to say tends to be something that comes with age and experience but it would have been good to accelerate the process!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many companies in our region are getting a lot of traction via their digital channels \u2013 adoption has really surged especially since Covid \u2013 but their understanding of how that technology can be harnessed to maximum effect is yet to catch up. There are lots of opportunities for enterprise and government organisations to derive some incredible benefits and I think that\u2019s where we\u2019ll see upcoming spend directed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the region specific challenges when implementing new technologies in APAC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see a lack of awareness about what\u2019s available, technology wise, here in Australia, compared with the US and Europe. Because of the isolation factor, many companies focus on becoming the best in the local market, instead of striving to be world class. Skills shortages are a perennial issue too \u2013 it\u2019s tough to find people who are specialists in cutting edge solutions. Currently, an AI engineer is one of the highest paid IT professionals in the US and so finding those skills in our part of the world is a massive challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I joined, Amelia\u2019s Australian office has expanded its reach to encompass more of the APAC region. For us, the SE Asian market is relatively untapped – but we plan to change that, and fast! We\u2019re seeing huge interest in our technology from companies in Singapore, China, Korea\u2026 There are some challenges around language which we need to work through but there are also some great opportunities. I\u2019m looking forward to Driving that growth over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you offer to someone aspiring to obtain a C level position in your industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to gain some experience in all the different operational competencies. You also need to be able to talk to customers at all levels and develop a genuine understanding of their problems and challenges. If that\u2019s not your Driving focus, if you\u2019re not able to put yourself in their shoes and appreciate the impact that not solving an issue will have on their business, it\u2019s likely you\u2019ll get bogged down in the minutiae. Developing a solid network is critical too \u2013 you should aim to amass an eco-system of people you can work with to get the right outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Winlaw, Vice President and General Manager Australia and New Zealand, Amelia, shares what lawnmowing means to his mindfulness – amongst other insights. What would you describe as your most memorable achievement? My move into sales occurred quite a long time ago, while I was with IBM. Back in 2003, I helped the division I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":30630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1576,55,44],"tags":[5044,5042,155,1817,5043],"class_list":["post-30629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-get-to-know","category-analysis-insights","category-oceania","category-top-stories","tag-amelia","tag-andrew-winlaw","tag-get-to-know","tag-insights","tag-mindfulness"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30629"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32762,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30629\/revisions\/32762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/apac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}