GET TO KNOW...
On the lighter side of things, we ask the
industry experts what makes them tick. . . .
Robert Speed,
Vice President of Blackboard
Middle East and Africa
wWhat would you describe as your
most memorable achievement?
I was fortunate to be given the opportunity
three years ago to lead the Middle East and
Africa (MEA) region for Blackboard to bring
back productivity and profitability and it has
been a memorable and exciting journey to
date. Re-establishing Blackboard in the MEA
region, fostering closer working ties with
customers and business partners as well as
to build and lead a team of talented people
in the education sector. This transformation
has only been able to happen due to the
“
BUSINESS
NEVER STOPS,
EDUCATION
IS A REALLY
ENJOYABLE
SECTOR TO WORK
IN AND I LIKE TO
THINK WE ARE
OPEN 24 HOURS
A DAY.
leadership in place at Blackboard who have
worked hard together to pivot the whole
company to be focussed on delivering
innovation within existing products and
through new technologies and simplifying
our business as we move towards being a
fully SaaS business.
What first made you think of a
career in technology?
Timing is everything, I am a firm believer
in that. I was not at any point thinking
of a specific career in this sector but was
fortunate to get an opportunity in 2000
to join one of the world’s leading contract
manufacturing companies Solectron Global
Services. The technology manufactured for
clients such as Nokia, Ericsson, IBM and
Cisco enabled me to grow and understand
the various attributes of the business from
materials management, procurement,
software, kaizen productivity philosophy –
‘constant, continuous improvement’ plant
manufacturing and supply chain.
I was fortunate to end up leading key
customer accounts in this sector globally so
really came to appreciate the technology
business. This experience has given me
the grounding and adaptability to work on
various complex business challenges and
to lead teams. Education technology was a
step into a new sector within a UK company
Promethean and then a pivot into education
software with Blackboard.
www.intelligentcio.com
INTELLIGENTCIO
79