Associate Professional: Sales Solutioning (Innovation) at DXC Technology Australia
I currently work in the “Labs” space within DXC. In Labs, we investigate new ways of working with both existing and new technologies. We develop an understanding of how we can best help our clients leverage such technologies and the opportunities they hold.
My role within Labs, is to get hands on with the technology and to build out multiple proof of concepts (POC) for the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility of the technology. Once we have our POCs we use this to engage with customers (both external and internal) to build a greater understanding of how we can extract opportunity.
I grew up in Churchill, Victoria. A small town 2 hours south east of Melbourne.
During secondary school, I found my passion for the sciences. This passion guided me for the next several years and ultimately led me to study Biotechnology at RMIT in Melbourne after completing my Year 12 studies.
Over the next few years, I would go on to learn about molecular biology, tissue culture, genetics, chromatography, electrophoresis and even growing human cells in a flask. However, after some time it started to become clear to me that this was not where I pictured my future self.
It was time for a change and I decided to try something completely different. I went and got myself an apprenticeship in horticulture and worked as a landscaper. I went from working in a lab with elements, to working out in the elements.
During my time in the apprenticeship I learnt a great deal and as a result am now very handy outdoors.
As the years went by I started to experience the same feeling as I had a few years earlier whilst studying biotech. This was still not where I pictured my future self. The time had come again to shift direction.
This time I pointed myself at IT. Having not really studied IT before I played it safe and applied for a generalist IT course though the Swinburne TAFE. After studying for most of the year, I was convinced that I had found a path that was perfect for me. I dropped the TAFE and jumped into University life. Over the next few years I continued to fine tune my course to best suit my interests and the IT industry.
During my time at Swinburne I had the opportunity to undertake two 6 month industry based learning units (IBL). Getting real exposure to the IT industry before completing my course has been a major factor to my achievements.
Anyone with a strong passion for technology would fit right in. However there are certainly several key characteristics that would help people succeed in this role.
I think the role lends itself best to IT generalists. Having a breadth of knowledge across IT has been one of my strongest assets in this role. It has allowed me to realise opportunities that may otherwise go unnoticed.
During my time here at DXC, I have had the opportunity to investigate many exciting forms of technology in order to understand its ability to help our clients on their digital transformation journey. Some of the technology I have recently been working with is listed below. What excites me the most about my job is not the technology that is on the list… it’s the not knowing what the list will look like tomorrow.
With the increasing rate of technological change, I find myself fighting a losing battle trying to stay current. Almost every other week, a new form of technology pops up on our innovation radar and will be competing for resources (my time). Often this results in myself being pulled in 6 opposing directions whilst trying to close off existing projects.
I would love to get involved in all our innovation projects, but the reality is it’s just not possible. Sometimes I need to step back and handball an opportunity to help ensure I can close out many of the existing ones.
Failures are a necessary part of innovation and it has been a challenging shift in thinking to understand the importance and necessity of failure.