welcome to another episode of Glide chat my name is Mike Lombardo sitting with me is Ohad Kushner our chief customer officer at Glide fast Ohad how are you today great Mike how are you oh man this is this is like so overdue because usually especially when I get people in Glide fast that are as local I get them uh on on the Glide chat like first week so you've been here a couple months now but welcome to Glide fast officially and thank you for joining us and man we are excited to have your leadership here likewise so why don't you tell a little audience a little bit of your background and talk a little bit how you got to Glide fast and we'll take it from there sure I'll kind of work backwards yeah prior to joining Glide fast I spent three years at service now I was head of go to market for Telecom media technology at servicenow for the Americas so it was basically a business development role uh talk to customers all day in those three sectors uh about their servicenow Journeys uh and trying to match the servicenow value proposition of what they're trying to do prior to that I worked at ATT for 13 and a half years the last three of which I helped put together the strategy around servicenow for ATT Business that must have been an easy that was very easy yeah it's a little closer on the mic small uh small company small company a small servicenow initiatives you know I like to say that my time at ATT is like three mbas yeah so yeah it was really really good uh prior to that I ran services including Professional Services for a tech company called the innerwise nice uh for close to nine years that company got acquired by ATT that's how I worked there and prior to that I was um in the military that's my background that's awesome yeah me and you just hit it all I'll never forget like the first lunch we had you've got to be five years ago right yeah five or six six years ago and we just hit it off right away and um you know I just I'll never forget like you put your yourself on the line I think for us quite quite a bit um you believed in us I just I couldn't I was so honored that you trusted me and glide fast and our team you know so much and and you put like I said you're you're your name on the line and you really took a risk and you know it's kind of similar now that I'm saying it it's almost like it's similar to how I believed in service now and so many of us I believe in service now when it was you know the early days where it's just a ticketing system and just I Incident Management were like man that's development's fast like this can really go somewhere and it's like then you saw it come true you know like then then it did become more than just Incident Management and it did start to dominate the market and it must be like kind of similar with you is like you you believed in Glide fast and then it's like wow you saw Glide fast grow and become successful it's like okay I was right that's right you know so that lunch that we had six years ago yeah Glide faster was about 40 40 or so wow so I remember the number I remember the number and I think to in in many respects you know we're talking now about the future and new customers that may be watching this uh this video Yeah here you have a fortune 9 company yeah that is used to working with every partner Under the Sun yeah including the very the big ones you know heavy immersed relationships uh in fact going with the at the time a small partner yeah uh because quality matters yeah and I think um you know I've been around the Glide fast orbit from the ATT side and then I continued that orbiting around Glide fast when I was a servicenow go to market leader and uh and now it's just a natural progression for me to go into the partner side um I like to say that if I would sell something to servicenow I'd also be a vendor then I'll have four yeah right now I've been a client an employee and a partner that's some that's amazing and I think in many respects it's the Journey of any customer or prospect that we have right now which is um Quality matters yeah digital transformation is hard it is it can be very messy statistics are are stacked against us yep so um in that Triad of Technology partner customer and partner yeah you cannot do it without a great partner and that's what I saw early on that's true yeah I mean it's like you can have a Ferrari right but if you just leave it parked in the garage you don't get the right maintenance and you don't put the right gasoline in it it's it's not gonna run the same right and it's tough because you know so much of it's true you know there is a huge low code component there's so much advantage to just using it up you know day one you know because basically what service now is it's a platform uh an application development platform with pre-built applications on it right servicenow has invested millions in years and and all their customers knowledge into making the out of the box day one application phenomenal and you're gonna gain so much just by turning that thing on that's right but then it needs to be personalized to how you operate because we're all different we're all unique yes Telco companies you know you look at two Telco companies a lot of similarities but then there's a lot of differentiation too and it you know servicenow does need to development needs to happen but it's gonna happen the right way and fall when the best solution model and avoiding those bad practices um and I I think you nailed it and I you know it's you know my job here is to look outside and also what the customers think of us what the customers need yeah and in many respects you know let's just say it the way customers say and and one of them said this to me uh just three weeks ago we don't want to be order givers or order takers yeah we want a partner that can advise us counsel us yeah take into account things that have worked and have not worked with other deployments and in many respects I think in the new today in the new age that's what people expect from Partners it's not just Personnel yeah it's not a price point yeah it's that advisory every layer where they know that they're being counseled along the way yeah they have an intimate relationship when things go right yeah and especially when there are rainy day scenarios and uh you know that's what I Look to do here you know with with the 500 people that we have yeah all of them you know great great great talent and uh if we can do that time and time again at the highest level um you know customers will fail what what makes Glide fast special to you like what's because I know I mean we've been talking about you coming here for a long time yeah and you know you like I said you always believe in us but what what makes Glide in your opinion what makes Glide fast unique and special in a you know room full of other partners so I think every partner under the sun can uh bring in Personnel you know the technical consultants The Architects yeah the business process consultants and you know in the in the War of Attrition that goes on with you know with statements of work and yeah in the sales cycle Etc um you know anybody can reign supreme I think what what makes us I think better than anyone else I'm convinced of this otherwise I wouldn't have joined your attitude yeah great great career at servicenow uh is the Groundswell that you actually don't see yeah customers don't see it's kind of like you know the analogy of the iceberg yeah what you see a you know above the ocean exactly and then and here's what happens here and you know I knew about it but I really did not know about it until I really came and saw it yeah so what I mean first it starts with culture and attitude yeah is the base um there's a there's a can-do attitude this isn't just people going and feeling uh you know worksheets and yeah and getting as quickly as they can to Friday yeah it's actually there's a can-do attitude let's do it customer first mentality I think better than anyone I've seen yeah uh and I've seen I've worked with many of the partners uh so it starts there then we have a continuous Improvement psycho here of you know peer support um knowledge acceleration a methodology for learning from lessons from mistakes getting better getting better getting better yeah analogy that I use is never rest at the top of the mountain you know you there's always something else to conquer always something else to learn yeah and this isn't Just Happening culturally but we also have the mechanisms in the process and the methodology to do that yeah and then I think you know above everything else it's the talent it's just uh you know the the people that come in already with great based knowledge yeah and then they get ever so much better yeah once there once they're here and I I'll just you know I like the analogy of all boats rise in the tide yeah if you get good people around you you become better and the egos are checked at the door right it's not like me verse the architect next to me it's like how can we how can I help you right and and I I you know I introduced that term Ubuntu that is exactly that given this giving yourself to the person next to you and in turn it comes back twofold when you need help and I think like that's just something we've always been like we've always just wanted to help each other and in turn it makes every single one of us stronger and better like I I you know the ego and the competitiveness it just doesn't work and I'll tell you like I've worked for other partners um in this space and you know I talk to a lot of obviously developers even ones that that don't work here in the community and everything and you know we're so passionate about servicenow and the problems it's solving and these are all for the most part young companies you know digitally transformed we're at the Forefront of transformation we're fast we're you know and the people that work at these Partners love their company like they they love it they love rocking the Glide fast gear and I think there's there's a degree of that everywhere but at Glide fast like glad fast loves you back that's right you know what I mean like and I know it's where it's a company like people say like oh it's a companies don't love you back but it does like and that's just what I wanted from the beginning because that's what I was searching for when I was at other partners when I was a developer When I Was An Architect I was so in you know sales recruiting delivery marketing everything I just wanted the love back you know and that's what I was looking for and so that's what I wanted to create and I was fortunate that the people that came you know in the beginning especially they wanted the same thing they wanted to create a an environment where it was fun to work at you know where where we're having fun working hard you know it's not some people say work hard play hard it's like we're working hard all the time like we're this is like you know if you're looking for an easy easy job or you're just gonna Coast through this is not the place because we're solving big problems we're smashing big rocks we're in the largest you know uh servicenow projects out there you know you're familiar with one of them right and uh one of those customers I just don't know how Fortune how lucky we were to have all these people that were on the same Mission we're moving as one we love each other we love the platform we love our customers and it's like it doesn't happen you know it's one in a billion that's right and that's why we can't like we have to take advantage of that that's how I feel like you know if it's a shame if we if we don't dominate this Market you know agreed I mean you know so I'll say a few things on that one customers want to know that the people that are working with them are treated well yeah so it's really important and attitude shows service cells yeah uh you can tell as a client you can tell if the vendor the partner Etc it's not if if if their employees are are descriptive so that it really matters even for business the second thing around ego in a true consulting firm and we're positioning ourselves as Best in Class in the service now domain and in general Best in Class principles when it comes to Consulting in general yeah is your client servant by definition you're in service of a client if you're a partner it's not about your ego it's not about your success it's your client success it's the client champion who we want to excel yeah stand in front of a microphone or just sit in front of a microphone and talk about and praise their digital transformation so we by definition are in service of someone else and I think people that cannot live in that environment tend to have egos and we are in general in the Consulting world you want to choose the ones that are client servants and we have plenty of them yeah here today it's really we want the customers to succeed yeah it's not about us exactly and in turn we'll we'll succeed that's right you know and it's like and that's that's what I mean if if your team is winning you're winning that's right you know like when when you look at a team that won a championship in in sports right does it really matter what position you played right but you have everyone's got a position to play right does it matter if you were the second string or the third string or you know it doesn't it's just you got that ring you know Michael contributed Michael Jordan said famously that he didn't start having fun until he engaged the others on the team yeah when he was just shooting baskets he was a superstar Fame he didn't have fun no exactly LeBron does not feel that way though he just wants to score himself yeah so what's what's next so you know I think um you know what I love about you know you coming in here is like you making changes like still like not being comfortable with yes we want part Elite partner of the year two times in a row um you know we've we've won these big things but you know it's it's that's not good enough for us right like I just and I love that you're you're in the same mentality we got to keep raising the bar you know we got to keep making sure everybody loves working here and you know loves the projects we work and all the challenges we're solving but what do you see is like maybe one or two things that we can improve on to to get to the next level within delivery uh which is the organization that I had here our our stated goal is to become Best in Class yeah Best in Class means a lot of things it means that every interaction with a customer is Best in Class yep um every output that we put out in terms of a deliverable is Best in Class the talent that we bring in is Best in Class Etc and when you get there you keep on going it's not it's not a and it's not a Finish Line it's just it's it's it's really a it's a it's a floating Target continues to get further and further yeah so that's our stated goal so you know the the um the mission that I have right now is is to help you Mike yeah and the entire leadership team here scale yeah uh we have had tremendous growth because of Prior successes yeah using the analogy from before you cannot rest you know and competition is fierce clients have stricter demands so it's about just tightening those screws and getting better and better and better and each area within delivery the other thing I think that is really Keen here is that um is is the level of intimacy so I think the types of people that we bring in including on the leadership team or the types of people that will take a customer call any day or night and uh and make it happen yeah and uh that's what I like about you know the size that we are yeah 500 Consultants yeah may think it's big Others May think it's not as big yeah but uh that is something that we have to maintain as we continue to grow and that's really the mission so really create that scale tighten the screws and maintain the level of intimacy and uh and great culture that we have even as we continue to grow because servicenow is growing yeah we tend to grow with that ship exactly yeah it's um it's just amazing and you know just to see you know growing new Talent into the space and you know it's it's like we're doing good as well you know I I said the other day a few weeks ago like we're here to change the world you know and I saw someone comment like what do you mean how are you changing the world with service now I'm like if you're asking that question then you shouldn't be in the space because we are changing the world I mean we're changing how government state and local governments and federal governments interact with their citizens we're changing how everybody interacts with with companies consumers with companies employees with their with their company and what I love the most is like who knows what's next you know like we don't know because you know what to be honest I never I never thought in 2010 that servicenow you know if I wanted to apply for a fishing license I'd go to service now to do it right you know so it's um or if I needed food assistance or you know employment unemployment assistance like it's you know and that's that's why I think so many people are still so excited because the use cases are endless it's just a matter of time until service now expands there I mean the reply to that person that gave you a comment is take a look at the consumer world and look how much we are buying differently just in the last few years just because of Amazon not here to make you know not to advertise them but just look at that that b2c market and how consumers today engage in Commerce that has changed servicenow mission is to do the same thing on the business side not only B2B but B to B to C and that Revolution is going to happen because people expect to get the Amazon experience today and that when I was at servicenow that's usually what we were talking imagine going into in front of a Telco you know that has age-old systems sometimes from decades ago and you talk about Amazon experience in the new world it's going to happen yeah whether it has to it has to it it's an innovator die and like we used to that used to be our like tagline that's right uh because uh because actually because Fred Luddy put that up a picture of Blockbuster logo innovator die that's right you know and it's like it's becoming like innovate yeah literally like it's it's a matter of survival now so that works we need to be more efficient we can't have you know thousands of employees doing I mean we've we've replaced you know swivel chair true swivel chair people clicking Refresh on a browser not not that it was that company we're talking about but no you know refresh waiting for a queue to update I mean it's like on a system 20 30 years old and it's it's just not feasible you know a question Mike that the world is going to change yeah and if it changed on the consumer side it's going to change on the business side yeah if you're working Monday through Friday let's just assume that those are your working days between let's just hypothetically say nine to five there's no reason why your experience at work yeah those days those hours is different than when you get home yeah and you're buying a little gadget on Amazon yeah and that's what's going to happen it might it has you might not see it today it'll happen tomorrow yeah and uh that's what we're helping customers do that's easier and that's what's fun that's what's fun is and you get to see those results that's what I loved about service now too is you get to see those results and you get to see them quickly that's right you know what I mean it's the gratification of when you're a developer when you're a consultant when you're a project manager you get to witness these results be a part of it and and it happens fast all right what what piece of advice would you give to somebody maybe looking to grow into leadership or you know let's let's end uh with with some advice for people maybe looking to grow their careers either in servicenow or leadership whatever you have for advice so I think you know curiosity uh was key for me I'm not saying that that's the only recipe but be open people can come in as introverts or extroverts but if you were curious and open and you have a 360 view of things yeah especially not just a view of yourself you're not in an echo chamber but you try to understand what is the customer actually saying or meaning when they say this or did not say that and try to get that perspective and you build that over months and years and years and years of a career you start to get a really holistic view of you know how to do things what not to do uh how to behave how to engage how to de-escalate how to motivate customers who are on messy complex Journeys yeah uh that to me is is uh is number one is is you know I love sitting in a conference room for me personally and just uh people watch yeah uh you get a lot why did that person do that or say that and I still do that to this day and you know when I do mentoring that's one of the pieces of advice is you do that don't be don't look at your iPhone or you know tablet at that moment you get so much from engaging with other people um you know the other thing is of course you know that's stable Stakes which is you know Network where people get different perspectives yeah uh different people will teach you and others May teach you things that you don't want to do either way that's learning yeah and um and that's really important and then set a goal uh set a goal not everybody you know is is might be set for leadership leadership doesn't have to be only leading people it could be leadership as individual contributors as well and I think um you can still be a really tremendous leader so setting that goal is always good because then you know where you're walking towards yeah those would be my three that's great all right thank you for joining us on another episode of Glide chat make sure you follow us on LinkedIn on YouTube and subscribe thank you guys [Music]