CXO INSIGHT

What would you describe as your most memorable achievement ?

In my previous leadership role , I took an unknown Germany company , IGEL , based in Bremen , and changed it from being thin client hardware-focused to software to address the booming VDI [ Virtual Desktop Infrastructure ] and DaaS [ Desktop-as-a-Service ] workspace market dominated by Amazon Web Services , Citrix , Microsoft and VMware . We also completely modernised IGEL ’ s whole licensing model , from no recurring revenue to perpetual to subscription , took the business global and then sold it to private equity . There aren ’ t that many CEOs of tech firms who have done this kind of strategic transformational shift successfully and I am proud of what we achieved .

What first made you think of a career in technology ?

I was very lucky to go to a high school that got a grant from NASA in 1990 to put computers and Internet into our school . That sparked

Jed Ayres , Chief Executive Officer , ControlUp my interest so when I graduated , I studied business with a focus on management information systems .

Then in 1995 , whilst I was studying for an MBA and living in San Francisco , a family friend got in touch . He was the president of AmeriData Technologies , a large computer reseller , and needed an IT savvy intern for the summer to work on migrating its whole paper-based product catalogue to the Internet and introducing order tracking . The catalogue listed everything it sold like PCs , monitors and peripherals along with pricing . It ran into literally hundreds of pages .

As a courtesy , I went to the interview but turned them down as I really didn ’ t fancy working in their offices in nearby Sacramento . I ’ d also just got a job at Perry ’ s – one of the coolest bars in town – which I thought would be much more fun . He wouldn ’ t let me fob him off though and called back and said : “ No isn ’ t the answer , I ’ ve got you lodging and you ’ re taking this job .” So , I ended up doing both – weekends at the bar and weekdays at AmeriData . I then joined the company as an inside sales rep when I graduated . The business was subsequently sold to GE Capital Services in 1996 and , by aged 24 , I was managing a US $ 60 million branch which was the most successful in what became GE Capital ’ s IT Solutions business . So , as the story shows , getting into IT was a bit planned and a bit of an accident .

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?

As a manager , I adopt a non-hierarchical , transparent , collaborative , the door is always open style which aligns people around a common vision . This empowers staff to really do their best work to help us figure out how to achieve our corporate goals . I abhor

“ Living by that maxim , you ’ re always looking to help others and the world at large .”

ControlUp equips IT teams with the tools to quickly resolve issues , proactively prevent tickets and minimise costs . Its headquarters is in San Francisco and it has about 500 employees . Last year , Jed Ayres was appointed as its CEO . He took the time to tell us more about his own career path and what first made him think about a career in technology .

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