Welcome back to our monthly Leadership Spotlight series on the Maven Wave blog! For our March spotlight, we got to know Jason Foa, Infrastructure Practice Lead. In both his personal and professional life, Foa is no stranger to strategizing — whether he’s playing a game of poker or planning for the future of cloud platforms — and playing his cards right, of course.
Check out our full interview below!
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Jason Foa, and I’m a Partner responsible for our Cloud Platforms practice. I live just outside Denver and have been with Maven Wave / Atos for almost four years. Before joining Maven Wave, I spent my career in consulting, corporate finance, and corporate strategy. I had worked with many people from Maven Wave at a prior company, so when I got the opportunity to join, it was a natural fit for me.
Tell us about your role at Maven Wave.
By title, I’m responsible for Cloud Platforms practice. But what I try to do every day is hire smart people who work well in teams and put them in positions where they can contribute to the best of their abilities and grow.
What are the top highlights of your career so far?
I’m very proud of the culture of collaboration within the Cloud Platforms team and Maven Wave.
What is your favorite part of working at Maven Wave?
Everyone answers this question the same way and I’m no different. I like the people who work here.
Which of the 7 C’s is most meaningful to you and why?
Culture. There is the Peter Drucker quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” If we can maintain the right culture while incorporating Atos’ capabilities and customer base, we’ll be in a solid position to continue to win in the market.
Where do you see the cloud market in the next few years?
There are a few trends that the experts seem to agree on. First, cloud solutions will become more industry-specific. Second, enterprises will look to purchase business functionality as opposed to servers, so you’ll see AWS and Google sell services to settle a financial trade or process a healthcare claim.
A third trend is that computing power will continue to move to the edge of networks, so the data from MRI machines, deep-fryers in fast-food restaurants, our cars, homes, watches, etc. will be better aggregated and accessible in the cloud. That data, and the risk of spilling it, will keep security services front and center.
What goals do you have for your team in 2022? What are your long-term goals?
In 2022, we need to continue building on the momentum Jason Talley’s team started last year around Managed Cloud Operations. That offering creates a foundation of predictable, recurring revenue that we can build on. We also need to expand our AWS and Azure capabilities and collateral to match where we are with GCP. Finally, we need to streamline how we go to market with the other Atos entities so our sales teams and customers know everything in the toolbox and the value each capability can bring.
What is something about you that always surprises people?
I’m pretty vanilla. I just asked my son what’s surprising about me, and he shrugged. So here’s an old story: In 2007, I wrote a resignation letter intending to quit my job and try to make a living playing online poker. But the day I was going to send it in, NETeller shut down US support of the gaming sites and the market collapsed.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
I like to spend time in the mountains. I end up spending a lot of time driving around to my kids’ sporting events. My two daughters are away at college — one in NY and one in Edinburgh — so it’s fun to visit them.
Rapid Question Round
- Brand new or vintage? New, but I’m cheap, so my jeans have holes in them.
- City or countryside? City for food, otherwise country
- Introvert or extrovert? Introvert
- Music or podcasts? Mostly gambling-related podcasts
- Karaoke: Singing or spectating? Dear god, spectating
- Comedy or drama? Comedy
- Art, science, or history? Science
- Early bird or night owl? Early bird
- Fiction or nonfiction? Fiction
- Planning it or winging it? Winging it
- Favorite vacation spot: Moab, Utah
- Favorite season: I like them all. Spring and Fall because it’s good to see the changes.
- What you’re currently listening to: Right now, the soundtrack from the movie Hell or High Water
- Recommend one movie, TV show, book, or podcast: I’ve said this to a few people at Maven Wave, but I love The Three Body Problem science fiction trilogy. The guys who did Game of Thrones are making it into a show.
CULTURE
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