Leadership Spotlight: Sumeet Singh

A new month is here once again, which means it’s time for another leadership spotlight on the Maven Wave blog! This time, we spoke with Sumeet Singh, Technology Partner at Maven Wave, an Atos company and learned about his enthusiasm for nurturing his team’s growth as they prepare for the exciting future of Cloud (as well as his passion for a good Chicago-style pizza). Check out our full discussion below!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am Sumeet Singh. I have always worn multiple hats, but day-to-day, I am a Partner at Maven Wave and work with a core group of people who help us stay at the forefront of technology and innovation. In my other role, I lead a group called Industry Next, which stitches together the best of Atos’ practices and offerings and brings industry-specific cloud solutions to life. If you are interested, ask me more about it!

What are the top highlights of your career so far?

I reach a new high every time I look back and realize I played some tiny role in helping another individual realize their potential. In that sense, my top highlight is still ahead of me.

What is your favorite part of working at Maven Wave?

There are many of them. But if I was to pick one, it would be our people. When we hire somebody, we have a mantra: If I personally want to team up and work with somebody, so will our clients. And because of that fundamental teaming principle, we have slowly gathered an amazing group of people and brought them under this one umbrella that we call our organization. These individuals love working with each other, and our clients love working with them, too.

What does company culture mean to you?

For me, it boils down to two things: sense of belonging and purpose.

The word “company” embodies culture for me. Do I love to be in the company of these individuals? Yes. The cultural aspect of wanting to go solve problems with amazing teammates creates the sense of belonging. But a good company cannot sustain you on its own, and that’s where “purpose” comes into play. The shared sense of helping each other and our clients creates the purpose. Working together and making friends along the way — isn’t that fun?

Where do you see the cloud market in the next few years? 

Within the next five years, the cloud market will go through a complete cycle of decentralization. Look at how blockchain is leading to decentralization of financial controls and telehealth is enabling decentralization of healthcare systems. In a very similar fashion, the big three cloud providers will have to provide decentralized solutions to stay in the game. Building your own cloud is not for the faint of heart. Having said that, it is going to change very fast. The technology industry has been at it for the last 15 years and now knows how not to do it. 

What goals do you have for your team for the remainder of this year? What are your long-term goals?

We have gone through some massive growth cycles in the last few years, including getting acquired as well as acquiring other companies. Managing that kind of growth obviously causes a lot of strain but it also helps you identify improvement areas in the organizational structure. With our new operational strength, I am looking forward to what the Industry Next group is going to come up with in this quarter (and the first half of next year). Stay tuned for some new industry offerings in Atos’ portfolio. We are cooking up some great innovations!

How would you describe your leadership style?

I don’t think I have a specific leadership style. (If I have one, I am not aware of it.) Having said that, I do subscribe to the philosophy of helping others, and some people may see that as leadership. For me, leadership just emerges and can emerge from anywhere in the organization. In my view, we influence each other in becoming leaders. The best analogy for my style would be observing how a cycling team operates (i.e., a peloton formation). You just need to be in front of your teammates to reduce the air drag and then get out of their way at the right time.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Chasing my 7-year old and spending time with friends and family at every chance I get. If I am not doing that, I am usually creating things that can range from a piece of music to a piece of furniture.

Rapid Question Round

• Hot dog or hamburger? Hot dog at Cubs game. Hamburger all the other days.
• Pizza: Chicago or New York-style? Chicago style, of course. Lou Malnati’s generally. But if you want to enjoy the perfect ratios of crust and cheese, I suggest Uno’s spinach in individual size. You need to make sure it’s the individual size; otherwise, you lose the golden ratio of crust to cheese!
• Cats or dogs? Dogs. I am scared of cats. Did I mention that I am scared of cats?
• Early morning or late night? Late night.
• Creative or logical? Both. I don’t think they are separate.
• Math or history? I like surprises, and I think history provides those. I like math but don’t understand it enough to find anything surprising. For example, when I hear “the infinite-dimensional sphere is contractible,” I go, “Wow, sure, whatever that meant…” 
• Dine-in or delivery? Delivery. Any day.
• Ocean or mountains? Mountains. Fish scare me.
• Introvert or extrovert? I am a quintessential introvert.
• Speed or accuracy? I am a consultant, so my answer is “the right balance of both.” But because I am a consultant, deep down I know it has to be perfect no matter how long it takes. So the real answer in my head is accuracy.
• Books or movies? Meaningless movies.
• Cubs or Sox? Cubs. I was in grad school on the south side (IIT) and was never able to watch the game as seriously as Sox fans.
• Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon? I like comedy in all forms. But between the 2 of them, I like Jimmy more. ;-)
• Ice Cream or Gelato? Neither
• Christmas or Halloween? Both are fun. Halloween because I have a 7-year-old son. He is typically embarrassed by me overdoing my character! And Christmas because I love spending time with friends and family.