Gregory Smith

Title

Web Developer

Position Description

Responsible for the design and development of the branding and lead generation website.

Accomplishment Notes

- Built the branding and lead generation website www.jenniferscullydesigns.com. - Developed and executed an SEO strategy, including optimized image alt text, meta descriptions, and structured data (schema markup)

Title

Chief Operations Officer / Chief Technical Architect / Lead Developer

Position Description

Vegan Home New York

Accomplishment Notes

Launched the e-commerce website: www.veganhomenewyork.com. - Architected and implemented a scalable platform - Automated (UiPath, Python) supplier operations including data extraction and product availability and price monitoring - Conducted data analysis to enhance product presentation, filtering, and search functionalities for a superior user experience - Developed pricing models to optimize margins; and implemented analytics (Google Analytics, Tag Manager) to drive data-informed decisions, optimize sales strategies, assess marketing effectiveness, and enhance overall performance.

Title

Chief Operations Officer / Chief Technical Architect / Lead Developer

Position Description

Responsible for bringing to market a fully-operational ecommerce website for selling cruelty-free home furnishings and décor.

Accomplishment Notes

Launched the e-commerce website: www.veganhomenewyork.com: - Architected and implemented a scalable platform - Automated (UiPath, Python) supplier operations including data extraction and product availability and price monitoring - Conducted data analysis to enhance product presentation, filtering, and search functionalities for a superior user experience - Developed pricing models to optimize margins; and implemented analytics (Google Analytics, Tag Manager) to drive data-informed decisions, optimize sales strategies, assess marketing effectiveness, and enhance overall performance.

Title

Chief Operations Officer / Chief Technical Architect / Lead Developer

Position Description

Responsible for bringing to market an ecommerce website for cruelty-free home furnishings and décor.: www.veganhomenewyork.com

Accomplishment Notes

Launched the e-commerce business: www.veganhomenewyork.com - Architected and implemented a scalable platform - Automated (UiPath, Python) supplier operations including data extraction and product availability and price monitoring - Conducted data analysis to enhance product presentation, filtering, and search functionalities for a superior user experience - Developed pricing models to optimize margins - Implemented analytics (Google Analytics, Tag Manager) to drive data-informed decisions, optimize sales strategies, assess marketing effectiveness, and enhance overall performance.

Title

Owner / Operator

Position Description

Established a successful short-term rental and event venue in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains: www.mabrycreekcottage.com

Accomplishment Notes

- Led investment analysis, renovation, and the design and implementation of property monitoring and control systems. - Currently oversee financial and operational management. - Designed, developed and implemented the website and a custom reporting platform (Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Tableau) to deliver real-time operational insights for quick decision-making

Title

Solutions Engineering Manager, Americas, Enterprise

Position Description

Directed the presales team dedicated to supporting Enterprise accounts in the East. Responsible for the development and execution of the go-to-market strategy of the presales team, as well as the hiring, development, motivation, retention and release of employees.

Accomplishment Notes

- Shifted Team to Outcome-Based Selling: Transformed the team's approach, shifting focus from product functionality to emphasizing outcomes and their business value. This strategic shift facilitated more meaningful conversations with customers, resulting in increased interest from both customers and prospects. - Advocated Solution-Centric Sales Model: Enhanced the team's selling strategy by transitioning from product-centric sales to offering comprehensive solutions, encompassing product, support, services, and leveraging the entire ecosystem, including customer success and partners. This approach contributed to the expansion of deal sizes and a better customer experience. - Aligned Presales with Product Strategy: Integrated the presales organization into product launches, significantly improving the success of product rollouts and enhancing the overall customer experience. - Upheld Team Standards & Accountability: Managed the replacement of two team members: one for underperforming and the other for exhibiting inappropriate behavior both internally and externally with customers.

Title

Senior Solutions Engineering Manager, North America, Financial Services

Position Description

Directed 3 presales teams across North America (US & Canada) dedicated to the Financial Services vertical in supporting sales’ efforts to achieve financial targets and in delivering on initiatives set forth by self and presales executive leadership

Accomplishment Notes

- Contributed to Financial Services Vertical Establishment: Helped land the company’s first financial services customer (JPMC) by overcoming security concerns and technical challenges. This business led to landing other financial services accounts, which led to the company creating a financial services vertical that generated a revenue run rate that exceeded $160M USD/year after about 5 years. - Championed Value Confirmation: In response to an increasing number of challenges from senior customer executives on the growing amount of money spent on Akamai's services, led the development and implementation of a framework that guided sales and presales teams in the creation and delivery of an ROI report that concisely messaged the value that Akamai's solutions were providing to their business, covering such items as cost reduction, reduced time-to-revenue, risk mitigation, etc., as well as recommendations on how additional value could be provided so that we could continue to grow the accounts. - Promoted Business Growth via Contract Renewals & Upsells: To address the problem of loss of business, led the development and implementation of a framework that guided sales and presales teams through the process of developing and executing on a strategy for protecting against loss, as well as adding new business, by leveraging contract renewals. - Elevated New Hires Quicker: To support the aggressive growth rate of the company, developed and delivered a four-day comprehensive and detailed training program covering products, value proposition, process and people for technical presales hires. This training dramatically reduced the time-to-market of field resources and increased their effectiveness. - Developed High-Performing Talent: Coached an underperforming employee (PIP) into a top performer who went on to earn multiple awards from the sales organization. - Reduced Work Effort: To dramatically reduce the work effort and time required for field resources to understand their customers and develop and continually maintain territory and account strategies and execution plans, as well as increase proactivity and reduce reaction time, designed, developed and implemented a business intelligence (BI) reporting platform using Tableau and data from multiple sources, including Salesforce and Oracle, to provide a comprehensive and detailed, yet consolidated, view into critical aspects of the business, including opportunities, bookings, contracts, invoices, revenue, deferred revenue, presales activities and support cases. Initially introduced to the Financial Services team, this platform was subsequently implemented globally for use throughout the corporation. - Enabled Sales: To address the problem of information overload, which resulted in confusion, a lack of focus, and inaction, led the development and implementation of multiple quick reference guides for sales and presales. The guides enabled the field to quickly understand a product, its specific use cases and value proposition, both business and technical, as well as target audience, positioning, and competition. The result of this initiative was improved focus and proactive customer engagement. - Enabled Presales: To help reduce the sales cycle by decreasing the amount of time it takes to gather the business and technical information needed to successfully design, price and position a solution and to increase customer satisfaction with the procurement process by reducing the number of engagements, led the design and implementation of a framework for quickly, yet completely, scoping any solution leveraging Akamai’s cloud-based security and web delivery products.

Title

Senior Solutions Engineering Manager, North America, Financial Services

Position Description

Directed 3 presales teams across North America (US & Canada) dedicated to the Financial Services vertical in supporting sales’ efforts to achieve financial targets and in delivering on initiatives set forth by self and presales executive leadership

Accomplishment Notes

- Contributed to Financial Services Vertical Establishment: Helped land the company’s first financial services customer (JPMC) by overcoming security concerns and technical challenges. This business led to landing other financial services accounts, which led to the company creating a financial services vertical that generated a revenue run rate that exceeded $160M USD/year after about 5 years. - Championed Value Confirmation: In response to an increasing number of challenges from senior customer executives on the growing amount of money spent on Akamai's services, led the development and implementation of a framework that guided sales and presales teams in the creation and delivery of an ROI report that concisely messaged the value that Akamai's solutions were providing to their business, covering such items as cost reduction, reduced time-to-revenue, risk mitigation, etc., as well as recommendations on how additional value could be provided so that we could continue to grow the accounts. - Promoted Business Growth via Contract Renewals & Upsells: To address the problem of loss of business, led the development and implementation of a framework that guided sales and presales teams through the process of developing and executing on a strategy for protecting against loss, as well as adding new business, by leveraging contract renewals. - Elevated New Hires Quicker: To support the aggressive growth rate of the company, developed and delivered a four-day comprehensive and detailed training program covering products, value proposition, process and people for technical presales hires. This training dramatically reduced the time-to-market of field resources and increased their effectiveness. - Developed High-Performing Talent: Coached an underperforming employee (PIP) into a top performer who went on to earn multiple awards from the sales organization. - Reduced Work Effort: To dramatically reduce the work effort and time required for field resources to understand their customers and develop and continually maintain territory and account strategies and execution plans, as well as increase proactivity and reduce reaction time, designed, developed and implemented a business intelligence (BI) reporting platform using Tableau and data from multiple sources, including Salesforce and Oracle, to provide a comprehensive and detailed, yet consolidated, view into critical aspects of the business, including opportunities, bookings, contracts, invoices, revenue, deferred revenue, presales activities and support cases. Initially introduced to the Financial Services team, this platform was subsequently implemented globally for use throughout the corporation. - Enabled Sales: To address the problem of information overload, which resulted in confusion, a lack of focus, and inaction, led the development and implementation of multiple quick reference guides for sales and presales. The guides enabled the field to quickly understand a product, its specific use cases and value proposition, both business and technical, as well as target audience, positioning, and competition. The result of this initiative was improved focus and proactive customer engagement. - Enabled Presales: To help reduce the sales cycle by decreasing the amount of time it takes to gather the business and technical information needed to successfully design, price and position a solution and to increase customer satisfaction with the procurement process by reducing the number of engagements, led the design and implementation of a framework for quickly, yet completely, scoping any solution leveraging Akamai’s cloud-based security and web delivery products.

Title

Position Description

Received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering

Accomplishment Notes

Magna Cum Laude | Presidential Scholarship

Title

Position Description

Technical Certifications

Accomplishment Notes

- Certified Artificial Intelligence Engineer (CAIE #7876417613) from US Artificial Intelligence Institute - Certified Associate in Python Programming (PCAP #xwOs.VYTE.XY9U) from OpenEDG - JavaScript Developer (#1OK508FOF8) from W3Schools - Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP #469189) from (ISC)2

Title

Position Description

Technology Certifications

Accomplishment Notes

- Certified Artificial Intelligence Engineer (CAIE #7876417613) from US Artificial Intelligence Institute - Certified Associate in Python Programming (PCAP #xwOs.VYTE.XY9U) from OpenEDG - JavaScript Developer (#1OK508FOF8) from W3Schools - Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP #469189) from (ISC)2