Meet The Disruptors: Edward Scott Of ElectrifAi On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Be curious, humble, adaptive and customer obsessed. Every business needs to constantly listen to customers who will tell you the path forward or what needs to be changed and optimized. Further, in today’s fast changing world, leaders need to be curious and willing to try different approaches and adapt. Through it all, you have to be humble letting others take the credit. We saw this when we created ElectrifAi — now one of the US’ leading machine learning software solutions providers. We built ElectrifAi out of the bankruptcy of Opera Solutions the previous team of which was arrogant, insular and disingenuous.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Edward Scott.
Edward Scott is the CEO of ElectrifAi, a leading US-based machine learning software company serving Fortune 500 and mid-sized enterprises. Ed has over 25 years of experience in the technology and private equity sectors. Ed started his career in Drexel Burnham Lambert and joined the Apollo Investment Fund in 1990. Ed was a partner at the Baker Communications Fund and held senior-level positions at Napier Park Global Capital and White Oak Global Advisors. Ed graduated from Columbia University and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School with second-year honors.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I started my career at Apollo and got heavily involved in TMT. That experience led me deeper into tech and helping to build Akamai and ultimately building Europe’s largest data center business called InterXion. And then finally to machine learning and computer vision at ElectrifAi.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Every business has significant amounts of data and ElectrifAi unlocks the potential of that data with pre-built machine learning software solutions that quickly help enterprise clients drive customer acquisition and retention as well as cut costs and risk through spend and contract analytics.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was working for Smith Barney in the M&A group and assigned to a (yet another) restructuring of Chrysler. I showed up at the gate of Chrysler’s HQ in Michigan driving a rented Ford. The gate attendant directed me to a parking lot 2 miles away with no bus. It taught me the importance of situational awareness, as well as the need for a warm coat in Michigan!
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I would say the top folks at Apollo. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t utilize a technique or tool learned at Apollo. Marc Rowan is the best. Plain and simple. They taught me the value of persistence in the face of great adversity which is something I drew upon when creating ElectrifAi out of the bankruptcy of Opera Solutions.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Disruption is a positive when it creates a greater good and unleashes untapped potential. Think about the gig economy or AirBnB as examples. Think about computer vision which can automate certain visual cognition tasks yielding greater accuracy and throughput. When we talk about firms or institutions withstanding the test of time those are usually the firms that have constantly adapted. Uber is a positive disruption — the benefits of which are global and palpable. On one level social media is very disruptive and entertaining. But on another level, business models that grab personal information with no compensation and then monetize seem disingenuous at best.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Be curious, humble, adaptive and customer obsessed. Every business needs to constantly listen to customers who will tell you the path forward or what needs to be changed and optimized. Further, in today’s fast changing world, leaders need to be curious and willing to try different approaches and adapt. Through it all, you have to be humble letting others take the credit. We saw this when we created ElectrifAi — now one of the US’ leading machine learning software solutions providers. We built ElectrifAi out of the bankruptcy of Opera Solutions the previous team of which was arrogant, insular and disingenuous.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We want to take AI and machine learning deeper into areas of social good and benefit. For example, educating and growing the next generation of data leaders not at the fancy Ivy League schools but in the community colleges and state universities. Giving young people a facility for data and the power of data. That’s where the next great generation of entrepreneurs will come from. We want to give them the tools to succeed. Other areas of interest include using AI to combat human trafficking. We have the power.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
My favorite book is Connecting the Dots by John Chambers. It’s filled with life lessons of all sorts, particularly for those involved in building companies. Chamber is one of the greatest CEO’s of all time.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
From Ray Kroc: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. “
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Educating kids in grade school about data and coding.
How can our readers follow you online?
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-scott-74354923/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Edward Scott Of ElectrifAi On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
