Podcast 15 - Matt Piper, Esri - GIS has reduced information lag and opened up opportunities across the business

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What an incredible first guest to kick off Season 2 of Geospatial Experiences! Matt Piper, Esri’s Global Industry Director for Utilities, spends time with us to discuss his thoughts and vision for where GIS is headed, what utilities need to be planning for sustainability efforts, and how Esri should be considering our trajectory into the future as emerging technologies continue to bring new opportunities and challenges to our world.

Matt is incredibly visionary and absolutely a thought leader in the utility space. He spent the first part of his career working in the utility sector in his home country of Australia. He came to the US with his family to join the Esri team and bring his talent for innovative planning to a global stage. He travels around the world regularly to present his vision and messaging to customers, executives, and even US Congress. Matt is always looking toward the future for the utility industry as well as the geospatial arena.

While I have known Matt for years and always enjoyed chatting with him at conferences, what I didn’t learn about him until I also joined Esri was how dedicated he is to every single staff member who works for him in his organization. Matt pours into his people and tries to learn the personalities, strengths, and challenges of each person. He also conscientiously tries to pair up people who are complementary in order to better accomplish projects and tasks. He insightfully looks for gaps in skills across the board and attempts to bring in new people who will fill skill gaps for the group as a whole, not just someone who has the same skills as others on the team. Matt identifies talent in his team and tries to encourage growth opportunities for everyone.

I am really excited to bring this conversation to all of our listeners. Matt Piper was one of the early guests whom I had targeted to come on the show and I’m so happy we were able to work it out with his schedule. He has important insight to be shared with our community and I’m looking forward to everyone having an opportunity to listen to our discussion as we get another great season going with a series of new guests, intriguing conversations, and a ton of fun experienced across the board.

Thank you to our returning listeners and welcome to those of you who have just found us.  Let’s jump in to another incredible season of Geospatial Experiences. Stay mappy, y’all!