Philadelphia Tech Executive Advises To Stay Involved Beyond School
Leo Daiuto is the chief experience officer and senior vice president of User Experience & Innovation of Evolve Controls. Evolve Controls creates customizable enterprise-class solutions for automating, controlling and monitoring connected spaces. Daiuto is responsible for product innovation, design and marketing initiatives. With over 15 years of experience building and leading creative teams, Daiuto was the founder and CEO of software design agency, Slamm Creative and served as director of human factors and design at Unisys Corporation.
What sort of education is needed to successfully do your job?
"There are a few different paths that could lead to what I do (user experience and product strategy), especially when you have a multi-faceted group reporting to you. At Evolve, I am driving how people interact with our platform, products and brand, as well as product innovation, design and marketing initiatives. I work with technical people (computer science), creative (design and development), and marketing (strategy, branding, positioning). Any of that education path could lead someone to a tech company like Evolve."
"I think that whatever the initial path is, it's really important to continue to educate yourself, formally or not, on all of the pieces to the puzzle. Different backgrounds bring different perspectives to problems that are extremely valuable when you are looking to expand your focus."
What is the most relevant aspect of your education that applies to your day-to-day job?
"Education helps for problem-solving and eventually gaining the confidence to understand that you're not going to get everything right all the time. For me, it was learning how to learn and how to think about the big picture: the strategy."
What is the most fun aspect of your job?
"I really enjoy solving big, challenging problems and coming up with a way to implement those solutions. The people I work with on a day-to-day basis to solve these problems, make what I do very inspiring."
What advice would you give someone just starting out in the field of technology?
"There are two things that are invaluable for people just starting out:"
"Get into an internship program or summer program with a company, or companies, as soon as possible. Getting to see how your education will be applied on a day-to-day basis will give you a completely different perspective on learning. Don't wait – try to get in somewhere as early as you can."
"Remember that your current education is a basis; it's the core skill set. Challenge yourself during your education to be involved and aware of what is happening in the field you are studying. There is innovation happening in every field. Getting into a company early will really help fuel that but you have to take the initiative to get involved as well, especially in the creative or technology fields. Coming out of school with real world experience and active participation in what is happening in the industry will make hiring managers separate your resume."
Christina Thompson is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
