Employee Spotlight: Daniel Gray

Daniel Gray

Daniel Gray

The core of our organization is our team. And at AtScale, we’re a team of thinkers, innovators, and most importantly, doers. Want to know what it takes to join us? Today we introduce you to Daniel Gray, VP of Sales Engineering at our Boston office. 

What’s your role here at AtScale?

A: VP of Sales Engineering, that’s basically the Presales Organization for AtScale.

How long have you been working with the company for?

A: Time flies when you are having fun! Approximately six months. 

Tell us about your career journey. How did you discover AtScale? 

A: I started my career in the military where I spent a lot of time learning technologies and communications. From there I spent several years programming at a startup in Houston and Ameritrade. Since then I have been working in the analytics space including HP’s Advanced Technology Center, Vertica, and Domino Data Lab. I worked with Chris Lynch, AtScale’s CEO and Scott Howser, our Chief Product Officer back in the Vertica days, so I’ve known them for a long time. I heard about what Chris and Scott were doing over here and was impressed with the company and technology. We started talking and thought that it would be a great place to align. So, I moved over and I’m loving it. 

What do you love most about working at AtScale? Why did you choose to work here?

A: The people, the leadership, the ability to make a difference. If you go to a company, you want to be able to make a difference and you can certainly do that here at AtScale. It’s a great technology, it’s a great market, and we have proven leadership. It’s also a great company to actually grow in your leadership capabilities and make a big difference.

What made you choose this career path? 

A: I got into technology when I was really young. For me, it’s been an evolution of computers, software engineering, and a love for data and the entire continuum of analytics. Anything with data is a perfect fit for me. 

If you weren’t doing this, what do you think you would be doing?

A: Hmm… good question. I imagine it would have something to do with the outdoors!

Describe the Boston office in three words.

A: High-energy-positivity. 

Favorite song on the office playlist? 

A: Anything Rolling Stones. 

What do you expect to see change in the industry within the next 5-10 years? 

A: Everything is cyclical and buzzwords come and go 🙂 I believe we will continue to see commoditization in the analytics space in particular around machine learning, which we’ll continue to drive ML into more applications and endpoints. I think we’ll see more and more focus on prescriptive analytics and tightening of the feedback loops in the continuum of analytics (descriptive -> predictive -> prescriptive). Working here at AtScale puts my career ‘smack dab’ in that change!

Any advice for organizations who are just beginning their data-driven or cloud migration journey? 

A: Get the fundamentals right. If you get the fundamentals right, then it’s easy to make technology decisions. It’s easy to make changes. And most importantly, it’s easy to take advantage of your human capital. The people that you hire are the most important investment that you can make. If you make the right decisions and put the right fundamentals in place, then you can focus your energy on your human capital investment. 

When you’re not in the office, where can people expect to find you? Do you have any hobbies? 

A: Running, climbing, hiking, biking. Basically anything outdoors.

Thanks, Daniel! Interested in meeting the rest of the team? Keep an eye out for our next employee spotlight, here on the blog.