Meet Ryan Price, Executive Data & Artificial Intelligence (Data & AI) and Solution Area Lead at Avanade Netherlands. Born and raised in Oklahoma, USA, he now spends his life in The Netherlands with his wife and two children. He and his team help clients in their digital transformation by assisting them in identifying and monetizing data opportunities and turning these into modern data solutions that can be implemented agile and at scale, like Data Platform Modernization, Applied Intelligence and Internet of Things (APIN & IoT) and Intelligent Automation. At Avanade, the focus is specifically on the Microsoft technologies.

Retiring early and switching careers

“Most people at Avanade know by now, but I flew jets for the United States Air Force before joining Avanade.”

Before joining Avanade Ryan spent over 20 years in the defense industry in both operations and defense acquisition roles: “Because of my early military retirement in 2010 and my emigration and move to The Netherlands, I turned to consulting as a next career step. Meanwhile I studied at Amsterdam University for my MBA degree and learned the Dutch language. For a short period of time, I worked in a start-up where I was able to quickly leverage all my MBA learnings. After being introduced to Avanade by a classmate from the university, I elected to depart the startup and pursue consulting. It is now nine years ago that I started at Avanade, first in Delivery Management.”

Key take-aways for everyday
A good work-life balance is maintained with outdoor activities: “I love to be out in nature. Doing sports like running, biking, and hiking. I live near Boxmeer in a green area where I can do all that. I have always maintained a healthy lifestyle due to my time in the military. Next to that I have learned to see changes as opportunities, focus on having a growth mindset, work in a structured manner and as a team. In his work Ryan meets a variety of clients with varying levels of digital maturity. Some companies are at the starting point of digitizing their business, where enterprises are well in their data journey. “We focus on helping them by providing thought-leadership in the Data & AI space and with making informed and better business decisions, whatever stage they are in.”

Mentoring and talent communities
Our team works together in the talent communities which help them grow as people and experts in their field: “At Avanade you are able to work with mentors and coaches, something that is highly encouraged. What I most appreciate is the room for innovation and the feedback I receive. I work with a team of professionals who give me the energy I need in order to keep growing, trying new things and fulfilling wider responsibilities in my work. Next to that we work with incredible clients. They are ambitious and ready to take the next step in data platform modernization. Experimenting with the newest technologies is something they don’t shy away from. Some projects my team and I are working on are designing AI chatbots, IoT solutions like connected homes and predictive maintenance software.”

About team culture & motivation
“Additionally, it is important that they are good team players and can put the good of the team above self and that they are willing to take on and carry their responsibility. Lastly, it is important that they are strong communicators and able to have convincing thought-leadership conversations with our clients. We work together very closely in nearly everything we do. Next to that we keep in close contact and ensure that we are aware of each other's activities. We not only work hard, but we also try to play hard and get together for a relaxing time and make time to celebrate our victories.”

Start your career at Avanade
“If you are interested in a career within our Analytics talent community, reach out to me or our recruiter Eline Rubertus to learn more about what we do and explore how we might further explore working together.”

Click here for more information on careers at Avanade.