Face to Face 01: Pedro Romera

Face to Face 01: Pedro Romera

Who is Pedro Romero?

In a recent interview, Pedro Romera explained to the Sciling team a little about his work history in the area of Information Technology. Specifically, he has been working for 20 years in what is known as Analytics and Business Intelligence, that is, data analysis to obtain actionable information to improve decision-making for a business.

Romera’s passion for finding solutions to the problems experienced by small and medium-sized companies led him to work in companies like Capgemini. There, he worked in Consultancy Services, identifying, building and implementing transformation programmes to improve the growth and competitiveness of different companies.

Later, he became part of the team at Teradata, a company specializing in big data and database analytics software, as well as strategic IT consultancy. His tasks focused on the Professional Services side and also as head of architecture for Teradata Spain.

His time at Amazon Web Services

A few months before joining the Sciling team, Pedro Romera had spent about six years working on Amazon Web Service (AWS). The cloud computing platform is one of the largest international services on offer in the industry, directly competing with services like Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft and Azure.

During his first year with AWS, he served as Solutions Architect, a post that involves aligning a company’s IT strategies with its business objectives, among other tasks. Once again, he was able to work closely with each client, listening to their needs to design technological solutions.

After the first year at AWS, Romera moved to the European team of Business Development, and in collaboration with other professionals, he devoted himself completely to the matter of Analytics and Machine Learning over the last five years. It was at this point in his professional career that he joined the Sciling team.

What will his tasks be within the Sciling team?

Pedro Romera will hold the post of Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) within the Sciling team. What exactly will his tasks be? In Romera’s own words, he’ll be “in charge of understanding what all of the company’s income sources are, specifically focussing on new projects and new opportunities that are yet to come.”

Generally speaking, the post of a CRO in any company covers the following basic functions, among others:

• Defining ideal customers and market segments.
• Setting metrics and goals related to revenue.
• Developing growth strategies with the executive team.
• Overseeing everything related to the development of potential channels and partners.
• Supervising strategies and processes during each revenue cycle.
• Developing strong teams and uniting the company’s different departments.

Put simply, the CRO is responsible for any revenue-generating activity for an organisation, optimising profitability. To do so, they must understand the market’s needs, improve the offering strategy, increase the impact of marketing and its contribution to sales, and be attentive to new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Why is it important to have a CRO?

In order to understand the importance for companies of having a CRO in their organisational structure, we must bear in mind that we live in an era of changes. The interaction between company and client has evolved considerably in recent years, which in turn has created new management needs.

Hence, today we are faced with a much more global, transparent and social market, with a very well documented opening. The ‘customers’ have also evolved, and now have a higher level of trust and less uncertainty towards brands. In fact, they have more and better resources to measure the effectiveness of a product or service.

In an environment like this, it is essential that companies ensure that each commercial action they take gets the expected return. To do so, they must ensure that the consumer experience is as good as the product or service they offer. That is one of the main functions of a Chief Revenue Officer.

What are the advantages of working for a company like Sciling?

Coming from large corporations like Amazon Web Services and Teradata, it is interesting to know why Pedro Romera has decided to join the team of a small company like Sciling. The answer he gave to that question is directly related to the era of digital transformation we are going through.

COVID-19 and the pandemic have accelerated digital transformation in Spanish companies. This transformation is no longer a long-term strategy for emerging businesses, but has become a true need today in order to halt the economic deterioration of recent years.

In this sense, Romera emphasizes the impact there will be from governmental initiatives such as the European Next Generation EU Recovery Funds. One of the main aims of this funding programme is to support SMEs’ digital transition and recovery, for which it is essential to make use of everything Machine Learning can offer.

Adapting to changes and making the most of new opportunities

For Romera, the important thing about a small company like Sciling is its agility in adapting to changes and reacting quickly to take advantage of new opportunities. Without a doubt, this is a clear strategic edge that the big companies and corporations in the sector do not enjoy.

Moreover, it is much easier to personalize the supply to adapt to each client’s real needs through a small company. In an era when more and more businesses are turning to AI to achieve higher levels of efficiency, personalized services are the key to reaching more potential customers.

Finally, Romera emphasizes one more advantage that one can enjoy when working in a small company. In this type of environment, it is easier to meet and keep up a direct connection with its different members. Consequently, higher levels of cohesion and much stronger work teams are achieved.

An increasingly comprehensive work team

With each passing day, there is a growing need for small and medium-sized businesses to make the most of the latest technological advances in AI and machine learning. It is the only way to attain higher levels of efficiency and adapt to a new reality that is still unfolding.

Being able to count on Pedro Romera as CRO will enable the Sciling team to achieve greater adaptation to the growing wave of changes in terms of business and technology. His experience in using machine learning to solve the difficulties faced by small and medium-sized businesses will be an invaluable asset.