Ganzarski named Chair of the Global Business Advisory Board at the University of Washington Foster School of Business

Roei Ganzarski is President and COO of BoldIQ. He is the Chair of the Global Business Center’s Global Business Advisory Board and holds an MBA from the Foster School.

Tell us a bit about BoldIQ. How did it come about, and what is your role in the company?

Thomas Edison once said: “There’s a way to do it better – find it”. At BoldIQ we find it for our global customers every day. We are a developer and provider of software platforms enabling real-time, optimal and actionable solutions for resource utilization, operations management, and disruption recovery, in complex business environments. Using our proprietary technology, our customers experience net operating savings of 4% to 16% and an increase in revenue-generating capacity of ~10%. Beyond ongoing real-time optimized planning, our platform provides on-the-fly change management from an entire systems perspective.

We originally developed our robust operations management platform and our optimization engine to support an innovative new air carrier: DayJet Corporation. We worked for 5 years developing systems and algorithms to support the very complex world of air taxi – no fixed schedule; constantly changing customer demand and requirements; variable unpredictable working environment including changing weather; multiple resources required to deliver each service; and a multitude of legal and operating constraints. This required complex automation and significant optimization, solving a large problem in seconds, multiple times a day, every day.

As president & COO, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, our growth, and our business.

 How did you become interested in global business?

My father worked for an international container shipping company and I spent my childhood in Asia watching him grow the business. We then returned to our homeland in Israel where I continued watching him grow the business throughout the world. I was intrigued and fascinated by his ability to talk to a political leader in China in the morning, solve an operational  problem in Italy in the afternoon, and then contend with the daily business of ships and crews scattered across the seven seas, all in complete calm and as  second nature. I was privileged to grow up in an environment where ‘global’ was simply the norm, and I was hooked.

 You serve on 3 advisory boards. What do you like about advising, and what direction would you like to take the Global Business Advisory Board in now that you’re the chairman?

I have been fortunate to experience a lot from a global perspective, both as a youngster, and a business leader working for companies like Boeing and BoldIQ, and I now feel that it is my duty to share that experience and knowledge with others so that we, as a whole, can continue to get better. Moreover, I am finding that I am learning just as much as I am imparting, which is what this is all about- always learning and always getting better.

As chair of the board, I would like to see us, the business community, take a more active role in the global education of our next generation’s leaders. My plan as chair is to help drive that forward. Seattle and the Pacific Northwest have an abundance of global companies – leaders in their respective markets and industries. We have globally known brands like Starbucks, Boeing, Costco, Amazon, and Microsoft to name but a few. We also have an abundance of less known brands that are global leaders in their fields. We must take advantage of that to the best of our abilities and help shape what tomorrow’s leaders need to know and need to be able to do, to continue the legacy that we are creating for them today. It is not just about jobs and internships. It is about shaping the academic and experiential programs that our students should go through to prepare for the world of global business. I would like to see the board take a more active role in this influence, and see the school and professors take a more active role in seeking out that real-world guidance from us.

 What would you tell students about the world of global business?

I would say that there is no longer such a thing as global business. I would say that today, the world of any business is global whether we like it, or plan it, or not.  Be it on the supply side (parts, materials, goods, or software engineers); be it in the customer base; be it in sourcing support or services; or even in the hiring of our employees – everything today has some element of global in it. So I would say get ready for an amazing environment of business that is making the world smaller and smaller and with that driving the need for an expanded knowledge and understanding of the world and the people in it. Your time at university is an amazing opportunity to experience, experiment, learn and try new things that later you may not get a chance to. Use the time wisely and fully and enjoy the journey.