Scaling to 2,000 global employees with OSF's Gerry Szatvanyi

OSF went through many changes since its funding and this required me and my management team to evolve and reinvent ourselves every year as we continued to build structures and grow the organization. This made me grow from an engineer into a CEO capable of driving a bold, world-class vision. Accessing like-minded individuals through our investor’s networks has also meaningfully shaped my transformation.

Creating a great culture for talent development as well as giving all of our colleagues a strong sense of purpose and vision. 

When evaluating an acquisition, the most important thing to understand is if there is alignment with the culture of the acquired organization. Equally as important is the alignment in professional goals for the individuals at the acquired organization. It is critical to understand how eager they are to adopt our culture and systems to collectively make that 1+1 = 3 happen.

The way we work in our industry is going to change significantly with the advent of AI. I strongly believe that AI will dramatically shift the way we train our people and the way we support our people in their day-to-day operations. In turn, this will improve the quality and consistency of the projects we deliver.

It is extremely important to like the people sitting on the other side of the table from you. They need to deeply understand the sector that you are in and have deep, trusted networks relevant to your industry. The investor’s networks and past experience is just as important as the capital they bring; what you want is smart, well-connected capital. This is what will propel you into the future.

I believe it is important to share lessons learned; to inspire people to dream bigger and to dare more. Hopefully my book will serve as an inspiration for others to embark on their own transformative and exciting journeys.