Sumanth always aimed for a professional career that is a mixture of technical and customer facing roles. This is why being Deployment and Onboarding IT consultant at ivoflow suits him very well. He joined the team in February 2024 and moved to a full-time role in May 2024.
What did you do before ivoflow?
Before joining ivoflow, I used to work as an Automation Engineer back in India at a multinational company. After a while, I decided to move to Koblenz to study Web and Data Science Msc course. Before joining Ivoflow I worked as Werkstudent in 2 different companies.
What inspired you to work in software?
The need to be on your toes and learn new tools and concepts every day is a driving force to work in software. It is challenging to always learn the latest technologies with changing time and landscape of the IT market. With AI and ML being discussed more than ever, the software industry is in for an exciting turn of events and wants to be a part of the industry that drives it.
What are your tasks at ivoflow?
My tasks at ivoflow include data management, preparing proof of concepts for potential customers and handle their live data when they are on-boarded.
What do you find most challenging in the world of procurement?
Firstly, since I am new to the world of procurement, I find it amazing how cut-throat the competition in this area for cost savings. Helping buyers make data driven decisions is a huge game changer when you have the right analytics. Secondly, Convincing the buyers to move to a new modern way of doing things away from the traditional methods can be a challenging task as they are skeptical at times.
What are you looking forward to – project wise? Is there anything you would like to achieve?
Every project means new data with different data structures to work with. This is why each new customer provides a different learning opportunity on handling data and get an idea of how good/bad the data are structured in large organizations. It fascinates me how 90% of the solutions can be solved by having a clean and structured data according to the industry standards. I would like to improve my interpersonal skills by talking to the customers about the technical aspects of the proof of concept or when pitching the report-out at the customer’s. Also, I want to be able to think on my feet and come up with a viable solution to the challenging questions posed by the buyers. In terms of projects, preparing proof of concepts with accurate data representing real world transactions is what I strive to achieve. Catching pain points of data and foresight of potentially wrong data is critical part of my job. This helps me understand the overall process of procurement from the viewpoint of every single company I work with and helps me better think like a buyer.
Is there an exciting project you are currently working on?
Yes, we have the issue of wrong purchase orders (price data) in customer tables. Usually, they are off by a factor of few decimal points. This becomes a major issue for running tools on erroneous data, which is why I am working to implement an algorithm to detect and flag them in our tool using the ML knowledge I have finetuned in my university days.
What do you like best about your work?
I like that I am accountable for my work and can work at my convenience. "My colleagues are helpful and welcoming, especially since I am the only non-German speaking person in the office in Koblenz." What I also like is that the results of my work are seen in a larger scale when partner companies give feedback regarding savings potential year on year. I am thrilled about the fact this is a new and upcoming domain and we have the first mover advantage to make a difference and I am a part of the journey to create an impact during the uncertain times of global supply chain.
Describe ivoflow with 3 emojis.
👽💭🧞♂️
What is your favorite quote about work?
“80% of success is just showing up. Things will slowly fall into place. “
If you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would eat a dish named Dosa, it’s like an Indian Crepe but spicier.
