We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Dieter Hovorka, CTO, Co-founder, and Managing Partner of Skillz Middle East (Skillz ME). As a Dubai-based digital transformation partner specializing in creative solutions, marketing, and IT services for businesses in the GCC, Skillz ME empowers businesses with digital asset management (DAM), e-learning, big data, security, and custom customer communication strategies by leveraging technologies from partners like Adobe and OpenText. With a blend of market-leading technologies for innovative business solutions by Skillz ME, leaders like Dr. Dieter Hovorka are making digital transformation possible.
Spark Behind the Journey
We started the interview by asking, “Could you start by telling us about your professional journey and inspiration behind jumping into this industry?”
Dr. Hovorka shared, “From an early age, I was interested in information technology; bits and bytes kept me awake until early in the morning. Encouraged by my mathematics professor who saw my potential, my father gifted me my first computer. This marked the beginning of a lifelong fascination with programming and technology. At just 14, I sold my first software to a computing company.
From this point forward, I frequently learned new programming skills, new technologies, which also set the foundation for my entrepreneurial ambitions. I was lucky to meet people in my career path who have shown me more than just technologies.
Growing up in an international environment also gave me the chance to always solve international team challenges and bring multi-cultural team members to the same table for success. Of course, my first idol was Bill Gates, whom I was lucky to meet once at a conference, a similar experience to meeting Sir. Richard Branson. Inspired by this leader, I tried with mini steps to somehow bring their way into my universe. Learning from the big ones was always a trigger to pick out the best you can find.”
Lessons Learnt in the Process
We then asked Dr. Dieter Hovorka, “As an expert in this field, what are a few lessons that helped you in leading your work?”
He explained, “School of life is priceless; while enjoying the basics of an advanced education, where we learn the foundations of social aspects and experience skills-based education, we don’t learn the real-life thing. Culture, diversity, and globalization are challenges that don’t get solved by school, study, and for sure not in all companies and enterprises.
Working with multi-national companies and teams teaches me knowledge about needs versus requirements and how to solve the generation gap in teams and clients. Learning new technology skills is easy, there is a good way to learn. You can pick, like in the Garden of Eden, the right fruit that fits your learning style. I personally belong to the 98% of individuals who learn better with Audio Visual content.”
Adaptability Amidst Uncertainties
Challenges are a part of every professional journey. To learn more, we asked Dr. Dieter Hovorka, “Would you like to share what you feel is a major challenge in starting a business or career? And how did you overcome it?”
“I went abroad to start working in my field as an IT expert which showed me my limits quickly. It’s not about technology, knowing things and bringing them together is easy like LEGO pieces. The aspect of bringing together a team of multi-national co-workers as one team and one company has taken more effort than learning any new technology. The key to success is, for sure, self-recognition, staying on track, and listening carefully to the person sitting on the other side of the table,” Dr. Hovorka reflected.
Plans we asked Dr. Dieter Hovorka
Intrigued to learn more about the plans Dr. Dieter Hovorka has set for his services, we asked him to share a glimpse of the same with our viewers.
He replied, “I am frequently invited as a speaker in technology-driven conferences about emerging technologies like crypto, smart governments, blockchain, AI, Fintech, or business reengineering. Looking back and into the future showed me clearly that AI is not yet there, or might never get there, where it would take over 100% of our workforce.
First voices already say that AI will be replaced in the future, yes, by itself, or as we can see in the form of AGI – Sentient AI. As long as we are working for humans and delivering services and products for humans, we can extend it with tools that help us make a difference to achieve our goals in our complex global world.”
Reshaping Industries with AI
Nowadays, with its increasing importance, AI is everywhere. Even businesses are adapting to it increasingly. So, we asked Dr. Dieter Hovorka, “What are your thoughts on this?”
Dr Hovorka mentioned, “The AI tools we see today are always on a narrow set of focus. While people believe their job is in danger through AI they should focus on the opportunity to shift their job from high analogue work to focusing on the human component where required. Let AI be the tool, not let AI make you a tool operator who does not know the output of AI.
I want to share a simple sample that I experienced just 5 days ago. We had a friend gathering and we had been debating about making notes in a meeting. While one friend still proposed not to give up her handwritten notepad, the other person promoted how good AI tools work for making meeting summaries and cool reports from the meeting with voice assistance and document generation. I asked a simple question about their last meeting on Friday, just two days ago.
The person using the AI tool could share the main reason for the meeting, but had no inside information, who said what, what was the outcome for everyone, and what are the next steps, without looking up the actual report. The other person could talk freely on all the ins and outs, details of the meeting, and the relevant notes she has taken.”
He added, “My lesson learned out of this: humans are 98% audiovisual. When I make notes personally written with my handwriting, it stays like a picture in my brain, and this is much more accessible than any written text. This brings me the advantage of capturing much quicker and easier information and retrieving it again. Focusing on AI alone will not resolve our challenges at all.”
Message from an Expert
Addressing the young entrepreneurs in his field, we asked Dr. Dieter Hovorka, “What would be your advice to beginners in this field or in any field of business?”
Dr. Hovorka replied, “It is a simple thing to follow. Stay focused, stay authentic and genuine. You don’t need to know everything, find your sweet spot where you want to be recognized as a superhero. Learn which sources you can trust when it comes to finding knowledge, facts, and information. This is more important than knowing everything yourself.
Focus more on your soft skills development to be maybe in the future a great globalist which will help you achieve goals on a global market, if this is your goal.”
Connect with Dr. Dieter Hovorka on LinkedIn.
Find Skillz Middle East on LinkedIn and visit their website https://www.skillzme.com/ to learn more.
Also Read:
A Rare Breed of CEO: Human-Centered Leadership in an AI Economy
Zubair Ahmed Sobani: Empowering Visionary Entrepreneurs to Succeed with ThinkVentures
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