Jason Dixon, the Chief Executive Officer of Advent One, leads the company in navigating the rapidly evolving technology landscape. With a focus on transformation, he bridges the organization’s rich history with its future vision, prioritizing innovative solutions for integrating and managing hybrid infrastructures.
Experience-driven Leadership in Technology
Jason’s ascent to Chief Executive Officer at Advent One was fueled by a profound appreciation for technology’s transformative potential. He asserts, “Technology once supported business productivity and process. Now, it’s driving the business with new services, products, insights, efficiency, and transformation.”
His career encompasses leadership roles at IBM and Amazon Web Services, where he led multidisciplinary teams and implemented impactful business strategies. This background has shaped his belief in the importance of strategic direction and operational excellence.
Transitioning to Advent One enabled Jason to directly influence a locally-owned organization. He reflects on his past with gratitude, saying, “I’ll always be grateful for the knowledge and experience I gained working with such incredible people and customers.”
Guided by a mentor’s advice to “sit at as many tables as you can throughout your career,” Jason has navigated a diverse career path, moving from transactional law to managing complex teams. His experiences in both established and emerging tech companies have provided him with a unique perspective on blending structure with agility, essential for driving innovation in today’s dynamic landscape.
“Innovation requires both structure and flexibility”
Navigating Change with Client-Centric Strategies
Jason emphasizes the balance between strategic decision-making and operational responsibilities at Advent One, stating, “Striking a balance is important.” He focuses on maintaining profitability, employee engagement, and client commitments amid transformation.
Advent One’s three-year plan aligns transformational priorities with financial goals, stressing the importance of a customer-centric approach. “We exist to solve challenges in integrating, securing, and managing hybrid infrastructure,” he explains.
Jason prioritizes testing and refining strategies to avoid stagnation, warning, “Without managing change and open iterations, you risk entrenching the status quo.” He advocates for practical solutions like Automation as a Service to optimize IT environments and highlights the need for a mix of third-party and marketing data to anticipate client needs, stating, “Independent data is crucial.”
Client-Centric Transformation Driving Growth
Advent One’s commitment to service excellence has resulted in high client satisfaction and low turnover. “That’s a testament to our people and our client-focused DNA,” he notes, highlighting the role of the employee ownership structure.
As Advent One implements its three-year strategy, Jason recognizes the difficulty of transforming a successful organization. “It’s challenging when you know today’s success won’t support long-term growth,” he explains, indicating a readiness to exit markets that don’t align with the company’s vision.
The diverse skills of Advent One’s workforce are essential for this transition. “Our people’s skills are transferable across solutions and markets,” Jason states, emphasizing the need to rethink sales and delivery strategies. He is encouraged by early signs of progress, saying, “I can already see a difference in how we’re approaching client solutions,” reflecting their strategic focus on growth and client satisfaction.
“Putting the client first is in our company’s DNA.”
Cultivating High-Performing Teams Through Trust and Transparency
Jason believes that building a high-performing team involves individuals who can both internalize a strategy and relate it to their specific skills. He emphasizes the importance of finding people who can manage daily operations while maintaining a big-picture perspective. “Most people excel at one or the other; the best leaders can do both,” he asserts.
Valuing individuals across the career spectrum, Jason prioritizes a growth mindset, data-driven decision-making, and proactive action. “Why not provide development opportunities?” he asks, recognizing that mistakes often lead to invaluable lessons.
His philosophy centers on fostering an environment of trust. “Nothing erodes high performance like micromanagement,” he states, advocating for a leadership style that sets a clear vision, builds capable teams, and allows autonomy to excel.
Jason measures success by tangible actions and outcomes rather than mere conversations. To enhance collaboration, he prioritizes transparency and inclusion. “An open-door policy and regular communication prevent a fiefdom mentality,” he explains.
“Transparency, inclusion, and measuring outcomes under a clear vision – that’s when things work.”
Prioritizing People and Outcomes in Leadership
With two decades of experience managing large-scale operations and diverse teams, Jason has developed a decision-making philosophy centered on prioritizing people. He recalls a mentor advising him to make decisions based on client, people, then company, but he later recognized the importance of reversing that order: “If you don’t get the people strategy and employee engagement right, there is no customer satisfaction, and ultimately, no company.”
Jason emphasizes a strong bias for action, a commitment to outcomes, and reliance on data. He warns against divisive tactics, noting that “when you lobby individuals or divide and conquer, it comes back to bite you with active or passive detractors.”
His decision-making process focuses on high-impact tasks that address significant challenges, accepting that “you’ll rarely get more than 70 percent certainty” on any decision. He advocates for timely action and comfort with ambiguity.
Finding the right support team is also crucial. “Put them in the role, give them scope to do their job, and hold them accountable,” he stresses.
“If there is no customer satisfaction, there is no company.”
Adapting to Technological Change through Engagement and Innovation
In an industry marked by rapid technological change, Jason underscores the importance of active listening to employees, clients, and market trends at Advent One. The company fosters curiosity among its technical team by providing a comprehensive lab with virtual and physical machines for experimentation.
A recent challenge with a vendor’s price increase impacted Advent One’s Managed Services. In response, the Advent One team learned to migrate workloads between vendors, reducing costs and sharing this expertise with clients to strengthen partnerships.
Recognizing the complexities of cloud adoption, the company will remain cloud agnostic. As environments become more intricate, automation is essential. “When network events reach thousands daily, automation is crucial,” he states, noting that successful internal implementations have led to cost reductions and improved accuracy.
Looking ahead, the Advent One team has identified growth opportunities in cloud, automation and security, especially since security remains a barrier to cloud adoption. This realization identified the need for a dedicated security practice. Jason also advocates for the 80/20 rule of need versus want when selecting new solutions, suggesting that artificial intelligence will play a vital role in future innovations.
“We deliver tangible value and success in trying, testing, and using technology ourselves.”
Navigating Change: Challenges and Strategic Adaptation
As CEO of Advent One, Jason navigates significant challenges in a rapidly changing technology landscape. With over 24 years of success, Advent One has built a strong reputation and robust client relationships. However, he acknowledges that “the solutions that made us successful across the previous 24 years won’t make us successful in the next 25.”
The shift toward innovations like cloud technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence has prompted the company to reassess its offerings and market strategy. “The company understands the need for change,” he states. While operationalizing and measuring this change may be straightforward, embedding new practices within the organization is a significant challenge.
To address this, Jason is executing a cohesive strategy that aligns the entire team with the company’s objectives. “We’re managing it through our incentives structure, policies, communication channels, and reward systems,” he explains. This comprehensive approach aims to maintain focus and commitment to new goals while minimizing the risk of reverting to old habits.
Despite these challenges, Jason has high confidence in Advent One’s ability to evolve into new service offerings due to its deep engineering legacy. “The great thing is Advent One’s skills and experience from the past 24 years provide us with a terrific foundation,” he notes. This foundation allows the company to leverage its past successes while adapting to future demands, ensuring competitiveness in the evolving technology sector.
“Our ability to adapt and evolve will define our success in the coming years.”
Embracing Change: Goals for Future Growth and Innovation
Advent One’s fiscal year 2025 strategy, focuses on refining operations and market approaches to foster growth and innovation. “Our FY25 strategy includes refinements within our business operations and go-to-market approach,” he states.
As organizations adopt cloud computing, they face challenges in managing hybrid infrastructures. Advent One aims to lead in this space by leveraging its expertise. “We don’t approach clients from a purely cloud-based perspective; we collaborate with them to ensure their journey makes sense,” he emphasizes.
The company is transitioning from a product-centric to a services-oriented model, particularly for mid to large enterprises. “Strategically, that market is a services market,” Jason notes, stressing the importance of delivering outcomes that matter to clients rather than focusing solely on product features.
With a solid foundation from its 24 years of experience, the company is confident in its direction: “We are very clear on our direction and what we want to achieve in the market.” By emphasizing strategic, personalized interactions, Advent One is positioning itself for success in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
“Innovation is not just a goal; it’s our lifeblood.”
Essential Leadership Qualities for Aspiring Tech Innovators
For aspiring leaders in the tech industry, Jason underscores the importance of blending technical proficiency with transferable skills. “The leadership skills I value balance technical expertise with general business acumen,” he asserts.
In a rapidly changing landscape, a solid grasp of technology — without needing to be an engineer — is essential. “Being technologically proficient helps you understand how technology is relevant to your industry and future innovation trends,” he explains.
Mastering client conversations is also crucial for building strong relationships and driving business outcomes. Knowing your company’s products and services thoroughly enables leaders to better serve their clients.
A growth mindset is vital in the tech sector. Jason emphasizes the need for leaders to be willing to learn and face challenges. “As leaders, we must be open to disruption and transformation,” he advises, warning that a closed mindset can result in unnecessary struggles and missed opportunities.
In summary, aspiring tech leaders should prioritize industry understanding, embrace a growth mindset, and maintain a strong bias for action. “Be willing to be disrupted yourself — be open to constantly rethinking your opinions and views,” Jason encourages, highlighting adaptability as key to thriving in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
“Openness to disruption is not just an asset; it’s essential for thriving in this industry.”
Key Personal and Professional Lessons in Leadership and Innovation
Reflecting on his career, Jason underscores the importance of continuous learning, believing it fosters growth within his team at Advent One and leads to richer conversations. He also emphasizes work-life balance for mental health and productivity, cautioning against letting work overshadow personal life.
Jason values emotional intelligence for enhancing relationships and teamwork, both of which are essential for effective leadership. He credits influential mentors with shaping his insights into executive presence, leadership styles, and strategic thinking. He recalls the advice to “sit at every table” to maximize learning opportunities.
Starting as a deal lawyer, Jason developed a passion for problem-solving that informs his approach to business. He encourages questioning and refining tasks or strategies that don’t yield the desired results. Lastly, he stresses the importance of articulating a strategic vision, a skill he sees as vital for guiding teams and driving innovation at any career stage.
Balancing Startups and Multinational Partnerships
In managing the needs of both startups and multinational partnerships, Advent One is both a mature business aiming to scale while also operating some business lines like startups. Established relationships with multinationals have facilitated growth through integrated sales channels, but this model can distract from Advent One’s unique value proposition.
To mitigate this, Jason highlights the need to reduce excessive reliance on multinationals. By developing new technical skills and refining demand generation strategies, Advent One can regain control over its business model. He stresses the importance of clearly communicating the value the company offers beyond its multinational partnerships.
A practical example of this balance occurred when Advent One recognized a shift in market demand. Instead of relying solely on its multinational partner, the team invested in complementary technology skills, creating a distinct service line that met emerging customer needs. This proactive approach allows Advent One to leverage its partnerships while fostering innovation and independent growth.
Transformative Leadership at Advent One
Since joining Advent One in 2023, Jason has concentrated on developing a transformation strategy that connects the company’s successful past with its future vision. As global cloud computing adoption poses challenges in integrating, securing, and managing hybrid infrastructure, Advent One is prioritizing solutions for these issues.
By leveraging its existing technology expertise alongside advanced cloud and automation skills, the company is well-equipped to navigate these challenges. This strategic focus has garnered recognition through numerous industry awards from technology vendors, highlighting Advent One’s strong technical capabilities, particularly in automation. It aligns with the company’s heritage and addresses evolving market demands, laying the groundwork for sustainable growth over the next 3 to 5 years.
Conclusion
Under Jason’s leadership, Advent One is positioned for sustainable growth, leveraging its technical expertise and strategic partnerships to meet the demands of a dynamic market. His commitment to fostering a culture of innovation ensures that the company remains at the forefront of technological advancements in the coming years.
