“Versatile Voices” is a new blog series highlighting our incredible team at Versatile, including their impressive breadth of expertise and skills. Versatile’s employees have a range of fascinating life experiences; from industry authors to pilots, from data scientists and ice hockey referees to superintendents and project managers.
This employee spotlight series aims to highlight the talented individuals who contribute to this special workplace culture in construction technology. For this month’s interview, we speak with Oren Schwartz, R&D Manager at Versatile.
How long have you been with Versatile?
I’ve been with Versatile for almost four years. I was the first fully fledged developer in the company.
How did you hear about Versatile? Why did you want to work here?
I was introduced to Barak Cohen, our CTO, by a mutual friend in the gym. Barak had me at: “Want to lift something really heavy? You should try lifting our CraneView device at the office”. This sales pitch worked all too well, and in no time, I was swept away by the technology and the great people who founded Versatile.
What motivates you?
Two things: 1) Achieving impact. There’s nothing I like more than hearing satisfied customers grinning from using Versatile’s CraneView reports. 2) My team’s happiness and satisfaction.
There’s nothing I like more than hearing satisfied customers grinning from using Versatile’s CraneView reports.”
-Oren Schwartz, R&D Manager, Versatile
What does your job entail?
Helping my team leverage their full potential to achieve Versatile’s goals and make an impact on our customers. This can manifest in how we oversee and guide the day-to-day technical activities along with how we communicate in cooperation with the Product team so we can “move the most important needles” together.
What inspired you to pursue this career?
The opportunity to start something new. As a techy, I like the fact we’re working on hardware, IoT, Cloud as well as touching on AI and machine learning, client side applications, and 3D modeling.
I’m an inherently curious person and want to know: “How are buildings actually made? In what ways can data influence how these structures are built? How do we tackle planned vs actual, safety, real time alerts, and analytics all in one?”
Clockwise from Oren: Tal Kliner, Walid Barakeh, Esti Edelstein, Itai Sagi
What’s the first thing you do when you start working every day?
Check on my team to see if everyone has what they need, know what’s expected, and that nothing is blocking them. If I have some time, I prepare a cup of coffee and open VS code to promote some software development.
What’s your approach to navigating work challenges?
Trust yourself while staying humble. We’re all in a continuous process of self improvement and adapting to changes.
What’s the best career advice someone has given you?
Like Michael Jordan relied on Scottie Pipen and Denis Rodman, every good team needs different people of different qualities. As leaders, we should celebrate and empower differences to tackle different problems.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I served eight years in the Israeli intelligence corps. I also really like all types of music and tried learning poetry and piano.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
Either Amsterdam or London.
What is your motto or personal mantra?
Despite what they tell you, aspirations and plans do not conquer all– nor do they even usually last. In the end they are all reduced to, “Whatever works!” (an abbreviated mantra from a Woody Allen film).
“Every good team needs different people of different qualities. As leaders, we should celebrate and empower differences to tackle different problems.”
-Oren Schwartz, R&D Manager, Versatile
If Versatile announced a last-minute day off work tomorrow, what would you do?
Change diapers and amuse Ben, my kid, jump into some awaited reading material, or play Spiderman on my brand new Playstation 5.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
My family of course, my dear wife Dotan and my nine-month old son, Ben.
What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t working at Versatile?
When I was a kid, I always dreamt of being a doctor. Doing something in the healthcare business will always fascinate me.
If you could invite any three people over for dinner, past or present, who would you invite?
Albert Einstein, David Bowie, and Shigiro Miyamoto.
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About Versatile
Versatile elevates construction performance management through its flagship solution Craneview®. The data captured from project operations delivers smart insights to improve budgets, support construction scheduling, help with daily planning and provide unmatched visibility into your production rates with hard data.
Leveraging AI and IoT, CraneView helps streamline construction resource allocation while minimizing disruption to existing processes. The result? Increased productivity and efficiency, an improved safety culture, and the insights needed to manage and bid future projects more competitively.