TL;DR
ProFinda celebrated its strategic Google Cloud Marketplace launch with an exclusive networking event at Google HQ, gathering forward-thinking leaders and clients (including EY, KPMG) to discuss the future of work. The partnership will accelerate ProFinda’s mission to provide AI-powered skills visibility and resource management at scale. A highlight was the discussion with rugby legends Pat Lam and Rory Lawson, who drew parallels between balancing data and human intuition in sports and corporate resource allocation, reinforcing a focus on a people-first culture.
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ProFinda’s exclusive partnership with Google Cloud launched in late October and the atmosphere at Google HQ was proof of what happens when you bring a community of people together in a room for an evening of shared learnings, expertise and celebration. We gathered a group of forward-thinking leaders as part of our networking series, to celebrate this milestone and the evening was everything we hoped it would be.
The invitation promised a night of inspiration, connection, and celebration focused on Innovative AI Revolutionizing Resource Management, and the evening delivered. The room was buzzing with insights from industry specialists, and the chance for our growing community members to learn from a host of ProFinda clients, such industry giants like EY, KPMG, Korn Ferry, and Alvarez and Marsal, alongside many other exciting companies who were keen to discuss our shared vision for the future of work and speak to an expert member of our team.
The Power of Partnership: Scaling the Mission
Our CEO, Rog, kicked off the evening’s introductions, joined on stage by Google Cloud Deep Tech lead Marie Bessadi, to discuss why this ProFinda partnership with such a goliath in the tech and AI space, was so exciting for both parties.
Rog explained how the mission was born to solve the challenge that services firms have no smart way to understand and match their most expensive asset, their people to the right work, at the right time at the right cost. Having effectively helped global businesses like EY and KPMG navigate challenges around lack of strategic skills visibility, inefficient workforce utilization and operational inefficiencies in time and cost, the next phase of ProFinda’s exciting growth was to roll out these Intelligent workforce orchestration solutions for the rest of the ProServ industry and even into many other categories, such as Engineering, Multi-Disciplinary and Defense.
And it was clear that Roger’s vision resonated with the teams at Google.
This is why ProFinda represents such an exciting partnership opportunity. As Marie explained that the Google Cloud program looks for innovative businesses based on three main criteria:
- Credibility & Scale
- Visionary Leadership & Mission
- Technology Mastery & Collaborative Potential
Marie went on to explain that the Google team look for partners with a solid, established install base of customers. This crucially, provides an immediate path to introduce partners to our own largest enterprise customers, delivering proven value from day one.
The partnership with Google Cloud represents another exciting building block on our route to impressive growth. Rocket fuel for ProFinda’s ambitious mission, enabling us to scale and accelerate our ambitious growth plans for 2026 and beyond.
From the Sidelines to the Spreadsheet: Skills in Sport
While the room was filled with experts from the world of business, our special guest for the evening gave us insight from a very unique perspective, on how he manages his teams and their skills for optimum output at the highest level. Guests were captivated by an intriguing discussion on team management, leadership and growth between Pat Lam, Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears and Head Coach of the Barbarians and ProFinda’s partnerships lead and Ex-Scotland Rugby Captain, Rory Lawson.
We discovered that the challenges of resource management are surprisingly similar to those challenges on the rugby pitch! Pat Lam shared his philosophy on balancing hard data, from GPS tracking to video analysis, with the irreplaceable ‘eye test’ and human intuition. For him, the data must always translate into meaningful, human action. The conversation shifted seamlessly from managing player load and welfare with data to the power of a people-first culture. “Recruiting the person, not just the player.”
They discussed the numerous synergies in team selection in both elite level sport and growing businesses and highlighted the essential ingredient. Visibility. And crucially, how it’s as important for managers to have a clear view of their team’s combined skills, as it is for individuals to have clarity about their own potential and areas for growth.
The detail behind his Barbarians team selection and output potential capabilities was particularly insightful. Exploring the various ways that you can try to drive instant cohesion when bringing world-class individuals together for only a week’s preparation. It’s all about communicating a clear, unifying ethos fully understanding your teams’ skills and capabilities and ensuring that they have the self-awareness to understand where they capabilities lie, and where they need to develop – It truly was a masterclass in rapid resource deployment!
A Night of Connection and Future Ambition
As we moved into the networking session, the energy carried on throughout the evening, demonstrating that when the right people come together, special things happen. The conversation was vibrant, focusing on how AI will continue to deepen our understanding of our most valuable resource: our people.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined this truly special evening. This collaboration is a significant step, and we’re incredibly excited to bring the future of work to all of our clients, from the biggest names in the industry to the fastest-growing enterprises.
