Meet our Australia team
In an exciting stride towards global expansion, Sensat has ventured across the waters to set up our first international office in vibrant Sydney, Australia. This milestone marks a new chapter in our journey in a bid to shake up how civil infrastructure teams identify their preferred option quicker to meet that tight deadline.
In this blog, we're thrilled to introduce you to the experienced team leading the Australian office: Andy, James, Jack and Rhea. Our team brings a wealth of experience from across the infrastructure sector and are all excited to bring their experience to the market.
We'll delve into their roles within the organisation and gain insights into how they adapt to their new home, Australia.
Join us as we embark on this exciting next step with Sensat Down Under.
Introductions
Andy Lake, General Manager - ANZ.
Tenure: 6 months
Fun fact: “I am an Engineer who made a radical career change and became an Accountant.”
James Fricker, Managing Director- ANZ,
Tenure: 5 years, 9 months
Fun fact: “When I was 18 years old, I auditioned for Big Brother in the UK, I actually got quite far into the process, but ultimately didn’t get selected (Probably a very good thing too)”
Jack Stimpson, Business Development Manager
Tenure: 3 years
Fun fact: “I used to have two pet ducks called Cheese and Quackers”
Rhea Nielson, Senior Customer Success Manager
Tenure: 2 weeks
Fun fact: “When I’m having a bad day or a bit overwhelmed, I’d go for a McDonald’s Happy Meal to lighten my day.”
Tell us about your roles in the team
James: “I was tasked with setting up Australia, from initial market research in the UK, the fly-in and fly-out visits, to ultimately incorporating the business in the region and delivering against the plan we created - it’s been 2 years of work and we have gone from strength to strength, now working with the largest asset owners in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) on some of the most important infrastructure projects right now.“
Andy: “At Sensat I’m responsible for the overall delivery of ANZ business. Ensuring customer value and satisfaction is at the heart of my role, but also ensuring we have a sustainable growing business with a great team which is aligned to our overall objectives.”
Jack: “My role in the team is to find new revenue-generating opportunities in ANZ. This consists of building relationships with prospective clients, developing business cases to solve their problems, and of course closing deals. It’s a very customer-facing role which I love.”
Rhea: “My role as a Customer Success Manager is to look after our customers and ensure they get the most out of our platform. I’m responsible for taking ownership of their journey, including overseeing implementation, nurturing relationships and working with various teams within Sensat to develop the best strategies for value realisation.”
Why has Sensat chosen Australia for international expansion?
Andy: “ANZ presents a myriad of distinctive challenges, primarily due to its vast geographical expanse and the resultant size of its projects. Nonetheless, the problems which ANZ infrastructure projects are encountering are very similar to those in the UK. These large-scale challenges and our ability to help are where our opportunity exists. In some cases, for example in the Renewables and Transmission sector, there are opportunities which come about once in a generation which need support.”
James: “To add to this, infrastructure investment is booming in ANZ at the moment, so I’m pumped to be able to help change the way people deliver projects, driving sustainability, increasing productivity, and changing mindsets to be collaborative through digital. It’s genuinely exciting to be able to take a technology that has so many demonstrable values to a new market and share those proof points that will actually make a difference.”
How is Sensat being received so far?
James: “So far we have been received incredibly positively. We have a growing book of wonderful clients and partners, an extensive pipeline, and a clear growth path that sets the region up to be one of our top-performing regions in the world.”
Andy: “I couldn't agree more and the proof is in the pudding! Sensat has been operating in ANZ for just over a year and we are already engaged in some of the country's most exciting, important and high-profile projects. These projects are Australia’s future!”
What is your favourite thing about the market?
Jack: “The scale of the energy infrastructure which Australia has to build. This brings a huge opportunity for Sensat and also aligns well with our core values around sustainability. It’s great to be supporting projects which will make such an impact.”
Andy: “In the civil infrastructure space, Sensat is unique in that we provide a visual view and easy-to-use engagement of a program in a way that is quite new. We have a lot of unique offerings which are resonating with the market which sets us apart from traditional software vendors including 2-week deployment times, integrations included, and the list goes on…”
Rhea: “While this market can be considered a bit more advanced compared to other countries, the pain points and challenges they experience are still the same, and there is so much opportunity for improvement using technology and innovation. I enjoy being part of that discovery process and am passionate about educating the market that there is a better and more efficient way of doing things.”
What are some unique challenges Sensat faces in the market?
Jack: “For me, one of the unique challenges has been operating projects over multiple time zones often being across remote regions brings a new level of complexity. For example, we’re helping Australia plan large-scale electricity transmissions spanning thousands of kilometres. This creates an exciting opportunity for Sensat to demonstrate its capabilities and visualise large data sets, across multiple states. The expanse only means our core offering of visualising projects remotely couldn’t be more valuable.”
Andy: “Possibly one of the unique challenges we face in Australia is the vast size of some of the programs. We build visualisation environments for our customers here that are larger than anywhere else. Sure, there are many interesting nuances in Australia, for example the impact and criticality of Social License, but also plenty of similarities to our “home” market of the UK that make us feel at home here and that we can help make a positive impact on improving how infrastructure is built.”
What is the long-term vision for Sensat in Australia and New Zealand?
Andy: “Our goal is to be the platform of choice for most of Australia’s important infrastructure programs. As we grow, I am looking forward to fostering the unique culture the UK office has created and building a team to support some of the largest projects in the game today. Grit and determination will be the key to our success in the ANZ market.”