Jessie Valladares, CEO, Gloria AI
From a young age, Jessie Valladares, CEO and founder, had a deep passion for creating projects that could positively drive social change. He went on to explore different career paths, from business to electrical engineering, to finally discover the power of software development to bring his vision to life.
As Jessie had an immense entrepreneurial vocation, the business idea started back in 2014 when he joined forces with like-minded engineers to create a special group where they could teach each other science topics with real-world applications. They went beyond school teachings and explored how different technologies could be merged to create innovative solutions. This paved the path to the creation of Webtronic Labs.
In 2016, Jessie relocated to Florida to learn from the best in the industry. He went with an idea in mind: "Go big or die trying," and adopted software development as the passage to fulfill his dream of serving people through technology. He became a top-notch software engineer and worked for the most prestigious companies in the industry, gaining the technical skills and experience needed to create the best IT solutions.
Through his experience in top tech companies, Jessie noticed a gap in the industry regarding non-technical skills, such as effective communication with customers and project management. That’s when the idea of creating a new enterprise that encapsulated his human vision of technology began to take a more solid form.
In 2018, Jessie founded Webtronic Labs, intending to develop a startup-like environment where talented professionals could do what they love with the utmost passion and freedom possible, because of his tech background. Based on that core, he printed his signature to his company, where every professional is driven by a passion for technology and a commitment to over-delivering for clients.
Can you discuss some of the significant challenges you faced in the early stages of your business?
The first big challenge was to transition from a developer to a full-time business owner. This is such a scary and difficult step to take, especially in an expensive city like Miami. Our biggest challenge up to today has been to find the right decision maker, the business owner that is willing to take the time to hear how our AI products can grow their business and save them time. From there, marketing has been a daunting task, what is sold as a simple set of activities, but it actually turned out to be as difficult as software development itself. Of course, at the core of everything is human resources – finding the right talent has been one of the biggest challenges that I think every organization has. We have improved our hiring systems by 1000 percent since I started running the company full-time.
Can you describe the culture within your company, and why you believe it’s integral to your success?
We run things differently at Webtronic Labs (creator of Gloria AI). At the core of our values is passion. Each of our members know deep inside that they were born to excel in their abilities. They know they are not common people, they know that they are high value individuals, and want to contribute immensely to the world while they have energy to do so. We are hard-working individuals that do not see work as something to do, but as something that completes us. A place where we should have fun and give back to society as much as possible. And because of that, we believe that having freedom and being listened to is essential in order to do a very high quality work, so we practice direct communication, we try to minimize bureaucracy and deal with issues as a team.
How do you encourage creativity and innovation within your company?
We always challenge each other into finding the best way to solve a problem, and this has become a standard and a competitive advantage that we proudly communicate and show in the end solutions that we build. Everyone has an opinion in our company, and we create an environment that they can feel free to express their ideas and plans, this does not mean that every idea is executed, this ensures that everyone is heard and that when we’re going to do something, everyone is convinced that it is the best way to do it.
How do you define success for your business, and how do you measure it?
We measure success by how much we have positively impacted our society, we measure success by the level of happiness of our clients as well as the members of our team. We define success as the ability to wow our customers by our creations
What is your leadership style, and how has it evolved over the years?
I have tried multiple leadership styles during my life. I started being a rough leader, punishing everyone and everything that didn’t came up the way I thought it should be, then I became a micro manager, where I didn’t trust the people that surrounded me and I thought that the best way to get things done is to control everything, and after many mistakes, I changed my leadership to consultative. In our organization we completely understand that we are humans and we make mistakes, and we actually see mistakes as a good thing, so our focus goes to measuring effort and passion. Nowadays, I lead by example and in a passionate way. When we do something right, my team gets the prize, and when someone does something wrong, I make them realize that mistake, so the person knows there is something to improve.
What role has technology played in the evolution and success of your company?
We are a technology company, so we breathe technology. AI certainly has been a catalyst event in our company’s history, as we consider it as a new Industrial Revolution. AI has opened the doors to us, giving us access to a new level of tools that will give our clients unfair advantage over the competition
How do you attract and retain top talent in your organization?
We have continuously improving processes and systems in place to attract individuals that are highly passionate and really know how to fulfill their job. For us, soft skills are as important as hard skills. retaining the talent is something that is a breeze for us, as people that work in our organization, have the opportunity to create and execute on projects that have the capability to change humanity for the best.
How do you balance short-term pressures with long-term goals?
The long-term goals are always present, and every short-term pressure is a step that takes us closer to that goal.
How did your business adapt to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic?
We actually did great during COVID-19 because we have had a remote business model since before the pandemic began.
Can you tell us about a mistake you made in the business, how you dealt with it, and what you learned from it?
Hiring people to do a job that I had no idea of how to do. It’s a very dangerous move to try to make other people fulfill a work that we have absolutely no idea on how to execute. There is no other way to go around it but to take time to learn the basics and some Advanced Techniques to be able to spot people that really know their craft at an advanced level.
What role does client feedback play in your decision-making process?
Thanks to our clients feedback, we have been able to create services of the highest quality possible. Clients help us identify the impact that we create through our services, as well as the priorities where we should focus our energy.
Could you share one of your key business philosophies that you feel has contributed to your success?
Never stop. Deliver yourself to your cause, that cause is what’s going to make you endure in the darkest of times and the riskiest decisions.
How do you stay updated with the latest trends and changes in your industry?
I use medium, quora, watch some tech influencers, and other news sources everyday. I have also taught my team to do the same in their respective fields, and share the highlights in different channels that we have.
Looking to the future, where do you see your company in the next five years?
I see our company delivering products and services with the quality of worldwide technology companies like SpaceX.
Finally, what advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to achieve similar success in their company?
Only do it if they are really passionate and completely love what they do. Only be an entrepreneur if you're willing to lose everything for the idea of having everything. be prepared to work way more than a normal employee, and visualize yourself working for the rest of your life…in what you love.
Only do it if they are really passionate and completely love what they do. Only be an entrepreneur if you’re willing to lose everything for the idea of having everything. be prepared to work way more than a normal employee, and visualize yourself working for the rest of your life…in what you love.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Match with a top AI chatbot provider to bring your customer service to the next level.
Resources
