fbpx

Empowering automation engineers to turn factories into software systems

Software Defined Automation (SDA) was founded by cloud, industrial software, and manufacturing experts to empower Automation Engineers with a PLC management and code versioning platform to become more productive and efficient in their heterogeneous PLC environments.

Meet the leadership team

Dr. Josef Waltl

CEO & Founder

Amir Javanshir

Amir Javanshir

Director of Architecture and Cloud Development

Joseph Schamama

Joseph Shamama

CFO

Leo Kilfoy

Leo Kilfoy

Vice President of Products

Hilary Ives

Hilary Ives

Product Marketing Manager

Arian Jacob Saliu

Arian Jacob Saliu

Head of Engineering

Our leadership principles

These core values guide us daily and shape our company’s culture.

Customer obsession

Customer obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over true customer benefits and avoid wishful thinking about possible customer value.

Customer obsession

Customer obsession

Extreme ownership

Extreme ownership

Leaders are “extreme owners”. They think long-term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job” and they are responsible for not just those tasks which they directly control, but for all those that affect whether or not their mission is successful.

Extreme ownership

Extreme ownership

Invent & simplify

Invent & simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere and are not limited by “not invented here.“ They decompose complex problems based on “First Principle Thinking” to innovate. As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Invent & simplify

Invent & simplify

Accept failure as a path

Accept failure as a path

Leaders have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs. They embrace experimentation and failure as a path to mastery and success.

Accept failure as a path

Accept failure as a path

Learn and be curious

Learn and be curious

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them. They first seek to understand, then to be understood.

Learn and be curious

Learn and be curious

Hire & develop the best

Hire & develop the best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Hire & develop the best

Hire & develop the best

Insist on the highest standards

Insist on the highest standards

Leaders lead by example by having relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. High ethical standards are the foundation of trust. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed. Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing.

Insist on the highest standards

Insist on the highest standards

Think big

Think big

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Think big

Think big

Bias for action

Bias for action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Bias for action

Bias for action

Down to earth attitude

Down to earth attitude

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Down to earth attitude

Down to earth attitude

Frugality

Frugality

Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.

Frugality

Frugality

Dive deep

Dive deep

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them.

Dive deep

Dive deep

Have backbone, disagree and commit

Have backbone, disagree and commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion but motivate teams to seek truth.

Have backbone, disagree and commit

Have backbone, disagree and commit

Deliver results

Deliver results

Leaders are intrinsically motivated and focus on the key inputs for their business to deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Deliver results

Deliver results

Our locations

Software Defined Automation Inc.

PMB 26923 177 Huntington Ave Ste 17
Boston MA 02115

Software Defined Automation GmbH

Lichtenbergstraße 8
Garching near Munich
85748 Germany

Join our team

Are you ready to make history together? Check out our open positions.

Open careers
image 51 (Traced) (2)