Profile: John Sohner
Meet John Sohner. Director, Public Sector Solutions at HMB
Name: John Sohner
Job: Director, Public Sector Solutions at HMB
City: Columbus
Hometown: Columbus
Q: What is it that you do at HMB?
HMB helps our clients reach their full potential by using technology to innovate and grow their businesses. We guide them to best leverage the power of modern cloud platforms while avoiding many of the landmines that come with cutting edge technology. Within HMB, my focus is to help Public Sector technology leaders navigate their unique environments and generate the best ROI for taxpayers as governments balance innovation and efficiency with technology investments.
Q: What’s a problem that you are working to solve?
HMB is working with Government technology leaders to make best use of publicly funded IT solutions. Many State and Local Governments offer similar services to their constituents and, often, need similar solutions to deliver those services. For over 25 years, HMB has advocated that our government clients make use of cooperative solutions and has specialized in creating an open-source environment for governments to share in IT investments. By sharing source code, ideas, and costs, governments can make best use of public dollars while delivering high-value solutions, efficiently.
Q: What’s a lesson you’ve learned that has helped shaped your work?
Working with governments of all sizes and complexities has allowed us to better understand key drivers for efficiency, automation, and ultimately, value-driven solutions that result in better services to constituents. Not every solution is “one-size-fits-all”, but every government has common goals and initiatives. Our goal is to offer insightful thought leadership and become a partner for our clients to lean on when navigating new ideas.
Q: What’s a trend in technology or innovation that you believe doesn’t get enough attention?
Automation (specifically Robotic Process Automation or RPA) and Machine Learning are making a lot of headlines in the IT world, and I still don’t think it’s really understood how impactful they are going to be. We’re seeing huge wins with customers across industries including Public Sector, Insurance, Banking, and Manufacturing.
There are a ton of situations where processes that have existed for ages can be streamlined but never have been because the IT investments were too large. We’re seeing commercial products like UiPath and Azure Machine Learning are suddenly making this much more accessible.
The biggest wins we’re seeing are increasing the value our clients bring to their customers which leads to improved customer satisfaction and (in the private sector) more revenue.
Q: What’s one moonshot idea that could help make Ohio a world leader in technology and innovation?
I can’t take credit for the idea, as there are flavors of it out there, but Workforce-as-a-Service (WaaS). Our modern workforce is volatile, and demands are never stagnant. Creating a workforce of highly trained and talented bots on a scalable infrastructure that could be easily deployed to meet the fluctuations of cyclical demand in our economy. Many people fear that introducing automation means less jobs, but it really means freeing people to do things only people can do. People are far more talented than robots and their valuable time should be spent innovating while robots handle the automatable workloads.
Q: What’s a recent book, podcast or news story that you found interesting?
A recent BIA article I read said that Central Ohio needs to build to support one million new residents by 2050, and that means we need to build 14,000 new places for people to live per year. The article talked about the challenges involved, but this also points to a very exciting time for businesses and individuals in Central Ohio. Our talent pool is very attractive, and we are seeing more businesses choose to stand up operations here. I'm optimistic about what this growth means for our local economy. Ohio is already emerging as a leader in technology and innovation and our continued focused on economic development will perpetuate this trend.
Q: What's your favorite place in Ohio?
There are so many great places in Ohio. Probably being on/near campus on football game days, taking my son to Clippers games at Huntington Park or visiting the Hocking Hills area for hiking/camping.
Q: What makes Ohio special to you?
Growing up in central Ohio and graduating from The Ohio State University will always make the Buckeye State special to me. I met my wife here and both of my kids were born here. Our family is proud to live in the Central Ohio.
Connect with John on LinkedIn.