I joined Appian 11 years ago when the public sector team was just a small part of the business. Now that our team has grown significantly, many candidates in interviews ask me: What do you enjoy about working at Appian, and what keeps you here?
Throughout my time here, I am continuously impressed with Appian's Customer Success team. The people here are an incredibly talented, focused group of individuals which enables us to engage in rewarding projects with our government customers.
We’re helping major government agencies move off of 20+ year-old systems and bringing them into the modern age of low-code and adaptability. That’s really exciting, and Appian is a workplace that allows employees to grow and flourish as our team and customers grow.
I started at Appian as a Principal Consultant and am now the Area Vice President of Customer Success, leading DoD, Intel and Aerospace & Defense projects within the public sector. Here is an insider look into the public sector team, and a few of the many reasons I’ve stayed and grown at Appian.
How we hire for various backgrounds: military, government, tech.
We have Customer Success team members who have made the career pivot from government, military, consulting, or other software companies. It’s important to hire talented people with diverse backgrounds and skill sets who can best support our customers. We’re small, elite, efficient teams that provide high velocity and impact.
Typically, in our hiring process we look for folks who are quick to pick up different technologies and have experience that can contribute new ideas and perspectives to our team. I use a metaphor to explain our people as T-shaped, meaning they’re proficient in many disciplines while generally having a deep knowledge in one or more areas. Maybe that’s UI/UX, data migration, or other technical expertise.
Eric at Appian’s HQ office with his colleagues from the Public Sector team.
The impact of helping government agencies work with better systems.
When I first joined Appian, I did a little bit of commercial work but was quickly drawn back into the public sector due to my background in federal acquisitions. It’s rewarding to work closely with government customers and directly help them progress towards their mission goals and achieve important initiatives. Many of the applications we build are support systems for major DoD entities across the Army, Airforce, Navy and the Marine Corps who are moving off of 20+ year-old systems and bringing them into the modern age of low code and adaptability.
We worked with DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) on building a federal acquisition solution on Appian. This allowed DISA to improve productivity and work quality by automating complex agency processes and providing real-time access to critical government information and applications. When you hear directly from customers that Appian helped reduce their cycle time from months to days or even hours, it’s a cool feeling to be part of that.
Growth opportunities with the Public Sector as our Department grows.
When I consider the commercial sector and other areas within Appian, originally the Department of Defense business was a small part of the company and Customer Success team. As we built that component of the business, I was positioned to manage more across the broader delivery side and then moved into a management role at the department level. This allowed me to grow with the department. As we’re expanding the public sector team now, there are many growth opportunities ahead.
Our recruiting process focuses on individuals who have professional experience in a variety of backgrounds, as well as hiring new graduates where this is their first full-time job. We strive to help grow talent once inside of Appian. We offer career development programs that help people find the best pathways for them. This can include a more technical, business, or people management track.
The Customer Success team in the public sector is expanding and to support our clients, we need more people who are excited about the impact we’re making with our government and military sector customers, and we’re ready to help you grow your career at Appian!
Read more about growing your career in Customer Success at Appian.