Exec Q&A with Crate.io CEO Eva Schönleitner
Eva Schönleitner joined Crate.io in late 2020, taking over from the two co-founders.
Their CrateDB database is a fully open source solution and provides actionable data insights at scale for operational analytics.
It is optimised for large data volumes with high compute and data versatility requirements and runs in the cloud, on the edge and on-premise.
At the end of 2021, they received an Honourable Mention in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Database Management Systems, which the business is very proud of and is a validation that the market recognises their unique value proposition.
Schönleitner sat down to answer some questions for Technology Magazine.
What technology are you most looking forward to using more of?
From the business standpoint I believe AI and machine learning technologies will bring us forward exponentially – both from the aspect of improving operational processes (whether from sales, finance, HR, through production) and, they will allow us to create new customer offerings, revenue, and business models.
From a personal perspective I am urgently awaiting self-driving cars or even convertible cars/planes. The new technologies such as connectivity, visual images, real-time analysis of sensor data, images, videos, and AI are available today (the Crate.io database is a core component of it), they just have not quite made it into production for us everyday drivers yet.
What has been your career highlight prior to your current role?
I’ve been in technology most of my career – both in North America and in Europe, and there have been many highlights in terms of business successes, being first in the market several times, or as a leader and mentor to colleagues. One highlight I am extremely glad about is when we started the year 2000 and the Y2K initiatives were happening all over the globe. I was leading one of those mission critical implementations for a food manufacturer and distributor and I can vividly recall how happy my team and I were that really “nothing” happened except New Year's celebrations. The learnings I took away from this were that keen preparation, deep testing and simulations of technical solutions is one of the key “ingredients” to manage critical initiatives well (in this case without incident).
What has been your highlight in your current role?
It’s been a pleasure taking the reins of the company from the two co-founders and moving it to the next level – all the while retaining the original highly innovative spark of the company.
What is your leadership style?
I have a collaborative and friendly management style treating each colleague (we call ourselves “Craties”) with respect. I have high expectations in terms of delivering quality outputs at speed on the plans we jointly agreed upon. I also expect openness and visibility for successes and challenges, so I as the leader can support the team.
