Andrew Baines

Experience

• 

  Westpac

  Jan 1993 - Jun 1996

  Analyst Programmer

  After university, I was hired by Westpac, one of the sponsors of my degree.• Designed and implemented a business configuration-management tool that eliminated hundreds of dedicated screens.• Supported and enhanced the debenture/CD application four months into the role.

• 

  IBM

  Jul 1996 - Apr 2024

  After developing a self-service declarative Cloud Data Platform, I was asked to lead the initiative to roll it out by the VP Infrastructure to all internal IBM engineering teams (500+) [increased cross-functional responsibility]. The scope included a team of 33 architects, database admins, site reliability engineers, platform specialists, and development specialists, as well as 25+ OpenShift clusters, 500+ virtual machines, and 100+ BareMetals. My role was central to success for 500+ applications, and included leadership of the architecture, delivery and adoption, compliance, security, and efficiency while driving innovation and reducing costs. With the drive to innovate using AI, we delivered the AI Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) Platform-as-a-Service, supporting over 50 internal search and chat applications. This role taught me how to reach out to hundreds of peers who managed applications, listen to their needs and distill product requirements into as-a-service offerings. I learned about AI and offered RAG AI as PaaS.• Reduced infrastructure costs by $5.6m in 2023/24 through database-as-a-service, boarding 500+ clients.• Improved database admin productivity by 50% and compliance posture through automation and self-service.• Reduced AI costs through a common RAG AI platform-as-a-service, boarding over 50 internal search and chatbots including ibm.com search and AskIBM chatbot.• Improved productivity for 80+ application teams through the development and adoption of a low-code data extract-transform-load (ETL) pipeline, running on a Spark/OpenShift big data platform. Show less Based on my prior experience, I was sought out by the new VPs of Application Development and Global Sales Incentives and asked to lead the Sales Incentives Digital Modernization initiative [increased responsibility], to replace IBM's largest zOS/AIX monolithic application. After gaining annual business case agreement, I built a team of 380 engineering professionals in 5 countries, led stakeholder and product management, consulted on digital transformation, drove data-first engineering and governance, implemented Agile at scale, delivered innovative and transformative platform and application-solutions iteratively, addressed business change and technical challenges, and ensured operational resilience while achieving numerous Stevie awards. This was a mission-critical assignment, with IBM’s sales productivity and reputation at stake.o Reduced sales commission costs by $35M and infrastructure costs by $9M, whilst growing business.o Improved engineering staff productivity: operational 66%, development 40%, infrastructure 40%.o Migrated 20,000 users to new applications, NPS up 30%, and incidents down 50%.o Migrated 5B+ records, 150+Tb of data to cloud. This role taught me how to build a great international team, develop leaders, deliver early and often, manage senior stakeholder expectations, balance financial, people and technical needs, and manage risk through a time of change. Show less Gaining PMP and IBM Executive Project Manager certification, I was promoted by my director and became responsible for the entire Sales Incentives engineering team, with a staff of 150. I had to balance multiple corporate initiatives (e.g. SAP and two Lenovo divestitures) with my stakeholder's drive for more automation and productivity. Each project had a business case, with results reported quarterly, and staffing determined each year by workload.• We delivered the solutions supporting the two divestitures and SAP on time and budget • We saved $11m in operational expenses and implemented multiple releases that helped enable the revenue growth for strategic divisions of the company. Show less

  • Chief Product Manager & Cloud and AI Data Platform Project Executive (CTO/VP SW Dev/Snr Dir equiv)

    Apr 2023 - Apr 2024

  • Chief Product Mgr & Digital Modernization Proj Exec Sales Incentive Systems (CTO/VP SW Dev equiv)

    Jan 2017 - Mar 2023

  • Transformation and Strategy Manager (Senior Director/Director equivalent)

    Jan 2007 - Jan 2017

  • Application Manager (Director/Senior Manager equivalent)

    Apr 2003 - Jan 2007

  • Business Transformation Manager

    Mar 2000 - Mar 2003

  • Analyst Programmer

    Jul 1996 - Mar 2000
• 

  Appricity Solutions

  Jun 2024 - now

  Chief Executive Officer

  Leveraging my experience, I co-started Appricity Solutions. Analytics and AI that deliver value rely on clean data. We fix data problems, providing solutions to lift your business to the next level a Data-First approach to Outcome-Based AI, Trusted Analytics and Digital Transformation.