The finalists for WashingtonExec’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards were announced Sept. 25, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 16.
Next is Brian Price, president and CEO of Kion and finalist in the Cloud Executive of the Year, Private & Public Companies category. Here, he shares his primary focus areas going forward and proud career moments.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
Many organizations are yet to fully unlock the vast potential of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. These platforms offer an array of opportunities to expedite the development of groundbreaking capabilities that empower the military, healthcare agencies, and researchers to drive progress within their respective domains.
Unfortunately, I’ve observed numerous groups grappling with cloud operations challenges that have already been effectively resolved, such as devising optimal strategies for meeting security and regulatory requirements. These roadblocks can significantly impede the deployment of these capabilities, ultimately slowing down our nation’s innovation in comparison to others.
My commitment is to continue dismantling barriers in the federal government’s path to cloud adoption. I aim to ensure that funding is utilized optimally and that information is widely shared to facilitate knowledge transfer between agencies. This, in turn, will expedite the attainment of Authorizations to Operate and the swift operationalization of new capabilities.
We are dedicated to enhancing cloud security by identifying compliance issues related to data privacy and protection. Moreover, we seek to help organizations better manage cloud identities and access privileges.
At Kion, we consistently introduce new features and expand our Cloud Rules library to address the most pressing concerns of our customers and the nation as a whole. Our mission is to enhance resilience, security, and the removal of common obstacles to digital transformation so that we can all advance together.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
Nothing makes me prouder than watching the company I founded continue to grow, even during unprecedented times. When we started Kion in 2018 ⏤ the company was called cloudtamer.io at the time ⏤ we had 6 full time employees and a mission to make the cloud simpler to manage and control. We may have been a small team, but we had passion and tenacity and knew the cloud experience should be better.
Now, we have over 70 team members who have significantly helped advance our solution through innovative new features and capabilities. We’ve persevered during a global pandemic, survived a banking collapse and other economic downturns, and always come out stronger in the end.
We’ve brought on a lot of new higher education, public sector and commercial customers and solidified strong partnerships with leading companies like Booz Allen Hamilton ⏤ which was a full circle moment for me since I had the pleasure of working there for over seven years earlier in my career.
We’ve also received accolades amongst industry award programs and analyst firms. I am proud to work with such talented customers, partners and our team of Kioneers that have helped shaped the product and company into what it is today.