Employee Spotlight: Drew O’Neill

Tell us about yourself and how long you’ve been with Optimal Dynamics.

I’m Drew O’Neill and I’m a Senior Sales Engineer at Optimal Dynamics. I’ve been here for a little over seven months, although it feels like much longer (in the best way possible)! I work remotely out of the north suburbs of Chicago.

Can you summarize your job in 1-2 sentences?

My role is to understand potential customer/prospect networks and operations, run their historical data through our optimization engine, and show them the value we can bring to their company.

What inspired you the most to join Optimal Dynamics?

I’ve been following Optimal Dynamics for a while as I became familiar with some of Warren Powell’s work as I was pursuing my Masters in Data Science. As I learned more about the company, I realized they were making a significant impact on the transportation industry and wanted to be part of that journey.

What do you like best about our company culture?

My favorite thing about the culture at Optimal Dynamics is how friendly and helpful everyone is. When I first joined the company, I signed up for biweekly “donuts” which pairs me with a random employee each week. Getting to know different people at the company and pick their brains about all things transportation, technology, optimization, etc. has been amazing!

What is unique about what we do at Optimal Dynamics?

Our sales process is very unique. Taking a prospect’s historical data and showing how our optimization engine would have made different decisions to drive operational improvements is key to getting buy-in from potential customers.

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part is getting to know potential new customers and becoming an expert in their networks. Every carrier is different and its own new challenge!

How does your work impact our product, and, therefore, the industry?

I primarily work in our Plan environment, but I also do demos for all of our products. My work helps get new customers using our products and brings more innovation to the industry!

What have been your biggest accomplishments on our team, and what was the impact on the product/company?

Each new customer that we bring on board is an accomplishment. Seeing the impact our platform has on new customers is incredibly rewarding.

How have you grown professionally while on our team?

I have grown most in my confidence interacting with customers. There is a learning curve to understanding how our optimization engine works and how to explain its decisions to customers, and as I’ve gained more experience and worked with more customers, I’m able to more easily explain decisions and break down the optimization results in a simpler manner.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I have a 13 month old daughter and a 3.5 year old Bernese mountain dog, so most of my free time is spent playing or going on walks with them! I also love fantasy baseball and football and take both way too seriously :)

Can you share a hidden talent that no one knows about you?

I am a classically trained pianist and hope to get back to my good playing days sometime in the near future. For now, I have fun playing nursery rhymes and children’s songs for my daughter.

What’s the best advice you can give to someone who wants to work at Optimal Dynamics?

Get to know the ins and outs of how a trucking company operates. Being able to explain why decisions are made by the optimization engine and how it impacts a carrier’s network is a huge plus (and fun)!