MyRecruitOnline CIO and founder, Adam Crow
Adam Crow, the CIO and founder of Australian firm MyRecruitOnline, spent the past 15 years working on a software program that uses advanced artificial intelligence to gradually learn and simulate the decision-making of recruiters, cutting down on the time it takes to process hundreds of job applications.
Crow spoke to CIO Australia about his role and the developments his company is working on.
What does an average work day involve for you?
I'm not tied to a conventional nine to five regime; I would be in the office two to three times a week.
It is important for our team to be able to work flexible times and co-ordinate with others across timezones, and to that end we ensure that our staff can work from anywhere, anytime, with full access to what they need and the full suite of developer capabilities.
I work through the night on many occasions coding and researching. My staff are focused on their areas of expertise and I try not to disturb them.
What are some of the major challenges you face in your role at MyRecruitOnline?
Research and development is an alien concept to many of the people we deal with.
Lengthy product development and uncertainty are very difficult to grasp for others experienced in service industries, where immediacy along with mandated deadlines are the rule. Cost structures in IT projects are not necessarily intuitive and with a small number of resources can be extremely sensitive to change.
What are some of the recent projects you have been working on?
My major project for the past few years has been our MyRecruitOnline real-time CRM system. It is based upon a distributed JBoss architecture coupled with Drools, and a sophisticated front-end that supports real-time updates.
Another project has been our remote Java agent. This very useful product is allowing our customers networks to integrate, live, with our Cloud systems.
What are the three biggest issues facing CIOs today?
Costs. Greater usage of metrics, appropriate balance of in-house/outsourced resourcing, and evidence-based decision making.
Flexibility. Choosing technologies and strategies that do not impede rapid adaptation to changing IT conditions.
Communication. Acting as the bridge between other executives and our industry.
What is your favourite gadget?
My iPhone, followed by my SSD MacBook Pro. My noise-cancelling Bose headphones are not too far behind.
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