Patterson Pope

Marc Eskew

Business Value Champion

Marc Eskew is a technology executive who specializes in bridging gaps between complex technical infrastructure and bottom-line profitability.

In an interview with CIOReview Magazine, he discussed balancing technology, such as AI, with other business elements, including investments, operational demands and stakeholder expectations.

Developing Cross-Functional Experience

At Patterson Pope, I focus on improving processes and identifying the right applications and workflows to make work more efficient. Over time, we saw the opportunity to scale this across the company, which led to my transition into the role of Director of IT.

What has helped me in doing so is my 14 years of experience in IT management, primarily in healthcare and education. I also held roles across sales, operations and upper management, giving me exposure to multiple IT disciplines and functional areas that I can apply to solutions today.

Navigating Tradeoffs during Organization-Wide Changes

We recently underwent a major CRM migration, added an ERP platform and continued building on our project management workflow in Monday.com. The platform migrations for CRM and ERP were tied to the realignment and addition of departments. After the system migrations and personnel realignment were set, we successfully went live last month.

  By standardizing our workflow in monday.com, we’ve synchronized our regional teams to deliver a more consistent and efficient customer experience.  

The challenge was to ensure we approached work with a consulting mindset rather than just execution. So, we probed to know the ‘why’ of what we were doing for our stakeholders. This helped us put the right systems and workflows in place to smooth the transition into new applications and SOPs. Additionally, better collaboration has helped us get a deeper understanding of our entire business process and deliver the most optimal solutions.

Moreover, as companies grow and roles become more specialized, people tend to see the benefit within their own area, but not always how it affects the upline and downline. As we gain visibility across the entire chain, we can make changes that support the functional request while ensuring those changes maintain continuity across the entire system.

Risk Management through Connected Systems

We’ve minimized operational risks associated with fragmented systems and delayed data visibility. A robust API engine underpins our processes, ensuring data flows in real time.

When a department needs access to data, we ensure it’s provided, whether via the application itself, view-access scenarios or transmission of data where it is routinely needed.

Leveraging AI to Increase Efficiency

Leaders who can master using AI to create efficiencies within their departments and businesses will be the game-changers over the next few years.

AI enables IT teams to create value within their own departments. For us, that shift has been about moving from a transactional role to a value-driving one. We’re working to quantify the efficiency gains, cost savings and revenue potential of AI. This helps us prioritize initiatives we can justify to leadership.

In terms of AI, our company is in the discovery-exploratory phase. Early adopters are the internal teams that manage high-volume, process-driven tasks. A company-wide poll was sent out to understand how people are using it and how they want to use it. We’re providing training and policies to guide effective AI use and protect customer and company data.

Better Listening as the Difference-Making Factor

The most significant transition in my career was moving beyond the ‘request-and-fulfill’ model. I now focus on cross-functional collaboration to identify the core problem.

True IT leadership means looking beyond the initial request to consider its full impact. By probing the 'why,' we move from simply checking boxes to architecting solutions that actually move the needle for the business.