E95 - Matt Tyler at Wachter

On our 95th episode of The Route to Networking, we were joined by one of our Principal IP Network Consultants, Harry Stephenson and Matt Tyler, the VP of Strategic Innovation and Business Development at Wachter, Inc. During this episode, Matt discusses some of the biggest changes he’s seen in the industry since he started his career. He also talks about the importance of keeping an open mind in the industry and always staying 5 steps ahead.

Matt started his career in an unconventional way to the typical Networker. He started working for an electrical contractor from a young age and then once he graduated, he started his electrical apprenticeship which led him to do infrastructure projects. From here, he progressed into building large industrial and logistics centres. He eventually expanded into large retailers, building out their 1-4 million square ft distribution centres and deploying the infrastructure and cabling. His journey started here, no education influenced it, he came up as a blue-collar industrial commercial electrician and moved into the infrastructure space.

When he first started in the industry, they were putting in 10Mb per second Networks which is slow compared to today’s standard. He remembers thinking back then that they would never need more than that and it would accommodate everything they did. Within 3 or 4 years, it has been a complete rip and replace. If someone says they aren’t going to need any more or not going to need to worry about it in the future, you need to worry about it in the future. “Keep your mindset forward but working in the present is a good takeaway”.

Video adoption is one of the biggest changes he has seen in the industry. The video was never really a thing because the network simply couldn’t support it. Now, look at YouTube for example. For every 1 minute, 500 hours of video are being uploaded to YouTube. He is also working on holographic technology. From an education perspective, they are beaming professors to universities where they can do lectures in multiple cities simultaneously.

Something else they are working on over at Wachter is indoor vertical farms. There’s new technology being deployed across America to help agriculture be more sustainable. They are growing things like fish and salad greens on indoor farms to control the climate and to be more sustainable in general.

Biggest challenge?

Some of the biggest challenges he is facing currently are supply chain and finding the right talent. With the supply chain, being able to get your hands on the equipment to go to the end users to install is something they are struggling with at the moment. They are also finding new people coming into the workforce challenging. Being able to find people who are willing to take the opportunity in a world they aren’t familiar with.

For anyone looking for a career in Networking, Matt suggests doing your research. There are more and more opportunities to learn about what the industry has to hold. Try to hold back from saying no to things and take advice from whoever gives it to you.

Matt shares what he thinks will be the biggest game changer in the future. Tune in now to hear the full episode.