Fabio E Zola

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Equant

tl;dr

Equant is based in Madrid and combine practices & technologies for web development, analytics, security, performance and hosting for a variety of clients based in Europe, Asia and in the United States.

Mission

Business complexity, resourcing constraints, and ownership silos make consolidation difficult. We help clients understand how their publishing systems work by identifying existing bottlenecks, crowd-proof website, efficiently simulate Massive Traffic Loads, mitigate business risks, recommend architectural changes, and deliver measurable results. Problems you know are there but can’t quite describe can be fixed, including the ones you haven’t yet encountered.

The author

My career foundation is rooted in IT managed services and has spanned both senior sales positions within large enterprise as well as entrepreneurial, startup roles. I'm experienced selling into the C-Suite and managing/nurturing senior level relationships with potential and existing clients. I have great experience within complex, matrix-based organisations as well as ambiguous, fast moving, entrepreneurial environments. I'm passionate in technicity, solving client’s problems with a consultative approach, and I'm not afraid to start from the beginning.

Highlights

  • First European executive to hold a certification in Robotic Process Automation.
  • Data Consultant with a deep expertise in SaaS / PaaS, PreSales engineering, programming, UI & URI/IRI in the Semantic Web Stack.
  • Experienced in selling to a large number of global clients (5000+) across Southern markets and leading a team.
  • Proficiency in benchmarking, diagnosis, monitoring, troubleshooting/debugging, applying standardization & performance.
  • Ability to learn / unlearn / relearn with a growth mindset.
  • Fluent in French & English (hold a literature degree from Cambridge University).
  • Customer-centered remote Technical Account Management: 1 to 1, 1 to many (Webex, Ring Central, Team Viewer, Google Meet, UDP).
  • Effective written & Interpersonal skills.

Work

Engineer at IBM

London, UK 🇬🇧 NYSE: IBM

1. Data Engineer:
Applied data analysis, machine learning, and visualization techniques using Python and SQL to extract insights and solve real-world problems.
🔧 Builds robust infrastructure & scalable data pipelines.
🗄️ Focus: ETL, DBs (SQL/NoSQL), Airflow, Spark, Kafka.
⚙️ Systems-minded: Think reliability, architecture, automation.
📦 Delivers clean, structured data for downstream use.

2. Data Scientist:
Integrating business objectives with advanced statistical analysis & ML techniques to deliver impactful solutions, distinguishing meaningful insights from noise.
📊 Extracts insights from data via stats & modeling.
🤖 Focus: EDA, ML, Python, visualization, storytelling.
🔍 Curious-minded: Think analysis, prediction, business value.
📈 Delivers actionable insights for decision-making.

3. Robotic Process Automation Consultant:
Tutors: Mihir Shukla, Muin Pirzada, Nicolò Saà.
Promoted an enterprise-grade PaaS for building intelligent Digital Workforces using AI-enabled RPA and cognitive technologies. Signed PoCs with C-level executives in various industries, developing software bots to automate complex, rule-based tasks. Percentage increase in valuation: +180% (from 2018-11 to 2019-11).

4. Software-defined storage Consultant:
Tutors: Arvind Krishna, Rob Coventry, Eric Herzog.
Software-defined storage (SDS) is a storage framework that isolates hardware from storage software. It is designed to respond to the complex process of digital transformation and gives flexibility, cost-effectiveness and agility you need to enable your data-driven, multicloud enterprise.
· Guided a team to design and deliver storage solutions for IBM's hybrid cloud.
· Defined the future of cloud-native workload protection and data management in containerized environments.
· Fostered a strong team culture that prioritizes collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to technical excellence.
· Utilized sales methodologies (BANT, Sandler, Spin) to drive strategy, value consulting, and training, with a primary focus on block storage, which is the fastest way to connect compute nodes via high-speed fiber.

5. Social Monitoring Manager:
Lead social listening and analytics to track brand health, industry trends, and customer sentiment across platforms. Translate insights into strategic recommendations for marketing, comms, and product teams. Tools: Sprinklr, Brandwatch, Talkwalker, Crimson Hexagon.

6. Front-End Developer:
Designing and developing scalable, accessible, and responsive UIs using React, TypeScript, and IBM’s Carbon Design System. Collaborate cross-functionally to deliver high-performance web apps that power enterprise solutions. Focused on clean code, accessibility (WCAG), performance optimization, and modern DevOps practices.

Entrepreneur & Programmer at Equant

San Diego, USA 🇺🇸, London, UK 🇬🇧, Madrid, Spain 🇪🇸
Tutors: Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Jeffrey Zeldman, Dave Shea, Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain.

Founded a digital-centric agency offering full-service development for SMEs evolving in shared ecosystems. I produced functional prototypes to test hypotheses with customers and proposed progressive improvements at a steady and rapid pace, facilitating digital transformation. I drove an early adoption of RWD in French-speaking markets, being focused on the technical elements of a site performance (WPO) & compliance (W3C/i18n guidelines, elimination of HTTP errors). I achieved a 82% churn rate for about 10 years with project management approaches following to my experience with Mr Steven Paul Jobs. Today, Data Science & AI Development became more important in my eyes. Equant is now a portfolio, a Dev Blog, and a place where I can emancipate new AI ideas with a continuous learning mindset. Open Standards and interoperability are still the key.

Recognitions:

  • ᯤ 2022: Created websites reaching 100% on Google Page Speed Insights, beating all the best corporations in the US regarding their performance, using LiteSpeed Enterprise hosting with an AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X, embarking a 4.5 GHz base frequency processor and using HTTP/3 on an Apache Ubuntu Server.
  • ᯤ 2019: Lead Developer at Chris Dangtran (ex worldwide designer at Benetton 🇮🇹, 4.3 millions followers on Pinterest).
  • ᯤ 2018: Increased customer number by 10x at Christie Cooper / Everything DiSC (Los Angeles).
  • ᯤ 2017: Distincted by Microsoft in the USA (Irvine office).
  • ᯤ 2014: Front-End Developer at The Brewery in Richmond, London, under the direction of Dr Paul Stead, (formerly CEO of the Fitch Design Group).
  • ᯤ 2012: Front-end developement for the Mc Laren / Ultraluxum CXL project in Monaco 🇲🇨, a revolutionary trimaran by Swiss Designer Jean-François Ruchonnet 🇨🇭, featuring folding hull beams.
  • ᯤ 2009: Delivered standardized Responsive Web Design in South of France, improved significantly the occupancy rate for Bed & Breakfast in Provence, and attained first ranking organically on search engines for a variety of clients in healthcare.
  • ᯤ 2005: Standardized thousands of pages with the W3C Validators (XHTML transitional or strict, HTML5, CSS2, CSS3, i18n).

Consultant at Apple Computers (ASC)

Monaco 🇲🇨Nasdaq: AAPL
Tutor: Steven Paul Jobs.

Actively promoted hardware and software sales of Apple solutions in the Apple section of Consumer Electronics Store (CES) locations while experimenting with how many apples I needed to eat a day to keep everyone away, whatever the profession 🤭 I was in charge of the "Rip, Mix, Burn" and "Get a Mac" campaigns, selling Intel-based, Power PC desktops and portables, iPods, iLife, iWork, .Mac. With strong sales, service and product knowledge, I actively represented the culture of excellence and collaboration of the wider ASC community, and works with the members of their virtual team to deliver all the key metrics for success at their store. We accelerated sales volume by 10x.

Consultant at Sage

Paris 🇫🇷LSE: SGE
Tutors: Stéphane Venet, Luc Khan.

Developed sales growth and achieving customer success by delivering ERP software to chartered accountants. Managed inbound calls from a 5000+ base, partnered with Sales Engineers to identify opportunities for up-selling or cross-selling, implemented customer satisfaction metrics for accountants to take the pulse of the business sector, helped improving a comprehensive database of critical customer information to ensure optimal data quality.

Consultant at Comscore, Inc

Amsterdam 🇳🇱Nasdaq: SCOR
Tutors: Maartje Lauw, Marjorie van den Doel.

Comscore, a leading cross-platform measurement firm, delivers precise insights into audiences, brands, and consumer behavior across all channels, replacing server log analysis (tracking hits) with pixel-based tracking (measuring pageviews) ensuring more accurate and standardized pageview metrics. I assisted web developers in identifying anomalies, replacing their assumptions with Data Analytics for evidence-based strategic decisions. I sold a site-centric SaaS to customers at the High Value Target level, maximized client satisfaction, analyzed competitive intelligence, demonstrated software features & functionality, and ensured the renewal of each account. Audience measurement relies on JavaScript coupling—such as referrer data, screen resolution, color depth, and the transmission of various parameters—as well as environment variables. At the time, audience measurement systems utilized a wide range of programming languages, including Perl, PHP, and ASP.

Education

Formal

MBA in Marketing

1997-1999: Master of Business Administration.
Learnt 1st party commerce economy, what market is fighting for, how the entity is organized and equipped to conduct the battle for that market, and how it deals with competitors, change, and the intrusion of the unexpected; Marketing's global purpose being to show them what they love or give them a reason to love what you show them.

BTS

1995-1997: Professional business marketing qualification in sales.
Equivalent of a British Higher National Diploma (HND).

Baccalauréat in Economics

1994-1995: GCE Advanced Level in Economics and Social Sciences (ES series) in Lycée Jeanne d'Arc, Normandy. Economy is a branch of logic, itself a branch of philosophy. It is, ultimately, the art of making money circulate while keeping it to spend. Mainly a story of transformed energy.
Equivalent of a British A-levels.

Skills

  • Roles: Data Science, Consulting, Customer Success, Technical Account Management, PreSales engineering.
  • Sectors: AI/ML, System Integrator, SaaS/PaaS, Managed Data, License proliferation (OEM & Vanilla Software). 500+ employees. Primary language: English.
  • Core Skills: Data Science, AI/ML, Robotic Process Automation
  • Skills: Hybrid/Multi Cloud ecosystems, Scalability, WPO/Performance Engineering, Data Engineering, Data Migration, Web scraping, Data Processing/ETL, Front-End Development (UI/UX, A/B testing, Semantic UI, Bootstrap, Grid Systems, MobileFirst / RWD / Cross-platform, Web Hosting / DNS / CDN), API integration & automation / Automation testing & Workflows, Interoperability, Metadata & organic SEO. Experienced in the three epochs of the Internet (1. Web, 2. Mobile, 3. Blockchains) and in the big data-driven science.
  • Troubleshooting: experienced in the physical1, presentation6 and application layers7 of the OSI Model. Hardware & OSX Server, reveal bottlenecks, HTTP errors, Code Review / Debugging / Developer tools / Code β testing / W3C/i18n guidelines & compliance, Code quality / Minification / Accessibility (WCAG 2.0, Section 508).
  • Performance marketing: Competitive intelligence, Gantt chart, Ishikawa/Fishbone 特性要因図 diagrams, Kaizen/改善, Email marketing, Data Analytics & Business Intelligence, Data Visualizations (D3.js, Deck.gl, Highcharts, ChartIQ), Web Monitoring, Boolean Queries & Earned Media, Content Marketing, Social Engagement & Community Management.
  • Computing languages: Markdown, LibreOffice, PDF, (X)HTML, transclusion, CSS, XML, XSL, (S)FTP, HTTP(S), (S)HTML, JavaScript, PHP, SSI, PCRE Regular Expressions, RSS, Notations for Resource Description Framework (JSON-LD).
  • Languages: French (native), English (fluent, US-UK literature diploma at University of Cambridge), Spanish (conversational), Latin & ภาษาไทย (basic).
  • English certifications: 502 Level, Cambridge University CAE, Advanced Grammar, TOEFL iBT: 115 - TOEFL PBT: 653 - TOEFL CBT: 281 - IELTS: 8.5 - TOEIC: 955 (C2).
  • Finance: High frequency trading (HFT), Escrow services, Licensing (EMI, PSP, SAIF, Creditor License, Virtual Currency Service Provider License), policies for FIU (CTF, AML, MLRO).

Profile

Person Detail Report

See all certifications
The Predictive Index
Everything DiSC®:
Dominance: 41. Steadiness: 30. Influence: 17. Compliance: 13.

Office

Office

Time Zone: CEST — Central European Summer Time (GMT+1)

Info

Madrid, Spain.

49 years old.

Single, no children, EU passport holder.

Arts: Literature, etymology, ancient & modern languages, astrology, geography, web design & semantic.

Sports: Tennis (15/5), Ski (Vermeil), Swimming, Table tennis, Skydiving, Hiking.

Music: Jazz, Classical music, Funk, Soul. Piano: 1 year in the Conservatory of Music and music theory (𝄞 and 𝄢). DJ'ing: mostly Liquid D&B, Detroit Techno [≈ 135 BPM], House music [≈ 120 BPM] & Deep-House [≈ 110 BPM].

Projects

My experience at French Riviera Guide

→ 2017-2024: Founded French Riviera Guide, a community which gathered more than 380K followers organically on July 2024. You can read the story of this project here.



My experience at Banq Oü

→ 2000-2022: COO for Banq Oü. This holding was a next-gen Fintech and High-Frequency Trading (HFT) provider registered in Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪 We were using a modular architecture to accelerate the everyday use of cryptocurrencies by providing a go-to Defi Crypto Exchange for all transactions and Escrow services to secure payments. Our team was comprised of myself, an Estonian CEO, a local director, and an MLRO for FIU.



My experience at Google

→ 2012-2013: Co-founded the official Google™ Virtual Tour Agency for the French Riviera.



My experience at Max Génération

→ 2006-2007: Moderator on Mac Generation discussion board (V-Bulletin / PHPBB), the largest French-speaking community for Mac Users (an equivalent of MacNN in the US).

Footer Notes

Colophon

"I believe the following: I'll assume everybody here knows how to read, write and is numerically literate to some extent. I believe that some level of computational and coding proficiency is as important as those three."
— Arvind Krishna


I've been working on the web professionally since 2000, and unprofessionally since 2001 when I started to learn code. This dev blog is a place where I can explore new ideas, experiment with different techniques, and muse on best practices and web standards. Pages are semantically structured using valid HTML5 with presentational design provided by CSS3. This homepage includes a language encoding of English, a character set of UTF-8, a viewport Meta tag, Font Awesome iconic kit, and a JSON-LD snippet. There isn't any cookie, parasite, Malware, tracker or Analytics on this website. Type set in IBM Plex which can be served via Google Fonts. View PHP or XML Sitemap.

Standardization

In the digital economy, data is like oxygen—giving life to innovation—and securing that data is critical to establishing trust and delivering value. As as leading CDO, you can outperform your peers in data protection through Data ethics, organizational transparency & accountability, and Cybersecurity. Faster and better decisions can be made by applying AI to data and your data management strategy is usually aligned with your digital transformation. Top measures of data effectiveness are data trust and security, level of ethical standards (WPO, W3C, WCAG, i18n, Mach Alliance, ACID, Lean/Agile…), organizational revenue and competitive advantage.

GDPR

Welcome to the web site (the “Site”) of Equant Ltd (“Equant”, “we”, “us” and/or “our”). This Site is operated by Equant and has been created to provide information about Equant and the Envoy visitor registration services we provide to our business customers (“Services”) to our Site visitors (“you”, “your”). This Privacy Policy sets forth Equant’ policy with respect to information including personally identifiable data (“Personal Data”) and other information that is collected from visitors to the Site.

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I'm not talking about my employer's behalf and this is my opinion and solely belief.

Vox Humana