Charlotte — a New Technology Hub. Slalom Charlotte has now been around…
By: Kyle Roemer
Tags: Charlotte, Analytics, Software Development, Startup, Cloud Computing

Slalom Charlotte has now been around for 1 year — traversing WeWork and our new home at the Railyard in Southend. We are about to have our launch party and I wanted to reflect on the last 6 months in Charlotte, post the last 7 years in San Francisco. It’s been a growth-fueled ride, with all the trappings you want to see in a market you’re invested in. I wanted to capture all the amazing things that have been happening but also set the stage on what we’re building: THE most impactful consulting firm in the Charlotte region. Folks that join our Charlotte market are going to grow to heights they didn’t think possible, and work on products and solutions that transform companies and industries here.

I spent the last 7 years in San Francisco working with some of the most innovative companies on the planet. I’ve taken much of that learning to Charlotte, and I’m floored at the opportunity here. It’s an incredible time to be in Charlotte. It’s not only the abundance of BBQ or the myriad of breweries, but the passion and care the community has here. (There are a lot of breweries, wowza) It’s an environment that you can grow and flourish in. My family and I have now been out here for 6 months, it’s felt like a few days. I’m excited to share more on the great things happening in Charlotte and Slalom.

So, what is happening in Charlotte?

IT’S BANKING! Yes, and it’s actually more — it’s manufacturing, retail, healthcare, telecom, defense and also banking. :) I am amazed at the diversity of industry here, which allows for us to really stand by the statement of diversity of work for our consultants, designers and engineers. There is not just diversity of industry, but diversity of work — modern application design, development, machine learning, IoT, cloud native architecture and transformation across [insert favorite buzzword].

A myriad of companies have announced technology hubs and new centers in Charlotte over the last few months. Why you might ask? Talent to cross train, attractive wages, lower housing costs than major 5 cities, good weather, proximity to top university areas, mountains and beaches.

Here’s what I’ve noticed coming from one of the technology epicenters — you can do interesting, challenging, dynamic work in the field and it doesn’t solely have to be the Bay Area. I imagine that’s obvious to folks in other regions, but oftentimes the Silicon Valley influence can steer the conversation on tech work. There is no longer a requirement to be on the coast for technology adoption and high wages. The proliferation of services across the cloud vendors, availability of open source experts and education has catapulted these supposed second cities into soon-to-be-powerhouses.

Charlotte on the verge — it will be a 3 year journey

I’ve spent a lot of time with technology and business leaders in Charlotte, across most industries, and I’ve learned that these leaders are starved for talent, adoption of new technologies, practices and evolution. Many of the companies here are getting underway with cloud technologies, but what is so attractive is that many are grabbing onto AI & ML use cases as a catalyst for adoption. That will result in both super interesting initial work, and some complex enterprise work to set foundational cloud architecture and services. If you are a data scientist, designer or engineer, I would strongly consider the curve here.

As I alluded to earlier, there are numerous companies announcing technology hubs, a new presence or a relocation to Charlotte in the last 6–12 months. It’s encouraging, but also a sign of a soon to be challenging talent war. Not so dissimilar to what many large cities face today, but perhaps pointed given the nature of industry and frantic pace of new build outs. By nature of industry, I mean many of the financial and manufacturing firms have a tremendous opportunity to modernize — in service of attaining new customers, delighting those customers and creating compelling products. We are and will continue to train the uber talented folks coming from these firms to grow into world class technologists and leaders.

An example of the tremendous growth in Charlotte is our Slalom office. I relocated mid March and we had roughly 20 employees — today we sit north of 110 employees…

A Call Out for Technologists

I have been asked a number of times from local leaders on my perception of the market, and while some of this is highlighted above, I always return with a question — who do you look up to in the technology space, who are your technology leader or leaders? I have been getting a lot of blank stares. Let’s change this, together.

Let’s attract and develop those technology leaders of tomorrow in Charlotte. If you aren’t in Charlotte yet, now is the time. You’re going to have diversity of industry, diversity of projects, diversity of thought and be a part of the rocket ship.

Similar to getting asked about the technology scene in Charlotte, I get asked quite a bit on “Why Slalom” and frankly spend a lot of timing talking with clients and recruits on “Why Slalom”. The rationale is fairly simple, we are a very different consulting firm than many — here you can advise and build, design and innovate, and be on the ground floor to transform our clients. It’s rare to be a part of a firm of our size and not be beholden to powerpoint decks. (As much I like a good set of slides.) The second and third reasons are that folks that join Slalom can have variety (you don’t get pigeon-holed), learn new technologies and patterns, and work with the some profound & passionate experts. Our ability and desire to blend management consulting with technology, in a local market model with global services, is simply different.

Charlotte is a great place to live now and will continue to grow into a powerhouse. If any of this peaks your interest, I would love to chat.

Originally posted on LinkedIn here.