Jiri Vondra
"Throughout the territories of every civilized nation, wherever human language is known, or commerce has markets, the electric wires which web the world in a network of throbbing life utter their voices in all varied tongues ..."
A writer in 1878 describing the effects of the telegraph.
I used this quote many years ago when I was writing a university paper about the influence of the Internet on global communications and trade. It was in the mid 90s when this medium was known mostly only by people working in academia and the above was more a vision than reality.
I saw the huge commercial potential of internet technologies and felt that the building of this new bridge that would allow people from all around the world to exchange information in a faster and much more efficient way is something that I really want to do. The introduction of the Internet on wireless devices such as mobile phones that made the access available almost anywhere and to anyone made me even more sure that this brand new industry is heading in the right direction. I joined the community of freelance web developers that were trying to set up first Czech internet-based businesses and projects and after graduation I started working as an internet consultant and web developer. Late 90s were the years of the big dot-com boom and I was lucky to be one of those that got a chance to be part of this roller coaster and experience its ups and downs ...
I was offered a contract in the United States and moved there for a while. During this time, I served as a web developer and systems analyst for the department of Texas Army National Guard in Austin, TX. In this role, I was responsible for implementing the public website and intranet for the Environmental Engineering Branch and later participated in the database modeling of a new environmental management system and the development of application interfaces.
Austin is famous for its high-tech "Silicon Hills" as well as excellent "Live Music Capital of the World" culture and during the dot-com boom it was one of the most exciting places to live. I joined the founders of a small dot-com company Digitall Music and helped them to launch a music portal that was supporting local independent artists, cultural events and related businesses. The awesome atmosphere of start-up dot-com as well as new experience with the latest technologies have been the most rewarding for my help with web development. Like several thousands of others at that time we were working hard, trying to build our dream and attract venture capital. I returned back to Europe after the turndown in the economy in 2001 with a desire to continue and explore other parts of the world.
A few months later I got a new contract, moved to New Zealand and started working as an application developer for HortResearch in Auckland. I was involved in various projects and roles and had the opportunity to get hands-on experience with a very wide range of Microsoft and open source technologies and products. I was responsible for the development of web-based solutions for the company's clients, internal and external information systems, databases, system integration and implementation of document management and collaboration solutions.
In 2007 I moved to Switzerland and joined Google in Zürich as a senior developer and technical lead responsible for the design and development of web applications, enterprise tools, business process automation, systems integration and technical program management. I had the privilege to contribute to the design and development of multiple mission critical systems powering YouTube Ads, data acquisition platforms, and externally accessible websites used by billions of people worldwide.
After a few years, my career path shifted towards a more external-facing and consulting role. As a partner technology manager, I supported technical execution and business operations of product data partnerships in various domains such as search, digital goods, geo, and immersive technology. This involved architecting solutions for data acquisition and transformation, scaling and automating product support, conducting implementation reviews, advocating for new product features, and ensuring the timely resolution of technical challenges for our partners.
This journey continues until today in the Google Cloud team - as a solution architect and data / AI specialist I helped many customers and partners (eg. SAP and OpenText) to adopt and integrate data analytics and AI/ML services, containerize systems, leverage cloud technologies to run at scale and unlock new capabilities.
Currently I'm driving the enablement and roll out of industry solutions for Smart Cities and Transport & Logistics leveraging IoT, edge computing, smart analytics, geospatial and AI/ML cloud technologies.
I am very excited about the new opportunities that have emerged at the intersection of cloud, AI/ML, and AR/VR. Particularly in the areas of Industry 4.0, autonomous transport, digital twin simulations, and 3D immersive experiences. Looking ahead, I envision my career focused on helping address challenges and offering solutions in these innovative and rapidly evolving domains.
In my free time I like to travel and explore the world. I'm interested in different cultures, architecture, design, arts, music, movies, sports and retro computing/gaming (when the nostalgia hits :-).
For more information about me please see my Curriculum Vitae or Contact info.
