Tech spotlight: Avantia's Jennie Zamberlan

Posted by: Laura DeMarco on Monday, August 14, 2023

Jennie Zamberlan has successfully built three companies

Tech entrepreneur Jennie Zamberlan has been a groundbreaker since day one. From starting out as a computer programmer to successfully building THREE Information Technology firms, she has blazed her own path – and succeeded with drive, vision and inspiration.

She is currently President at Avantia, Inc., an Information Technology consulting firm that specializes in building and implementing custom, solution-tailored software. In her 40+ years in IT, she has worked in diverse industries including insurance, health care, government, oil and gas, retail, banking and manufacturing. Her business accolades include multiple” Weatherhead 100” awards, and multiple “INC. 500” awards and “Top 20 Women Business Owners in Cleveland” awards.

Zamberlan recently took time out of her busy schedule to talk to GCP about her background, entrepreneurship – and inspiring the next generation of tech leaders.

Could you share a little bit about how you got into tech?

I started out as a programmer, back in the old mainframe days - before the Internet. I attended a vocational school after high school and took a year-long class learning to program computers, with the dominant programming being COBOL at the time. After completing the course, I got my first job as a programmer at the American Automobile Club, and have spent my entire career working with talented teams to build software ever since.

Even today, we talk about increasing in number of women in tech. When you got started, I assume you were in the minority?

Let me put that in a different way. I was the only girl. And aside from no females, I rarely worked with any people of color.

How did you deal with this – did it feel like a challenge?

I really didn't think about it that way. Aside from being the only female, I was so much younger than my co-workers. For me it was just trying to prove myself and about making a contribution -- to be valued for what I could do. I always felt like I had to work hard to earn the right to have the opportunity. That mindset and work ethic came from my parents. My dad was such a hard worker and so dedicated to his job and always did above and beyond. That’s kind of the role model that I grew up with. I didn't have a chip on my shoulders because I was female. I knew that I had to work hard and to earn the credibility to be considered a valuable teammate.

What led you to entrepreneurship?

I left the Automobile Club and went to work for a consulting firm. I was changing jobs once a year, and back then you just didn't do that. I discovered that the consulting environment was perfect for me because I got to work on different projects without changing jobs. I gained tremendous experience building systems across many different business verticals and across many technology platforms. Consulting was just Nirvana for me.

I progressed in my career from writing code to managing projects to operations, including hiring and business development. Then, the boutique firm where I worked was acquired by a large national company. After the acquisition, the rules changed and we had less autonomy to sell projects the way we were used to. Being young, driven and fearless, a co-worker and I decided we could do it better on our own, so we quit two perfectly good jobs and started our own company. We had no money and no business plan, but had plenty of passion and knew we had the capability and the will to succeed.

I have heard you described you as a serial entrepreneur. Do you think is that accurate?

Avantia is my third company so serial probably is accurate, but I never started a company with the intention of selling it. What I care about was building software that makes a difference in people's lives, and having an employment environment where people can really reach their potential. That's what gets me up every morning. My first company was acquired in our 7^th year. After 3 years with the acquirer, I left and started my current company, which is now in its 23^rd year. After the recovery from the “great recession”, there was a severe shortage of developers with modern technology skills. To address that problem, I established a partnership to build a school to train developers using the boot camp model. That company was acquired after three years in business.

Can you give us the elevator pitch for Avantia?

Avantia is an Information Technology consulting firm that implements technology to elevate our client’s business. Implementing the right technology is hard. That’s where we come in. Our team of technology experts partner with our clients to develop tailored solutions that enable them to meet their business objectives. We know it’s about more than just software and systems. It’s about people, process and solving business problems. We help navigate the ever-increasing maze of choices to implement solutions that will deliver breakthrough results.

We Don’t Presuppose the Solution. Understanding business comes first. We collaborate with the client to find the right technology solution for their specific needs.

We Are Technical Athletes. Technology is always changing and so are we. We are constantly strengthening and refining our skills to deliver outcomes that help our client stay competitive.

We Take Responsibility for Results. Our client’s success is our success. We don’t stop until we have delivered on our promises so our client can continue to deliver on theirs.

We Focus on Lasting Relationships. It’s about partnerships, not just projects. We are committed to being a trusted advocate who supports our client’s continued success.

From your boot camp to working with the Workforce Connect IT sector partnership to the many Boards you are involved with, it sounds like educating future generations in tech is very important to you.

Yes, I think these kinds of initiatives are so critical. We’ve got to focus on K through 12 primary education and build the pipeline. We got to start planting these seeds early. We've got to help resolve the economic divide. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but I think there are a lot of people who care deeply about making a difference.

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