NEWS
Meet Your Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, Brian Browning
- Company update
- 6 MIN READ
- Sep 3, 2024
Summary
As we continue to grow our footprint, we recognize the need for new senior leadership roles that will help us better serve our clients and partners within our expanding ecosystem.
We are pleased to welcome Brian Browning to the team, who brings over twenty-five years of experience in digital transformation and customer experience. As VP of Enterprise Solutions, he will closely collaborate with teams to drive digital success.
Brian sat down with us to share a little about his new role and how he’ll collaborate with our global team and partners to drive impact for our clients.
Apply Digital:
What drew you toward enterprise solutions as a field of study? Did your personal interests inform your career path?
Brian Browning:
It was my Dad. I grew up being surrounded by and exposed to technology. My dad bought one of the very first Macintosh computers. He had been a programmer out of curiosity, but became more of an instructor over time. This man sat down to write books that turned into courses that became a very successful business. And I was really inspired by that whole idea - what one person could do with a computer. As I grew up, I also wanted to learn more and more about computers.
My dad’s real gift, professionally speaking, was his ability to take very complicated concepts and explain them in simple ways. And if there's a skill set that I inherited from him, it's that.
Early on, I started learning about personal computers and coding, but I first went to college to learn graphic design and marketing. After working for a few years with website projects, I graduated from being a hands-on coder and a graphic designer to a project manager and then a program manager. I oversaw a portfolio of diverse projects and worked with some of the world's leading brands, including Microsoft, Capital One, Walmart, and Kodak. During that time, I helped these companies with their digital projects, including development, which quickly evolved into a strategy role.
Over the last 25 years, I've grown into someone who has a strong background in delivery and strategy. So when I’m talking to a client in the context of digital change, clients can immediately tell I'm not just using buzzwords. That builds confidence in the customer's mind that my experience and background mean we will successfully deliver and help them achieve their goals.
The idea that our work is so visible and public is really meaningful to me because you can touch a lot of lives working in the digital experience industry. It’s such a unique occupation, and that’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. In many ways, it doesn't matter who the customer is; there are always ways to find those moments that matter and deliver something innovative that helps people get their jobs done. I love the idea that we, as a team, can have that kind of impact.
Apply Digital:
How do you think composable tech fits into the wave of tech advancements in recent decades?
Brian Browning:
I’m an active member of the MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, Headless) Alliance, as well as the Technology Council of the MACH Alliance. This means I don’t just get to help set standards but actually work to review products and evaluate architecture. From my perspective, there have been three really important shifts that have collectively connected to create the “composable revolution”:
Technology: We've witnessed a fundamental re-architecting of software, moving beyond cloud compatibility to true cloud-native scaling. This, in turn, enables the microservices, APIs, and flexibility that MACH embodies.
Experience: The evolution of design systems and atomic design thinking allows us to create cohesive, omnichannel experiences, often even before the specific experience is fully defined. MACH's adaptability is a perfect fit for this approach.
Strategy: The widespread adoption of agile methodologies and a product-oriented mindset has changed how businesses operate. MACH's modularity and iterative nature align seamlessly with this strategic shift.
In each category, we've seen a fundamental shift from 20 years ago in how we build, design, and deliver digital experiences. All of this is about enabling businesses to be more agile, customer-centric, and future-ready in a fast-moving digital world.
Apply Digital:
How will you drive value for Apply Digital clients in your role?
Brian Browning:
My 25+ years of experience have shaped my career into a unique blend of three core skill sets that directly benefit the customers I get to work with:
Hands-on delivery: I've always maintained a strong connection to project delivery. I live and thrive on working with clients to solve their real-world problems. This practical experience keeps me grounded and ensures I understand the challenges our customers face.
Sales enablement: Early in my career, it became very clear that I also needed to help with sales. My technical background gives me the credibility to engage with clients during the sales process, building trust and demonstrating our ability to deliver.
Strategic thought leadership: I enjoy helping to be a company's voice, contributing to the broader industry conversation through writing white papers, speaking at conferences, and supporting thought leadership. This allows me to articulate our company's vision and establish our authority in the market.
My current role is an ideal mix of these three skills. Being Vice President of Enterprise Solutions allows me to blend direct client engagement, technical solution design, sales support, and strategic thought leadership, making for a unique and fulfilling career path.
Apply Digital:
What do you wish more enterprises knew about getting buy-in for digital transformation?
Brian Browning:
The key lies in understanding the human element of change, and I'm still a big believer in that side of the process. People can get exasperated with large transformational projects that require a lot of process change — we’re all creatures of habit.
That’s why we need to have empathy for the volume of change we're trying to introduce. And also why we need to introduce change in small, gradual, visible ways that showcase value without being overwhelming. In other words, change can’t occur at such a magnitude that clients feel like everything they’re used to is falling apart.
The most successful digital change initiatives are truly about understanding the user's needs and motivations. Whether small and subtle or really big ideas, we’re still trying to make somebody else's experience easier and more compelling. By putting the user at the forefront, we can build trust, loyalty, and lasting relationships. It's a simple philosophy, but it's at the heart of what makes for successful digital transformation.
Once you’ve clarified pain points, opportunities, and goals, it also helps to have a vision where you can say, “imagine a system where you don't have to follow an inefficient process anymore.”
Ultimately, clients get excited when they know there's a destination, which makes them willing to adapt and tolerate change — it can’t be perceived as a threat. Instead, they need to understand that change will help them be more successful in their jobs. If you can paint that vision for them, accommodate their needs, and express empathy, then people tend, at least in my experience, to be galvanized by that kind of approach.
Congratulations again to Brian; we look forward to serving our clients better wherever they are. To connect with Brian or learn more about Apply Digital, please reach out to us at hello@applydigital.com.
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