US entrepreneur Bill McDermott on his firm’s Irish expansion and his belief that ‘great global brands have to rise when things are the toughest’
McDermott is particularly proud of being able to grow the Irish operation. “Our flag is in Ireland and we have good executive leadership. We have lots of innovation going on here. I’m really proud, especially with a name like McDermott, to have a flag in Ireland,” he says. “We think that Ireland is really a gateway to the European Union.
“I was the first one that basically said no lay-offs. Period. Because no matter what crisis we have to fight through, in the end the people will define us,” he says.
But it was his tenure as chief executive of SAP, the company he left to join ServiceNow, that cemented his reputation. He joined SAP in 2002, becoming co-chief executive in 2010, and four years later he was named the first non-German chief executive of the software company. By the time he left the role, the company’s market value had soared to $156 billion.
That included projects with health authorities in the UK to help track Covid data, from infections to vaccines. From there, the focus shifted to hybrid working, and returning to the office safely with protocols in place for social distancing and the logistics that Covid-safety regulations brought. Innovation was the key to success here, says McDermott.
That determination to keep moving forward means that, although the Covid bump has long since faded for many companies, Service Now continues to grow quarter after quarter. The push for digitalisation has helped propel it forward; McDermott is clear about what is needed to stay there.
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