Hi, I'm German Retana.
I help businesses make better use of technology and build stronger teams.
I work with leaders and teams to understand difficult problems, set priorities and put changes into practice. That may mean developing technology teams, redesigning a business process, or connecting systems and data so people can do their work more effectively.
What this looks like in practice
A few examples of building teams, improving processes and making technology decisions that support the business.
Retail · Team building and delivery
Building teams that take ownership of delivery
I led a multidisciplinary technology team as it grew from one person to about 50. Along the way, we developed managers, made priorities a shared decision with the business and gave teams more responsibility for delivery.
Read the story →Retail · Process transformation and enterprise data
Making supplier onboarding simpler and more consistent
I led a team connecting supplier data, contracts and enterprise systems around a shared process. The work reduced manual handling and made information easier to trace across business areas.
Read the story →Retail and logistics · Architecture and investment decisions
Making a critical integration easier to support and extend
As a critical integration became harder to change and support, I made the case to C-level executives for delaying new features and investing in a more robust foundation. With their backing, I supported my team through the rebuild, accepting a short-term delay so the integration could better support the business over time.
Read the story →
Thoughts
Essays and talks on technology, data and how organizations change. These pieces come from different stages of my career and reflect the questions I was exploring at the time.
What happens when we can build faster than we can adopt?
When teams can deliver the right feature in weeks, adoption becomes the bottleneck. A few ways to prepare the business before the feature arrives.
Read more →The IT executive’s role: making technology a business conversation
When a business adopts a new platform, the hard questions are about how it will operate. IT executives need to help bring those questions to the table, and sometimes help answer them.
Read more →AI and the silver bullet: what is still missing?
Building software with AI brought me back to Fred Brooks's search for a silver bullet. AI removes much of the accidental work; knowing what to build, and helping people adopt it, is still the essential part.
Read more →
Background
Until recently, I was a Vice President at a publicly traded U.S. retailer with operations in 13 markets. Reporting to the CIO, I was responsible for IT strategy and delivery across the company’s Merchandising and Supply Chain functions. Our portfolio covered purchasing, supplier and product information, demand planning, replenishment, logistics and the enterprise systems and integrations supporting those processes.
Earlier, I helped grow a data science startup, taught at a business school and researched how companies use cloud computing. My education combines Computer Engineering, an MBA, a master’s in Project Management and a Ph.D. in IT Management. That mix informs how I work with business leaders, technical teams and the people who use the systems.
Let’s talk
If you’re considering how technology could transform your business, let’s talk. I could join your leadership team to connect business priorities with decisions about technology, processes and organization, and take responsibility for putting those decisions into practice.
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