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Why I Left Amazon to Work for Qualtrics

After working at Amazon for over nine years (most recently as a Director of Engineering for Amazon Echo), I recently accepted a position with Qualtrics, a fast-growing SaaS startup and the leading insight technology provider. Many people have asked me why I left Amazon to join a comparatively smaller company. Simply put, I believe that Qualtrics is changing the world of data and insights, and I want to be a part of that.

It was Steve Brain, a former Amazon colleague, who put Qualtrics on my radar, when he joined Qualtrics to lead the engineering team two years ago. Since then, Steve has played an important role in Qualtrics’ unprecedented growth, including helping them develop Vocalize, which has become the industry-leading voice of the customer platform. I was impressed with the technology that Qualtrics was delivering.

As I dove deeper into their other products, I realized that the technology Qualtrics was building allowed companies to be more data and insight driven; the same traits that have made Amazon so successful. The technology that Qualtrics builds makes it easy for a company to measure and improve employee engagement, gather website feedback, or perform market research. After I met the Qualtrics team and learned more about their mission and vision for the future, I was convinced. I strongly believe that Qualtrics is uniquely positioned to allow companies to derive and act on customer, employee, and market insights, to anyone who needs it.

Earlier this year, Business Insider compiled a list of 26 enterprise startups to bet your career on in 2015.  The list includes some of the world’s most promising startups—companies with incredible growth trajectory, moving forward at rocket ship speed. Qualtrics made the list and BI lauded them as a company that’s going “gangbusters.” While this growth is impressive, it wasn’t the recent billion-dollar valuation, the extensive client portfolio, or even the product innovation that enticed me to join their team.

Qualtrics’ culture allows its employees to own projects and solve challenging problems in innovative ways. For me, that scrappy, can-do attitude that pervades Qualtrics will only contribute to more growth, better products and unmatched opportunities for employees. I’m thrilled to be a part of the Qualtrics team.

For career opportunities in your area, visit http://www.qualtrics.com/careers/

John Thimsen

John Thimsen is a contributor to the Qualtrics blog.

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