David C. Williams began his career with AT&T in the Network Technology Organization. During his time with the company, he has held a number of roles and assignments from Training, Data Center management, Enterprise Support, Customer Experience, and Chief of Staff.
David is the 2021 Legacy Award recipient at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards for creating a solution that enabled 40K employees to work securely from home during the US outbreak of COVID-19. He has
since been featured on NBC, EBONY magazine, & Spectrum News, to share the herculean effort, much of which is also detailed in his debut literary work You’re a Business Model.
In his various roles, David has created deep-link HTML marketing initiatives garnering 90M monthly impressions, led Competitive Intelligence, has been responsible for supporting several Fortune500 companies encompassing $120M in revenue, and authored two patents for Reprogrammable RFID and bridging satellite and LTE technology. In his current role, David is responsible for Automation & Technology that transforms Business Experiences and improves Cost Structure. His ideas are driving change across the company as his team has developed 600+ Bots automating 100M transactions. Additionally, he also ideated & sponsored Decision Engine tech that is driving $200M credit reduction annually.
David holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Dallas Baptist University, Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, Electronics Technical Platform, Six Sigma Green Belt, and Robotics Process Automation certifications. David leads a Tech Tuesday each month that introduces Solar power & Robotics to under-served communities/students in his hometown Dallas, TX. He’s a proud mentor of multiple Employee Groups, a Diversity Ambassador, AT&T Champion of Diversity Award winner, and founded AT&T’s Annual Our EG Thing which reaches globally to bring employees from different backgrounds to celebrate diversity & help others. He also enjoys family activities, volunteering, fitness training, and motorcycle riding.
OurBLKMen Magazine got an exclusive interview with David.
Tammy: As the Assistant Vice President, Program/Project Management for Robotics Process Automation/Emerging Tech what does your role entail?
David: Einstein once said, if he had an hour to solve a problem, he would spend 55 minutes understanding the problem, and 5 minutes on the solution. The same goes for me. I’m often proactively searching and identifying what isn’t working right, (or could work better). My organization has created so many solutions, there are very few things we can’t solve for. We use RPA, AI/ML, a plethora of applications, low/no-code tactics, and more. We look forward to new challenges every day.
Tammy: What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?
David: Innovation is born out of necessity. Every job is to solve a problem, and every job has something about it we wish we could automate. I became great at identifying issues and finding solutions. Tech became a means to an end. Tech evolves so much, that I also continued to evolve with it. In the beginning, I first learned Macros, then HTML, then coding, now Robotics Processing Automation.
Tammy: What is it like to be the 2021 Legacy Award recipient at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards?
David: It’s an honor to be recognized by the HBCU Deans of Engineering, US Black Engineer, IT magazine, and others from the selection committee. The nomination process is rigorous, and I’m so grateful for the support of multiple CEOs around the world who supported me in this endeavor. I come from very humble beginnings, so this has truly been a dream come true for myself and my family.
Tammy: What are you currently working on?
David: There’s a lot. These days I’m focused on combining Artificial Intelligence with RPA. This is going to have an exponential effect on the complexity of use cases we can pursue. Additionally, I’m working on a new business model that I believe will reshape call taking roles across the US and beyond. It’s very exciting! Lastly, I recently completed writing a book detailing how I solved the pandemic-related issues impacting Working From Home for 40,000 people around the world. It’s called Business Model.
Tammy: What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
David: Watching people near to me realize their superpowers. Often, folks work day-in/out, with no hope of something fantastic happening. Every single day on my team there is another breakthrough. This fosters an aura of hope and great expectations (of oneself). I firmly believe Culture supersedes Strategy. Our culture has led us to exceed 7x of our results last year, which were 5x the year before that. It’s hard not to enjoy the sheer magnitude of that positive energy.
Tammy: What have been some other profound moments in your career so far?
David: It’s been a journey. I’ve been awarded patents and also received The Champion of Diversity Award from our Chairman. I’m proud to serve as a Diversity Ambassador, also have led global engagements that drove millions of Twitter impressions for D&I, and raised tens of thousands of dollars for communities around the US. I’ve also personally mentored former DACA students who have graduated college and led very successful careers.
Tammy: In what ways do you use your resources and skills to empower others?
David: The last Tuesday of each month I partner with community engagement organizations to hold Tech Mentor Tuesdays. During these events, we visit under-served communities or schools and engage those inquisitive minds with technology. Often we discuss solar energy, how solar panels work, then we have group exercises where the students build solar robots, race them against each other, and then we gift the robots to all the students (or school). This is an amazing experience to see the innovative and engineering light bulbs illuminate in these young people.
Tammy: What is a super fun fact about yourself that many may not be aware of?
David: I once met Prince. Also, I’m a bit adventurous, so I like riding sports bikes (fast motorcycles), I’ve been cliff diving, and looking forward to skydiving when it warms up.
Tammy: What would you like our readers to know about opportunities in the tech industry?
David: With every advancement of tech, there are new opportunities created. With the advent of touchscreen devices, also comes screen repair, and so on. Everyone has the power to create and leverage opportunities. Sure there are some tough challenges and it won’t be easy. No matter how difficult life gets, the universe is pulling for you. So go for it! Faith over fear.
Keep up to date:
LinkedIn — David C. Williams
IG — @davidchrisglobal
davidcwilliamsinc.com
