Matt Kaler Pilgrim, EMEA Partner Development Lead, Adtech and Martech, Snowflake is a true industry veteran, with a career spanning over two decades.
Who is your digital hero?
My digital hero is Spencer Gallagher, a serial tech entrepreneur who now primarily acts as a Non-Executive Director (NED) and Founding Partner at Bluhalo, an M&A and growth consultancy for B2B Organisations.
What has he done to win hero status in your eyes?
Spencer founded a digital agency in the late 90s and successfully grew it into one of the largest independent agencies in the UK. After a successful exit, he focused his attention on helping other founders scale their digital businesses through NED positions, which quickly evolved into an M&A and growth consultancy.
His continued theme has always been a drive to help others. Spencer is incredibly generous with his time and advice. He taught me and many others the invaluable attitude of ‘paying it forward’.
He has helped so many people progress their businesses or careers over the years, and it is that measure—the impact on others—that elevates him to hero status for me, rather than just the usual measures of financial success.
How has their heroism helped drive digital?
Through his work, Spencer has directly helped dozens of agencies across the UK. I admire his continued hunger for innovation and the way he quickly adapts to changing industry trends, advocating for change and pushing for standards, especially around disruptive technology.
The support Spencer provides for UK businesses has a huge halo effect, whether it’s direct one-to-one mentorship or through his publications. I don’t know many other people who give so much to our industry without any expectation of personal return.
What are the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) remains a critical focus area that continues to need significant improvement. Equality across every aspect of the digital industry should really be a given in this day and age, but it still is not.
The lack of progress in DEI is inhibiting the adoption of the most disruptive technology. AI is a great example, where many solutions are being fundamentally flawed by the biases they inherit from our own human inputs. We need heroes to drive genuine, systemic change here.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
My most heroic personal achievement is trying to follow in Spencer’s path. I am most proud of the small influence I’ve been able to have on people who are earlier on in their careers.
My own progress was hugely influenced by those who took the time to help me develop. I feel the only way I can truly pay them back is by passing that offer of mentorship on to the next wave of talent.§
