Getting to Know Drew Naukam: A Conversation with Gorilla Logic’s New CEO

Gorilla Logic is excited to welcome Drew Naukam as its new CEO! While his 25 years of industry experience are certainly worth noting, Drew’s passion for collaborative problem-solving and relentless customer-focused mindset make him a truly harmonious addition to The Band. 

After just two weeks with the company–getting to know The Band of Gorillas both in-person at their Colorado HQ office and virtually with Gorillas across their three nearshore development hubs–Drew continues to hone his eagerness to lead Gorilla Logic and its valued clients into further success.

On the heels of an official press announcement this week, Drew reflects on his first two weeks and shares his outlook for the future in the following conversation.

What special expertise do you bring to your new role as Gorilla Logic’s CEO? 

So, I think the answer is two-pronged: The first is that I have a lot of experience in product engineering, which is really at Gorilla Logic’s core. 

Being a truly great product engineering partner for our clients takes more than providing great nearshore technical talent, which is certainly a great strength of Gorilla Logic. What’s just as important is that we further engage with our customers around their product roadmaps, helping them get higher-quality products to market faster. 

That's one thing that I really want to bring to the table–helping our company engage better with our customers around the key initiatives that they're driving.

The second prong is that I have a great passion for people development. So, how do we continue to build the skills of our organization in a way that benefits our clients? And not just around the challenges that our customers face today, but those that are coming in the next three to five years as artificial intelligence impacts the way products are developed. 

I've got a lot of passion around that forward-thinking view of how our industry is evolving, and am hoping to help pave the way for our engineers to be at the forefront of those technologies as it happens.   

What do you think makes Gorilla Logic unique?

Having been part of the Gorilla Logic Band for two weeks now, a few things have really stood out so far. 

First, there is a tremendous, genuine passion for the culture and the people at Gorilla Logic. And it’s really clear that everyone takes great pride in our company, the work we do, and how we help each other succeed. I think that really shines through to our clients–when you know that your partner has an employee workforce that carries that level of passion, you have a greater sense of confidence that great work is going to get done. 

And then there’s the matter of our unique ability to truly meet our customers where they are–providing really high-quality teams, with the added advantage of time zone alignment with North American businesses. 

In order for companies to really succeed at accelerating how they build and support products and customers, they need that heightened level of collaboration, that time zone overlap with their partners. Gorilla Logic’s nearshore advantage is a really important value add for companies seeking a software product engineering partner.

What do you see ahead for Gorilla Logic?

Big-picture vision, right? Probably three things. 

One, we need to continually evolve the solutions that we bring to our customers so that the value we provide them continues to grow. 

Number two, we have to continually evolve our own capabilities as artificial intelligence starts to impact the way software is built and deployed. 

And then number three is we have to continue to protect what makes Gorilla Logic unique. And we need to continue cultivating an environment that allows us to attract and retain top talent to be a part of that strategic direction.

Anything else you want Gorilla Logic clients to know?

Oh, wow. Just that it would be amazing if each of our clients knew more about Gorilla Logic and understood everything we could do for them.

Some extra tidbits about Drew:

Drew Naukam is a senior executive passionate about the business of building great software. 

He spent more than a decade at Hitachi Consulting in various software and product engineering leadership roles including the management of the company’s Product Engineering Services business unit. He spent three years with GlobalLogic running the global Commerce and Technology business unit. Most recently, he was the Chief Growth Officer at Ness Digital Engineering, where he helped lead a successful sale of the business to KKR. 

Drew is married to his high school prom date and is a proud parent to three children. 

The Gorilla Logic team is incredibly excited to have Drew join us as we advance our support for our clients’ product roadmaps and builds. To learn more, read our recent press release.