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John Clark

Founder at Spark

Dublin, Ireland

A commercial and operations leader with a background in strategic B2B & B2C operations planning, talent acquisition and management, and thought leadership across multiple international markets. An entrepreneurial mindset with a strategic focus to excel in both startups and scaling businesses.

John Clark Points
Academic 0
Author 20
Influencer 3
Speaker 0
Entrepreneur 40
Total 63

Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.

Thought Leader Profile

Portfolio Mix

Company Information

Company Type: Enterprise
Minimum Project Size: N/A
Average Hourly Rate: N/A
Number of Employees: 11-50
Company Founded Date: Undisclosed

Areas of Expertise

AI 30.08
Predictive Analytics 30.05
Management 31.28
Leadership 30.37
HR 30.08
Culture 30.04
Diversity and Inclusion 30.23
Business Strategy 31.16
Digital Transformation 30.05
Cloud 30.08
Innovation 30.12
Marketing 30.03
Design Thinking 32.30
Entrepreneurship 31.50
Startups 30.31
Big Data 30.11
Privacy 30.08
Risk Management 30.12
Sustainability 30.17

Industry Experience

Publications

1 Advisory Board Membership
Dublin Business School
Dublin Business School
January 08, 2020
Providing insight and advisory to bridge academic and professional needs that power future leaders across ICT.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Leadership, Entrepreneurship

20 Article/Blogs
The Essential Role of ML/AI Data Tools in Achieving Ambitious ESG Goals
LinkedIn
April 24, 2023
Companies can no longer ignore the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues in their operations. With customers, employees, investors, and regulators all placing greater emphasis on sustainability and responsible practices, businesses need to take action to address these concerns. Fortunately, ML/AI data tool advances offer a promising solution to help companies move from an aspirational or ad hoc ESG stance to a more practical one. By leveraging these innovative tools, companies can gain deeper insights into their operations, identify areas for improvement, and track progress towards their ESG goals. As the conversation around ESG continues to grow, ML/AI data tools will undoubtedly play a vital role in helping businesses navigate this complex landscape and create a more sustainable future.

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Tags: Big Data, Innovation, Sustainability

The Testing Pyramid
Spark
November 28, 2022
At Spark, we are always customer-centric. Testing by our QA team and developer teams is part of making it happen. So how do we ensure our customers' cloud-based solutions are tested at the correct levels?
We use the Test Pyramid (TP for short!) to make that decision. If you have yet to hear about it, the Test Pyramid is a metaphor that helps organise the testing by grouping them at different granularity levels. This also provides a visual representation of the number of tests used at each level.

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Tags: AI, Big Data

Infrastructure as a Code: Delivering Value for Business
Spark
November 22, 2022
Since 1993 (and possibly earlier), numerous configuration management engines have been created. Why are they important? Well, they provide the invaluable service of configuring computer systems at scale, delivering ways to ensure that only a specific version of the software is running, critical patches to OS applied and guaranteeing that fleet of machines and OSes have proper settings. The above is achieved by the operator describing desired system states and either manually or automatically applying state transition over the machine fleet. The advantages of such operation at scale are numerous..

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Tags: Cloud, Business Strategy

What is GDPR?
Spark
November 17, 2022
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It is a set of rules and regulations that gives EU citizens specific rights to control how organisations process, store, and share their personal data. It covers that:

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Tags: Big Data, Privacy, Risk Management

Web 3.0. Something to be excited for!
Spark
January 17, 2022
The internet keeps changing, with new technologies coming onto the scene that aim to improve our user experiences. Since 1992, the world wide web has transitioned from one generation of technology (the first) into another - different and more powerful than the other. And now, we're readying ourselves for a third generation of the internet - Web 3.0! The future is imminent and likely revolutionary, with several new technologies that will transform our digital landscape forevermore (or at least until Web 4.0 comes along).

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Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation

Partnerships Make Good Business Sense. Now More than Ever.
Spark
November 02, 2021
Partnering is a solid business strategy. Airlines partner with maintenance and operations providers. Banks partner with technology and back-office vendors. Small and large organisations partner with recruitment agencies, law firms, bookkeepers and accountancies. Apple partners with Foxconn. Viber and CurrencyCloud partner with software engineering firms. Start-ups and MNCs partner and collaborate with Spark for product development.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Management, Leadership

Digital Innovation. The New Transformation
Spark
April 30, 2021
Transformation. We hear it everywhere and usually prefaced with 'digital'. I think there's a lot of confusion around this, not least because it means digital technologies enabling transformation, emphasising the 'digital' instead of the 'transformation', and this where the problem starts.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Digital Transformation, Business Strategy

6 Ways to Optimise Multi-Functional Design Teams
LinkedIn
February 11, 2021
There are still plenty of organisations, big and small, that consolidate their design teams with several designers working on projects together. I get the idea behind this; the collaboration allows teams to combine individual members' strengths or source specialists for exclusive work such as prototyping or visual design.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Management, Business Strategy

Partnerships Make Good Business Sense. Now More than Ever.
LinkedIn
January 26, 2021
Partnering is a solid business strategy. Airlines partner with maintenance and operations providers. Banks partner with technology and back-office vendors. Small and large organisations partner with recruitment agencies, law firms, bookkeepers and accountancies. Apple partners with Foxconn. Viber and CurrencyCloud partner with software engineering firms. Start-ups and MNCs partner and collaborate with Spark for product development.

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Tags: Management, Business Strategy

How We Co-Create.
LinkedIn
December 15, 2020
Businesses are continually innovating. Or, at least they try to or believe they are. So, how do they make sure they're actually innovating - doing something different and breaking away from their own status-quo? They look outside the company and collaborate with other businesses and individuals to get new ideas and different approaches to solving problems or addressing market needs and opportunities. This is a basis for co-creation.

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Tags: Innovation, Management, Marketing

MVP: A Beginners Guide
LinkedIn
November 18, 2020
The first Internet start-up I was part of was in 2000. I had just finished a post-graduate in Web Development & Design (think Flash. Only Flash!) and a friend, who worked in fashion as a buyer, came to me with an idea to digitise wholesale fashion buyers catalogues. Knowing nothing about fashion (my tastes were quite questionable at the time), business, and despite a new diploma, little about web development and design; I thought the idea sounded great and jumped in! Quickly, it all started to fall apart before we could even realise the potential, all because excitement and inexperience stopped us from embracing a straightforward process: the MVP.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Startups, Business Strategy

Mom, this is what the Cloud is.
LinkedIn Pulse
October 22, 2020
My Mom is 73. She has an iPad, an iPhone, and a few other gadgets and sees herself as 'with it'. She is 'with it', but the problem is, she says things like "the Google" and refers to stories and facts, with 'they say…'. And, they usually refer to something seen on Facebook. So, it was no surprise when, a while ago, she mentioned, very casually, that her photos were "in the Cloud". Hmmm. How did my 73-year-old Mother know about the Cloud or even how to get photos there? I challenged her and, unsurprisingly, I got a strange answer with lots of tech buzzwords but, in the end, she asked me to explain it to her. I failed. I couldn't even tell her if she should say, "on the Cloud" or "in the Cloud".

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Tags: Cloud, Digital Transformation, Business Strategy

Digital Transformation: Doing it Right.
LinkedIn Pulse
October 09, 2020
The idea of digital transformation is getting a bit common. We hear it said, time and time again, especially by software and hardware companies that digital transformation will change the world! It's a big statement that has a lot of organisations wondering what digital transformation looks like for them, and how it will change their world.

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Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Digital Transformation

The New CHRO – The Value of a Non-HR Background
LinkedIn
February 11, 2019
What kind of role does the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) occupy in your organisation? Traditionally, the CHRO’s duties mostly focused on dealing with personnel – hiring, firing, and everything in between. At a time, the CHRO was considered to be a mid-level, primarily administrative position.

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Tags: Leadership, HR

3 Ways Technology Promotes Workplace Inclusion
LinkedIn
January 29, 2019
Luckily, more and more of us are recognising how vital inclusivity in the workplace is for business success and creating a healthy and thriving workplace culture. Diverse perspectives and experiences are essential, and inclusion means ensuring these wide-ranging perspectives are given equal weight and voice. And while this perspective has gained prominence, how to implement our desire for inclusion proves challenging. Unsurprisingly though, our increasing use of technology can be leveraged to help create more inclusive workplaces.

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Tags: Leadership, Culture, HR, Diversity and Inclusion

3 Ways Technology Promotes Workplace Inclusion
linkedin
January 29, 2019
Luckily, more and more of us are recognising how vital inclusivity in the workplace is for business success and creating a healthy and thriving workplace culture. Diverse perspectives and experiences are essential, and inclusion means ensuring these wide-ranging perspectives are given equal weight and voice. And while this perspective has gained prominence, how to implement our desire for inclusion proves challenging. Unsurprisingly though, our increasing use of technology can be leveraged to help create more inclusive workplaces.

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Tags: AI, Predictive Analytics

How to Work with Power, Authority, and Politics
linkedin
January 07, 2019
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, otherwise known as the VUCA concept —pins down the key features of a challenging environment. The U.S. Army coined the concept to describe the world as it stood following the Cold War. It came to define the general atmosphere of our current business landscape. As alarming as this might seem, there are strategies for organisations to adapt to this profoundly complex and volatile world, and helps understand how to best work with Authority, Power, and Politics.

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Tags: AI, Predictive Analytics

6 Steps to Improve your Employer Branding through Learning & Development
linkedin
December 18, 2018
Change is a certainty. We all experience change in every aspect of our lives – some are driven by outside forces, while others are initiated through our own decisions and actions. What happens next, and often what defines our success, is how we embrace that change.

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Tags: AI, Management, Predictive Analytics

How to Make Your Organisation an Advocate of Diversity
linkedin
December 10, 2018
As the global consumer base becomes increasingly diverse, organisations that promote and embrace diversity will enjoy greater overall success.

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Tags: AI, Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion

EQ vs. IQ: Emotional Intelligence At Work
linkedin
December 03, 2018
If you’re in the HR field, you’ve probably heard of EQ – it’s becoming a bit of a buzzword and with good reason. EQ stands for Emotional Quotient and is distinct from IQ. Organisations can use innovative HR Tech solutions to incorporate EQ into their talent acquisition strategy.

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Tags: AI, Predictive Analytics

1 Founder
Spark
Spark
August 21, 2020
We've reimagined product development. Connecting strategy and execution, we put business logic at the forefront. We then look at how to solve our client's complex challenges with scalable and flexible technology, while crucially ensuring that our people cognitively align with our customer's vision, goals, and existing teams to create seamless digital experiences.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Management, Business Strategy

1 Media Interview
Dublin digital start-up Spark to fill 50 new jobs
Silicon Republic
April 19, 2021
Spark will be hiring across product design, software engineering and data analytics with some support roles in finance and marketing.

Data solutions and product development company Spark is set to hire for 50 new roles over the next year.

The Dublin-based start-up was founded last September and since then has grown its headcount to 25. Now, on the back of a recent investment, it plans to expand its team further in Ireland and beyond.

The funds will go towards developing digital products, recruiting new people and launching a local venture studio in partnership with a Toronto-based venture fund. This studio aims to provide Irish founders and start-ups with the resources to move “from idea to launch, something not yet seen in the start-up ecosystem”, according to Spark co-founder John Clark.

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Tags: Design Thinking, Startups, Business Strategy

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