As Bentley’s first chief digital officer, I would like to share what this means and why we have made this change now.
In our ever-changing world, people expect to get the same seamless and frictionless digital experiences that they see in their consumer lives reflected in their day-to-day interactions. Keeping this idea in mind, the newly created role of chief digital officer will focus on and enable great experiences throughout all interactions and touchpoints that our users have with Bentley.
Our goal is to create excellent outward-facing service for all our accounts and users. The focus on the digital experience at Bentley has the mandate and vision to marry design and technology, delivering world-class experiences that delight, inspire, and innovate. It is all about making working with Bentley simple, smooth, and engaging. By the way, that applies as much to our own Bentley colleagues as it does to anyone who uses our software and solutions.
My grandmother used to say, “Treat others the way you would like to be treated,” and I think that has held true for all of us for many years now. Today, though, I think that can and should be updated to “treat others how they want to be treated.” While seeming like a variation on a theme, it completely changes the nature of what we need to accomplish—and for the better.
To be treated how you would like to be treated, we want to know a little more about you, we want to offer you choices and contextual and meaningful experiences at different stages of your interactions with Bentley. To do that, we have to not only remember who you are, but we also must be curious about what you like doing, notice what you have already made choices about, and, ultimately, make any interactions as easy, simple, and as frictionless as possible.
I am honoured to be asked to take on this role. It appeals to my innate need to find solutions to problems and making things as common sense as possible—something I have been trying to do my entire working life.
Our goal is to innovate, inspire, and, ultimately, delight you with the experience of using Bentley software and solutions.
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James Lawton has been named to the newly created role of chief digital officer at Bentley Systems. His mission is to lead Bentley’s global digital experience strategy and the IT organization, shaping and delivering a seamless interaction experience for all touch points with our users.
James is also focused on creating great colleague experiences that empower excellent outward-facing service to all our accounts and users. The digital experience team has the mandate and vision to marry design and technology to deliver world-class experiences that delight, inspire, and innovate. It is all about making working with Bentley simple, smooth, and engaging.
James joined Bentley when it acquired geosciences software company Seequent in 2021. Prior to Seequent, he spent four years as a chief technology officer and chief product officer in SaaS automotive service software and telematics, as well as 14 years at Siemens Enterprise Communications (now Unify) in a variety of roles in architecture and software development, product management, professional services, and support and operations. He also spent four years at a start-up and four years at IBM.
