Let’s start with ‘Why’
Hi, I’m Rafal Bergman. I’m a tech entrepreneur who built and sold several software businesses (and created high-performing teams & technology stacks that backed them) and a CTO with many years of experience in developing successful technology products and services.
I created this site because technology is the biggest leverage for success, and yet building new tech is fraught with difficulty. Many entrepreneurs, founders & corporate leaders struggle with it, due to inherent complexities that are hard to navigate without sufficient experience, support & guidance.
And I believe that everyone deserves to achieve success and to have the support they need to get there. My aim is to help you with unfiltered CTO knowledge & my CTO services to maximize the chance, and scale, of your technology & business wins.
When I was young I thought that excellent business analysis & software engineering were all you needed to develop great tech. But over the years I realised that tech is only part of the equation and projects often fail due to inadequate Leadership.
This is why I spent years learning effective leadership, and created a more balanced approach which I called the CTO Zen method. In my definition, CTO Zen is the state of optimal performance found at the intersection of excellence in Technology and Leadership.
And here’s the ‘How’
On these pages I am sharing my experience, knowledge and methods with complete honesty, without holding anything back. I hope that it will help you on your journey, and please feel free to Get in Touch if you want to explore any topic – including your specific situation – in more depth. Alternatively, go ahead and check out my CTO Services or learn more About me. And have no doubts, you too can achieve success with technology ????.
Enjoy, and good luck with your endeavors!
Here are some of my clients
BMW
Equinor (Statoil)
Improbable Worlds
Panama Canal
Vienna Insurance Group
The Kingdom of Bahrain
Nestle
Reed Smith
British Petroleum
The High Court of Hong Kong
Idwal Marine
University of South Wales
Ince Law
Empik.com
University of Bedfordshire
AMS
Cambridge Cognition
Renault Group
IBM
Daewoo Electronics
ING Bank
Have Something in Mind?
I paid my dues over two decades of corporate R&D and tech entrepreneurship, learning what works and what doesn’t, so you don’t have to repeat the same mistakes.
Contact me today to see how your plans can be accelerated and safeguarded against risk & uncertainty with my unique perspective, knowledge and award-winning and CTO services.
What my clients say
Rafal has a very high work rate, great integrity, and a real flair for innovative technical solutions
Rafal is a dedicated professional. He has a very high work rate, great integrity, and a real flair for innovative technical solutions. It was a pleasure to work with him, and I would not hesitate to recommend him to any company looking to strengthen the technology function.
I recommend Rafal to all his future customers
Rafal has always been personally committed to us as his valued customers (he made us feel this way!) and very professional in the way he run the PHC project. I recommend Rafal to all his future customers, knowing that he will do his best to deliver and if possible exceed their expectations.
His professional attitude and analytical skills as well expertise allowed us to implement the system successfully
I was very satisfied working with Rafal also for his team-oriented approach that is so important in each big project. I can strongly recommend Rafal as highly professional, interesting and friendly person to everyone. Rafal – thanks for fruitful collaboration!
I strongly recommend Rafal to anyone looking to develop new tech products
Rafal played a vital role in helping us to shape the vision delivered on it, bringing the concept to life and exceeding our expectations at every step along the way. The results are nothing short of groundbreaking. We widened our client base, improved quality and margins.
Our cooperation was very effective which allowed us to complete the project successfully
Being very motivated and customer-orientated are Rafal’s key competences. Anyone who will work with Rafal in the future may be certain that each project aspect will be addressed carefully and with an appropriate attention.
Rafal was extremely knowledgeable, dedicated and a pleasure to work with
Rafal was appointed by our firm as an expert witness before the Hong Kong High Court. He acquitted himself excellently in what was a difficult and extremely high profile case. I would have no hesitation in instructing Rafal again in the future or endorsing him as an expert in his field.
Rafal is able to balance the technology and the user needs very easily
This is one of his strengths. Technically he is brilliant. Quality driven. He is not satisfied until the product reaches the level of quality he expects, no matter the situation. He takes care of his team having a constant contact with each member of the team in order to know their personal and professional situation.
I have no hesitation in giving Rafal my unreserved recommendation
Rafal was everything an expert should be: enthusiastic, immensely knowledgeable, personable and (despite the many calls on his time) totally reliable. The depth and breadth of his knowledge gave our team a head start which the other parties were never able to recover.
Rafal is a very driven, reliable and devoted leader
The understanding and help he offered strengthened the team, making it more effective. Working with Rafal was an immense pleasure and a fantastic experience during which I have learnt not only about the complete software life-cycle but also how a successful business should be run.
Featured Articles (aka ‘CTO Insights’)
Here are some articles I wrote to share my CTO knowledge and perspective on AI, tech, software engineering, business & leadership. I’m writing new content all the time (just sometimes struggle to find the time to publish it quickly) – so stay tuned for more!
The most important skill (in business & life)
Some skills are key to your success. Emotional intelligence, leadership, empathy, influence, storytelling, analytical skills, learning & growth-mindset, public speaking, fundraising, recruitment are amongst those. But in modern times, characterized by constant change, one skill stands out as the most important of all.
One of the most effective, yet criminally underutilized, tools of a Leader
Companies spend huge sums of money on motivating their employees, raising productivity and preventing staff rotation. But managers often forget about one of the most effective tools at their disposal, thus undermining all that effort.
Generative AI vs human brilliance. Who wins?
ChatGPT and other LLMs are promising to redefine entire industries, and the way we work. Generative AI is already impressive, and we are just seeing a beginning of something that will inevitably get better (and fast). But can it replace human brilliance?
Confident software engineering: avoid problems and achieve best results with this key ingredient
Developing software is difficult. Stories of failed projects, long delays and escalating costs abound. But you can avoid the risks and maximise the scale and impact of your outcomes with one smart and simple decision, preferably taken early on in the process.
Chief Technology Officer. Does your business need a CTO?
Who is a CTO? Do you need one? As usual, it depends on your situation. In this article I discuss the responsibilities of a Chief Technology Officer and the benefits of having one on board - so you can decide for yourself.
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