As a leader, David O’Brien said running toward the fire is essential. “Strong leaders are resilient and flexible with unwavering integrity, relentless problem solving, and unwavering dedication to both the employee and customer experiences, in that order,” he said. The two-time Titan 100 embraces these attributes as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Quantum5.
Quantum5 is a learning technology company in the SaaS space that has built a first-of-its-kind learning ecosystem that is fully mobile and allows learners to have agency over how, when, and what they want to develop across their work skills and personal development. The ecosystem utilizes its own generative AI to personalize learning journeys and employ game strategy to reskill and upskill learners.
The last year has been pivotal in the growth of the company under O’Brien’s leadership. O’Brien moved to the chief executive office role full-time, onboarded a SaaS professional as president and implemented important organizational change. The company was also selected by a large Korean OEM to displace their traditional LMS platform for Quantum5’s modern learning ecosystem. Quantum5 now serves 841 of its dealerships and 11,200 learners in those locations.
Under O’Brien’s guidance, Quantum5 grew 529% in 2022 and 115% in 2023 with projected revenue growth of 200% forecasted for 2024. The firm also completed its third acquisition of an AI learning platform that incorporates games, personalized learning content, and the science of spaced knowledge retrieval.
The biggest leadership lesson O’Brien learned this year while transitioning from founder to chief executive officer was the impact of open communication. “I learned how much impact my talking to the team about transition has been – being open, transparent, and vulnerable to share the good and the challenges has been important for them,” he said.
He also found ways to utilize his newfound available time. “Key in my planning process was how I could serve. I had a passion to give back to the community and the industry that I love,” said O’Brien. He has continued to work with the leadership at St. Vincent de Paul’s donor team to mentor their relationship-building skills. He has also focused on providing leadership development to the automotive retail community.
“The need for the customer to not hate to purchase or service their vehicle is as strong today as ever,” said O’Brien. “While most voices in automotive focus on dealer profitability, my voice remains loud about creating dramatic changes to the customer experience. I am proud to be at the forefront of changes and will continue to mentor leaders through the process.”
