Liam Cronin

33 years expertise in a number of roles, as CEO RDI Hub in Killorglin (July 2019 – Present) Commercial Director ADAPT Research Centre Trinity College Dublin (January 2016 – June 2019) and Senior Director roles in Microsoft Ireland and Western Europe (September 1991 to December 2015) creating and leading projects to success, employing an entrepreneurial, innovation-focused growth mindset. I have a range of competencies spanning strategic and operational planning, governance, business development, building and maintaining internal and external relations, strategic partnerships formulation, marketing and communications, people management, leadership, budget management, sales and funding.

• CEO RDI Hub, RDI Hub, Killorglin, Co. Kerry, 07/2019, Present, RDI Hub is a world-class Innovation Hub, for design-led, digital innovation located in Ireland’s South West and is a major change initiative, focused on new paths for economic growth and accelerated job creation. The mission is to foster connections between entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate business growth and create technology jobs. The role responsibilities are as follows:= Strategic Planning: Formulation and tracking implementation of the RDI Hub vision, mission, purpose, objectives and board mandates. Identification of key goals and objectives, and the development of strategies, pivots and tactics to achieve them. Working closely with Ireland Tech Hub Network partner hubs to put strategic and operational plans in place to win and operationalise NDRC and Halo Business Angel Network. Governance, Finance and Administration: Reporting quarterly to the Board of Directors, Compliance Sub-Committee and Advisory Board meetings on RDI Hub key achievements, financial metrics, operational metrics, risk register and next quarter plans. Monthly tracking of budgets, income, expenditure and audits to achieve financial sustainability. External Relations / Communications and Stakeholder Management: Represent the RDI Hub at Industry events, Central Government and its agencies, Local Authority meetings, key representative organisations, funding bodies, EU bodies and other networking opportunities nationally and Internationally. Member of European Commission startup villages forum to advance how we engage with the Europe union for funding opportunities. Partnerships and Collaborations: Initiated industry collaborations with Microsoft, IBM, Google, Huawei and local South West Ireland industry partners. Developed key strategic partnerships with Dogpatch labs (Dublin), Portershed (Galway) Republic of Work (Cork) and Ormeau Baths (Belfast) to drive NDRC and Halo Business Angel Network. Established partnerships with Innovations hubs in France, Spain, Portugal to secure European funding. Reputation: Helped grow RDI Hub reputation from inception to now almost 5 years in business, through an evidence based strategy. I put in place 21 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which are tracked monthly by the management team and reported quarterly to Enterprise Ireland, Board Of Directors, Compliance Sub-committee and Advisory Board. As a values-driven organisation, integrity, collaboration, agility and inclusion are central to how we work and interact with customers. Marketing and Communications: I manage the communication strategy and progress updates to key external partners and stakeholders. Worked to establish the RDI Hub brand and reputation around Innovation, Entrepreneurship, job creation nationally and internationally. Support the content development process for social media, blog, newsletters, podcasts to represent RDI Hub externally at the highest level. Funding: Secured national and International funding to ensure long-term financial sustainability of the RDI Hub. National funding secured from selling space, programmes, grant funding and corporate sponsorship programmes. In 2023 International funding secured from INTERREG Atlantic area project Digital Innovation Blue Economy Social Enterprise (€3.5M) and have started philanthropic discussions with US and UK organisations. Leadership and Management: Motivating and managing direct reports and extended team, through regular 121 meetings and bi-yearly performance review meetings. Working closely with RDI Hub members (companies and individuals) to drive innovative change through the creation of new products and services leading to job creation. I have built a team structure fostering an ethos of a unified, inclusive and collaborative workforce, that enables agility and unites talent to get competitive advantage in an evolving marketplace. Sustainability and EDI: Sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion are built into RDI Hub’s DNA. We work closely with Irelands Knowledge Center in Carbon, Climate and Community Action (IKC3) and John Mc Carthy AI Summer school 2023 thematic was AI for Sustainability. EDI is built into KPI’s tracked quarterly and NDRC Programmes have been built around inclusion of best practices for inclusive programme design. NDRC and HBAN holds itself accountable for a diverse representation of entrepreneurs of all backgrounds.
• Director Commercialisation, ADAPT Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin, 01/2016, 06/2019, Creativity and Innovation: Commercial alignment and industry participation are key to deliver economic and commercial impact, and to the sustainability of the SFI funded ADAPT Research Centre. Successfully attracted and developed new industry partners across FinTech, Connected health, automotive and traditional ICT sectors, across Europe, US and Asia (Japan & China). Devised and implemented a “ONE Trinity” approach to successfully integrate other departments like School of Psychology, Health and Business, to provide a compelling value proposition for Industry partners. Devised a “Door opening” strategy to engage new business partners and a “Big rocks” strategy to have 5 strategic Industry partners delivering multi-year, multi-million-euro projects. Startup Culture, Negotiation and Influencing: Closed the first €1M+ deal in the Centre with Huawei Ireland in 2017 in the area of “Big Video” R&D. In 2018 landed €2M research funding in collaboration with the UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business, for the Financial Fusion Spoke from Science Foundation Ireland with 13 new Industry partners letters of support. In 2019 secured €2M+ Industry Cash and €4M In-kind contribution. I also engaged in activities to support researchers with innovative ideas and spin-in opportunities, spinning out up to 3 opportunities per year from the Research Centre. Communications & Personal effectiveness, People Management: I had 5 direct people manager reports and a full team of 20 across business development, IP / Legal, marketing / communications and product development. My people management day to day style involved networking “walk-about” as crucial to understand people’s concerns and coach them to achieve their maximum potential. I am passionate and highly competent in organisational and people development with a strong understanding of the value and importance of effective collaboration and relationships.
• Senior Compete Lead, Microsoft Western Europe, 09/1991, 12/2015, Knowledge of the Business: Market Analysis Scanning: Responsible for monitoring and understanding the Western Europe market and its trends, for all lines of Microsoft business (cloud, devices, & services). Through market scanning (traditional and social media channels), Identified competitive growth opportunities and oversaw execution of an integrated sales and marketing plans. Creativity and Innovation Win/Loss Analysis: Gathered deep competitive insights from deals won and lost to share with the partners and sales teams (Subsidiaries) to drive share growth and revenue. Defined and shaped competitive readiness programs based off win/loss analysis, impacting positively the Microsoft revenue and share culture. Project Management: Win Room: In 2015 reviewed 262 cases and unblocked close to a $1 billion in revenue. Informed and shaped Microsoft commercial approach, across 12 countries spanning the Nordics to the South of Europe, for all lines of Microsoft business.
• Cloud & Compete Lead, Microsoft Ireland, 09/2009, 09/2011, Networking: Readiness: Supported the subsidiary cloud team to share growth in cloud workloads (Office 365, CRM, Azure). Organised internal cloud events, resulting in cloud technology been incorporated, across the organization. Sales & Marketing: Gathered deep competitive insights from deals won and lost to share with Microsoft Ireland partners and sales teams to drive share growth. Tripled market share v’s VMware in 12 months and maintained Microsoft competitive advantage vs Google. Leadership & Management: Open Source Engagement: Delivered the Microsoft “Openness message” engaging with the open-source community. Awarded Microsoft Western Europe Directors Award in September 2011.
• Academic Engagement Manager, Microsoft, 11/2006, 09/2009, Imagine Cup: Rolled-out the competition to 40 higher education institutions, leading to over 550 students entering the competition in year 1 growing to 2,000 in year 3. Secured €1M commercial sponsorship over the 3 years from Industry Partners and Enterprise Ireland. Academic Engagement: Supported higher education academics teaching the Microsoft platform and helped others transition, through training, online mentoring and guest lecturers. Organised inaugural Microsoft Ireland (North & South) academic summit to over 100 lecturers. Hired 30 students, each year, into the Microsoft student partner program. Dreamspark: Program managed a verification system around student email addresses, so students could download Microsoft software for free as part of Microsoft Dreamspark program in Ireland. Administered Microsoft Scholarship fund with higher education North and South, ensuring greater adoption of Microsoft technologies in higher education.
• Group Manager Product Development & Localisation / Globalisation, Microsoft, 09/1991, 11/2006, Leadership & Management: I led a team of 20 permanent employees and 10 contractors at peak time, on the Microsoft Works and Digital Imaging product localization. I was responsible for a localization budget of $3M that drove revenue numbers of $20M. Creativity and Innovation: Responsible for the first local language program for Microsoft Works, providing a low-cost solution for emerging markets in Estonia, Lithuanian and Malaysia. In January 2005, started Digital Imaging product development of setup program from Dublin, which was the first product development delivered by Microsoft Ireland. Project Management: Successfully managed all budgeting, stakeholder management, scheduling and product quality. Responsible for managing external vendors localizing products into 100+ languages.

Coaching Gaelic football in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare involving my four kids and leading the Kilcullen GAA Healthy Club policy. Avid reader of innovation and entrepreneurial books.