Connect
To Top

Meet Dave Bernard of The Intellection Group

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Bernard.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dave. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was raised a Navy brat; I went to more than 10 different schools before I came to Atlanta to go to school at Georgia Tech in 1978. I majored in Computer Science, then worked in South Carolina and Australia before coming back to Atlanta for good in 1989. I’ve had a long, almost 40-year career in software development, and have sort of grown up in the fast-changing technology industry.

Over that time, I’ve worked in many different industries and with many different technologies. About 15 years ago I became an entrepreneur, along with my wife, Judy. I was very opportunistic about it. I had a full-time job as an employee with a company and I just took the leap when it came up to switch my status to being a contractor. That turned out to be a really good thing for me to do. I did a couple of things. One, I became a contractor in that I wasn’t all of my time and lions share with this particular company, even though I was helping them quite a bit.

And I also made it a stipulation that I worked from home to do their work. So that allowed me to actually start taking on some other jobs as well. And because I already had a big network of contacts both, in business and personal contacts in the business I almost immediately got some other request to help on other projects, small piecework, but pretty soon I was overloaded. And at that point, I invited some of my friends to help. And as long as you’re paying them less than you’re getting paid you have a business. So that’s kind of how I got started.

Our company, The Intellection Group, has worked on over 75 software and consulting projects since inception, and has engaged in some form or another with another 75 companies. We build award-winning, highly custom systems for companies that are typically market leaders in their niche, which means off-the-shelf systems just won’t fully support their proprietary processes. So we build just what they need.

Our developer-contractors are spread throughout Eastern Europe, especially Bulgaria, where we’ve found great talent at a great value. Many of our developers have been with us many years, as have some of our customers. I’m also an inventor, with four issued patents covering natural language querying on mobile devices and in augmented reality and virtual reality environments.

I love looking into the future and helping companies get there. I give regular talks at conferences and to civic groups on topics like self-driving cars, the death of privacy, technology’s impact on the future of technology, and things like that.

My wife, Judy, and I are heavily involved in community projects with Rotary, with a special emphasis on ending homelessness and human trafficking. We started another company together, BeneVets, that provides a case and claims management system that helps those who help veterans file their benefits claims with the VA. I’m a member of the Business Executives for National Security, which brings best business practices to the government in the area of national security, which is a real passion of mine. Judy and I are active in our church, Northpoint Community Church, and love our small group. I’m a recent graduate of Leadership Johns Creek; our class organized and helped execute the first Johns Creek International Festival this past Spring.

Personally, I have two wonderful daughters, Maddie, 15, and Katie, 12, who are very active soccer players, which keeps all of us very busy year round. Katie is very keen on robotics and other “maker” interests, while Maddie is actually a placekicker on her high school football team. We’re very proud of them.

Has it been a smooth road?
The business has had its ups and down, like most businesses. We’re engaged in a fast-moving, quickly changing technology and business landscape that requires taking risks, some of which don’t pan out. For example, we’ve sometimes taken investment positions in our technology deals, but it has rarely worked out. Sometimes we’ve engaged with customers that we shouldn’t have, and we’ve had to protect ourselves in court on more than one occasion. It’s often difficult to bridge the business-technology gap, communication-wise. It just goes with the territory.

It’s very hard to find and keep good talent, although we are luckier than most in that regard. Selling is hard for me, and I’m still trying to get good at it. We are problem solvers, not marketers, which has not helped. However, I’m an optimist at heart (as all entrepreneurs should be), and I see opportunity in a challenge; without risks, there are no opportunities.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We’re usually brought in to fix existing, gone-bad software systems, or to take over when the existing team gets in over their heads. I would say that we’re known for tackling very tough assignments, which our broad experience in both technology and industry allows us to handle. In the end, we sell comfort; we share the risks with our customers by falling in love with and solving their problems. We build reliable things in predictable ways.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think the business climate is excellent in the Atlanta metro area, with a good diverse talent pool, good universities, good networking groups, etc. It’s also a relatively inexpensive place to live and work, which helps a lot. The things that make it more difficult is a real lack of startup capital funding and… traffic.

Attempting to minimize time in traffic takes up too much mindshare in our daily work.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in