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  We talk about the life of a startup founder being loaded with pressure and stress. But one of Ireland’s best known technology executives, who went from managing a $5bn division of Cisco to starting and selling his own startup, says that life in a big company was actually far more taxing than running your own business. Barry O’Sullivan spoke to Adrian Weckler about it, and a host of other things, in this week’s podcast. “I never missed any of the kind of trappings of being a senior executive at a company like Cisco,” he says. “I would say the…

US tech giant Genesys may look at further Irish acquisitions and has already doubled staff numbers at its new Galway operation Altocloud, according to tech entrepreneur Barry O’Sullivan. The San Francisco-based call centre technology supplier bought Altocloud from the Dragons’ Den star in March. O’Sullivan had originally agreed to stay on part-time to help the two companies integrate, but he has now been appointed to the board of Genesys to assist with its global expansion. The board appointment to the $1.4bn- a-year company helps further O’Sullivan’s ambition to turn Galway into a global hub for artificial intelligence (AI), he told…

Altocloud, which was founded by Dragon’s Den star Barry O’Sullivan, has been acquired by US-based Genesys for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2013, the Galway-based Altocloud is a digital customer engagement platform, that combines predictive analytics with voice, video, and messaging interactions. “We built Altocloud because we saw a more dynamic way to drive better business results by taking advantage of the power and potential of AI,” Barry O’Sullivan, Altocloud chief executive, said. “We are excited to join a proven customer experience innovator and AI leader like Genesys, so we can extend the reach of our revolutionary journey management technology…

Plans to bring Altocloud’s machine learning and predictive analytics capabilities into its PureEngage platform in next several months. Genesys announced today that it has completed the acquisition of privately-held Altocloud Ltd., a cloud-based customer journey analytics provider founded and led by CEO Barry O’Sullivan. As is typical in deals between privately-held companies, financial details were not disclosed. In a phone briefing on the acquisition, the two companies shared that Altocloud has 26 employees and about 50 customers. Genesys chief product officer Peter Graf stated during the briefing that Altocloud was being acquired “for its talent and revenue in the future.” Altocloud is headquartered in Galway, Ireland, with…

US company to retain Galway office and staff and turn it into centre of excellence for AI Galway-based Altocloud has been bought by Genesys for an undisclosed sum, with the US firm planning to establish “a significant presence” in Ireland. Chief executive of Altocloud Barry O’Sullivan said the 20 staff members will stay on with the firm, with the Galway office receiving further investment from Genesys to transform it into a centre of excellence for artificial intelligence. There are plans to add new jobs, but there are no concrete figures yet, Mr O Sullivan said. “We’re talking to IDA Ireland now, and putting a plan together,”…

For those who have been on the lookout for the next big news from former Cisco exec Barry O’Sullivan, the wait is over with the announcement of Altocloud. In November 2013, a No Jitter post discussed Barry O’Sullivan’s announcement that he would be leaving Cisco for a software startup. At the time, we speculated on which market the new venture might tackle. Internet of everything, a cloud-based unified communications/contact center venture or a media venture were all possibilities discussed. Now we know the answer: Altocloud, with O’Sullivan as CEO, was announced today. In the press release Altocloud is described as creating a cloud-based contextual…

Barry O’Sullivan, former SVP and General Manager of the Collaboration Technology Group, announced in a blogtoday that he will be leaving Cisco. While offering no details, the blog reports that he will be starting a software company. Since stepping down from the GM job, O’Sullivan has remained at Cisco as a member of Padma Warrior’s CTO and Strategy group. He worked on strategic initiatives in the area of business and technology partnerships. One of those relationships is with SAP, who offers SAP HANA (High Performance Analytic Appliance) on Cisco’s UCS hardware platform. O’Sullivan leaves Cisco after ten-plus years that saw the company go…