TheBridge profile: Hugh Gamble
Name: Hugh Gamble
Current city: Washington, DC
Current job: Vice President; Federal Government Affairs & Public Policy, Salesforce
Past job: Legislative Director; Office of U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss
Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Joe's Seafood - Underrated coffee and always an available table mid-day.
Q. Describe how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your current job. The ability to remain calm in the midst of chaotic circumstances is a skill that is required for longevity in the U.S. Senate. It's a skill that comes in handy in the corporate world as many times internal stakeholders approach Government Affairs with issues that they feel are headed out of control.
Q. Job advice in three words? Deserve victory! (It's only 2, but it's Churchill and it's so good.)
Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between politics and tech / innovation and regulation? The most obvious way is through deliberate efforts on up-skilling and re-skilling workers for a rapidly developing digital economy. Through the free Salesforce Trailhead training program, individuals are led through a fun, interactive program that is tailored to a chosen specific career path. The Salesforce economy is expected to generate millions of jobs over the next few years for those with Salesforce skills all over the country and world. We have also discussed this alternative educational model with Education policymakers in Congress as part of a Future of Work conversation.
Q. What can innovators learn from policymakers? Success should be defined as customer (constituent) success and happiness.
Q. What can policymakers learn from innovators? Many issues in technology policy are nuanced and outside of most policymakers historical training. They should approach issues with curiosity and no preconceived notions. Good tech policy rarely fits inside a campaign slogan.
Q. Favorite book/podcast/long-form article you recommend? The Gatekeepers by Chris Whipple
Q. Everyday is probably different, but can you describe a "day in the life" of your job? Keep my fingers on the pulse of policy developments in DC, and find new ways to be a value-add to my internal stakeholders, even non-traditional ones. This means forcing a regular cadence of internal meetings to learn and watching external developments for opportunities to leverage that knowledge.
Q. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself in the beginning of your career? Return every call, and do what you say you're going to do.
Q. Most underrated virtue in an employee? Reliability. The ability to trust an employee to execute without having to micro-manage is enormously freeing.
Q. How often do you work from home? Pre-Covid, never; during covid, I'm making it work. The distractions that come from working at home will keep it from becoming my preferred option. And it is difficult to maintain a work/life balance when "work" is always 20 feet away.
Q. How do you unwind after work? Spending time with my son. Many evenings a week I can be found shuttling him to and from soccer practice, and I value that one on one time with him more than he'll ever know.
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