Rising Stars of the Profession 2021: Ben Kremer

With enterprise software experience ranging from established ERP systems to fully custom applications, Ben has played a key role in growing Crowe's technology service area in the M&D space. Ben's key accomplishments include:

In 2015, Ben led his client through the process to become the first Microsoft D365 implementation in the Americas (second in the world) and subsequently lead the implementation effort working with Microsoft on its first cloud ERP implementation.

In 2018, Crowe welcomed an award-winning software consultancy specializing in cloud-based enterprise solutions from Oracle NetSuite, and Ben was instrumental in leading the ground-level integration of personnel in the U.S. and overseas. Initially, there were just two individuals working in Crowe's NetSuite service area outside of the U.S. delivering around $250k of services per year. Ben was tasked with significantly growing the Dubai NetSuite team, as well as starting a New Delhi NetSuite team for Crowe. The non-USA NetSuite service area has grown by approximately 600% and Ben has hired and manages more than 27 new team members. Crowe's non-USA NetSuite service area now generates approximately $1.6 million in services revenue. As of June 2021, Ben has grown Crowe LLP's Middle East NetSuite practice from "unranked" to becoming the second-largest Oracle NetSuite partner by revenue in the ECEMEA region, covering eastern and central Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Ben also co-leads the largest U.S. NetSuite project for Crowe.

Ben has also served as the lead architect, designer and project manager on two certified Crowe solutions built on the Oracle NetSuite platform – Crowe Lease Accounting Optimizer for NetSuite and Crowe Data Anomaly Detection for NetSuite. He is currently driving a third solution to the market. The solutions have are in place with clients in 7 countries across 4 continents and have generated $250k in annual licenses for Crowe.

As it relates to his success so far, Ben attributes it to, "Not letting 'those guys' – as Harry Kraemer defines them – restrict the speed or passion which I pursue something. Harry Kraemer (a Management Professor at Kellogg, former CEO of Baxter, and a best-selling author) defines 'those guys' as the 'mysterious, magical group of men and women that people will often refer to as the ones they're waiting for to solve a given problem, large or small.' I had the privilege of meeting Harry during Crowe's Summer Leadership Academy, where Harry provided the keynote, addressing the problem of 'those guys.'"

"Those guys won't let you lead this because you are too young. Those guys won't approve that new service delivery model based on value instead of billable hours. Those guys will never approve funding for layering AI anomaly detection tools over ERP datasets. Those guys won't be okay with international expansion for legal, risk, and international partner considerations. Those guys will never accept a truly global delivery model, where all worldwide resources are viewed as peers. The list goes on."

As Harry stresses in his lectures, I found in each of these cases that – while everyone said "those guys" will not let it happen – I never actually found who "they" were. Instead, I focused on building value and generating solid foundations for new initiatives, and more often then not, I have found that "those guys" are actually eager to endorse new ideas and help them thrive.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

"Invest in your juniors, and soon you'll have a team. Invest in your team, and soon you'll have a business." This is what my soon-to-be managing partner told me in the last week of my internship at Crowe in 2013. The logic was simple: When you are a first-year, invest in the interns, as they will be the staff helping you in a year. When you are a manager, invest in the staff, as they will be your managers when you are a senior manager. And so on. Building up well-trained, happy and, most importantly, passionate colleagues has been critical towards building the business at the speed we have. Individuals don't grow businesses by 600% in 2.5 years – only high functioning teams do. And well-functioning teams take years of investment in specific individuals to get to the point of being "high functioning." You have to know each other's strengths and understand how each team member fills each other's weaknesses. Potentially most importantly, you have to know your own weaknesses and surround yourself with people who compensate for those weaknesses. No one individual is strong in all areas, but a well-assembled team can be."