Being digital is not enough! Nowadays, you need to ensure that your employees focus on their jobs, not on the systems they use. Just like we want Coveo users to always have relevant interactions, we truly believe that if Coveo employees have relevant interactions with the tools they use, they will be more efficient, helping Coveo become even more successful.

Coveo walks the talk and recently appointed Dominic Lajoie as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Dominic will be dedicated to making sure that every employee has everything they need to do their job efficiently. “IT/IS is everywhere! From provisioning the workstations, through the secure use of the computers, up to the execution of applications. In a ridiculously ambitious company, being slowed down is simply not an option!”, explains Dominic. “As the CIO, I’m in charge of Information Technologies (IT) and Information Systems (IS). The sum of IT and IS is what makes everyone’s work at Coveo possible, making up the main execution arm of our digital strategy.”

Coveo is a fast-growing company and this comes with its own set of challenges. Adapting to the needs of an always changing landscape is the context in which Dominic will have to operate. “From the support function to the core function, my entire strategy is customer oriented and results driven. At the same time, I’ll make sure that Coveo remains agile and versatile. We think big, but not heavy,” he explains.  

A lifelong passion for technology

Born and raised in Quebec City, Dominic has always been passionate about sports and technologies. “When I was about 5 years old, my dad brought a computer home. It was like Christmas in June! At the end of the summer, I was able to write simple programs. I then knew technology would become a big part of my life,” he explains. “Once back at school, I was always the one helping teachers with their computers. It sounds trivial now, but back then, computers were new to everyone”.

Dominic naturally chose to study Computer Science in his hometown. Right after his internship, he moved to Seattle and started working for the government of the State of Washington. At the end of the project he was working on, his employer offered him to move back to Quebec City or stay for two additional years.

He stayed. “There, I was on the team that built websites for Microsoft worldwide operations, including their very first e-commerce site. The site required three months of effort for a team of about 30 people (speaking 26 different languages!) and lead to millions of transactions. Building the same site today would probably take less than 30 minutes!”, said Dominic, laughing. “Seriously, going to Seattle, an amazing hub of technology companies, was one of the best decisions of my life. It not only fast-tracked my career, but also allowed me to make friends that live all over the globe and visit amazing places.”

Can you imagine spending your weekends skiing in the Rockies, having dinner with friends at a pub and then taking a long bicycle ride the next day, later finishing the day at the spa to relax before starting another week working for THE most advanced technology company? That is what Dominic’s life was like at the time! Pretty cool, right?

Back to Quebec City

Dominic came back home with an impressive expertise. He joined Coveo in 2007. He knew the company because he got to collaborate with Laurent Simoneau, Coveo’s founder, as he was tasked to find a new search technology vendor to partner with. The partnership never happened, but he later received a call from Laurent. “He said that he wanted to discuss something over lunch. To be honest, I was expecting him to offer me a sales job and I knew I would not be interested, but I never turn down a free lunch, so I accepted the invitation!”, he jokes.

Coveo was looking to create a services division to work with customers. At the time, a few employees were working with customers occasionally, but the services delivery wasn’t truly managed and demand was growing.

“It took me a few months to accept the offer. During those months, I asked a ton of questions to make sure that Coveo was serious with its plan, but also to convince myself that leaving a stable job to go work for a start-up was the right thing to do. I never regretted my decision:working at Coveo couldn’t be more fun! Being a privileged witness of our growth from ~40 employees when I joined to ~500 now has been incredible! It feels like I started just yesterday,” Dominic says.

Dominic has now been one of Coveo’s key players for 12 years and has always found new challenges within the company. Would like to be part of a bunch of passionate people like Dominic Lajoie? Have a look at our job offers and see what kind of exciting career opportunities we have to offer!