Jignesh Patel

Four questions for Jignesh Patel

Jignesh Patel is the Founder and President at Lumenor Consulting Group, a company he launched in 2007 with Bridgette (Karra) Beato. 

As a principal, he brings an extensive background in consulting and technology implementations, most recently with the MARTA Breeze Card Program.

A certified Project Manager as well as a Certified Architect, Jignesh has led multiple complex projects to successful completion by working closely with both the business users as well as the technology teams and vendors. 

He began his career as a mechanical engineer specializing in CNC (computer numerical controlled machines) programming with ABB, and he holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from MS University in India.

Q: It’s often said that no one ever plans for a career in transit: how did you get your start and what made you stay?

I came in to the transit industry purely by chance. As a technology consultant, I worked with many clients on their large scale technology implementations. I joined MARTA as a Technology Architect for their Breezecard Fare Collection project – a first 100% smartcard based fare collection project in the country. I spent two years implementing the program, during which I became fully versed in the industry. 

Upon completion of the project, I had to make a decision: Continue on my consulting path and find a client in a different industry or stay in transit and do something different. During this evaluation, I realized that there was a need in the industry for a firm focused on technology. While this industry is still very engineering focused, the people and agencies realize the importance of technology. 

The people who work in the industry are unique and exceptional. Most people who come to this industry and stay have a perspective that they are working to provide a service: to contribute to building better cities, making travel easier for people, and having an impact. The amount of knowledge that exists and the dedication and commitment to hard work is motivating. I enjoy being a part of this, and feel like the work I do makes a difference in people’s lives.

Q: How will your organization look (differently) in 10 years, and what are you doing to affect that change?

I believe we will continue to leverage technology to help our clients with exciting and innovative solutions. The advent of technology and innovative solutions has made it easier to look at the concept of "mobility" from an integrated view across the disparate systems and various transit modes. For the past few years, we have been advocating that transit agencies take a holistic view of multi-modal transit solutions and to position themselves as leaders in these solutions. With many successful Mobility-as-a-Service pilots across the world, we are hopeful that our efforts in this directions will gain traction in the coming years.

We also hope to help agencies use and further refine the standards defined in the National ITS to create integrated and interoperable mobility solutions. The new version of this architecture is referred to as Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation (ARC-IT) and combines National ITS Architecture with Connected Vehicles Reference Implementation Architecture (CVRIA). By leveraging the standards defined in this architecture and enforcing them for various products, we hope to maximize the impact of the MaaS solutions.

Q: Think ahead to your retirement party: Who will you thank? What will you regret? What advice will you offer your successor?

There are many people I will thank – because the one thing that I have learned in this industry is that in order to really grow as a company and as a leader requires working together. The network of people that have acted as mentors, advisors and friends have been there to teach, guide and support us. We have been fortunate to be able to participate in industry groups such as WTS, APTA, ITS America, IBTTA and others, where we have been engaged with industry leaders that have shared their knowledge and experience. 

The list of regrets will hopefully be a short one- because many of the greatest lessons have come from our mistakes. The most painful challenges have led to significant changes in behavior and perspective, so I have learned the key to growth and change is to learn from those mistakes. One goal we act on daily is the effort to conduct ourselves with integrity and character. If we do this, we can always know that we have been able to stick to a foundational value, and from there we can adapt behavior to not make the same mistakes.  

My advice to successors is to follow your dreams. If you want something different, don’t be fearful to try something out of the norm. Change can be hard, but it is also exciting and empowering. The other lesson I would share is to listen to others. Some of my greatest learnings have come from interacting with others and learning from their perspective. When I have gotten stuck from doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, I have modified that behavior by working through the challenge with others, and trying something new.

Q: What is the most effective means of dividing supervisory duties among your senior leadership to ensure full situational awareness?

One of the hardest struggles I have dealt with as an entrepreneur is to let things go. When we started the business, it was because we possessed a certain skill to provide to the industry, but that skill did not necessarily correspond to having the ability to build a business. In order to grow and become a leader who people want to be associated with, it was necessary to identify people who possessed skills that were different but complementary to mine. 

By seeking out and hiring those who are better than me at certain functions, I was able to let go of those responsibilities, and allow those individuals to manage and lead in areas where they excelled. As an entrepreneur it is easy to fall into the trap of ‘doing business’ and not ‘building business’, so it is key to surround ourselves with people who help us retain that focus.