Daniel Kalman

When Daniel Kalman joined ZT Systems in 2023 to help oversee a global contingent workforce program, the fast-growing technology company did not have the right supply base or strategy to quickly ramp up data centers when they were needed. Over the course of 2023 and 2024, Kalman instituted processes to find suppliers who could support the organization across multiple countries. His strategic approach significantly bolstered ZT Systems’ workforce capacity in a short time. Additionally, Kalman led a successful RFP to select a master vendor for the company’s newest manufacturing plant, positioning the facility to achieve its ambitious growth targets by 2025.

“I don’t think the business was anticipating that type of an outcome … from an operational perspective, they were able to run their business and not have to worry about labor being one of the challenges,” Kalman says. “That’s what a good contract labor operation is supposed to do — getting the business what they need labor-wise so that they can run their operation and have one less thing to worry about.”

The organization, which produces hyper scale servers which power AI and cloud computing, now spends hundreds of millions a year on contract labor and staff augmentation across more than 20 countries.

Over the last 12 months, Kalman is perhaps most proud of his own transition from a consultant handling multiple clients to an in-house contingent workforce professional. Looking forward, Kalman, who has more than 15 years’ experience in the space, plans to build and institute a proper vendor management system to ensure the organization has more robust reporting and better data in the future.