Following opportunity: David Dempsey, Co-founder of Salesforce Europe and Board member of Wexford Enterprise Association recounts his career path.

We are led to believe that a traditional career path includes finishing secondary school, going to University and studying a particular subject and then continuing in that field for the rest of your working life. But many career paths are less straight forwarded and are instead guided by opportunity, curiosity and drive.

David Dempsey is an original co-founder of Salesforce Europe, bringing Salesforce into Europe in 2000. He is also a proud Wexford man and is one our dynamic, voluntary Board members with Wexford Enterprise Association who lend their energy and expertise for the betterment of Wexford.

We often measure ‘success’ based on a person’s present position. However, it is probably better to measure it by how they arrived in their present position. Opportunity, curiosity and drive are key.

David’s road to ‘success’ not only included business experience, but invaluable life experience. David left school at 16 to go to work for An Post and would eventually be introduced to the field of IT while working there. After being made redundant, which proved to be opportunity in disguise, he went to work with Oracle and spent 11 years there gaining experience in the rapidly changing world of IT. It was only after reading an article in Business Week magazine that he and two of his business colleagues got an idea to set up Salesforce in Ireland. The very example of an Entrepreneur.

David tells his story in more detail in the Irish Independent https://bit.ly/3kpU1Sv

Photo by Mary Browne