Meet The Disruptors: Paul Sells of ABS Wavesight On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
As a leader, it’s crucial that my team has the agency to solve problems on their own but understands when it’s time to elevate a situation. If you can master those two things, you’ll be on your way to success no matter the industry.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Sells, CEO and President, ABS Wavesight™.
Paul Sells is CEO and President of ABS Wavesight™, a maritime software company dedicated to helping shipowners and operators streamline compliance while maintaining competitive, more efficient and sustainable operations. He is responsible for leading the development and innovation of purpose-built, integrated data-driven solutions that help clients gain more visibility into their existing operations to mitigate risk and deliver operational excellence.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
In short, my passion for technology and conservation of our environment. By staying true to my values, I’ve managed to lead a career that is purposeful. I was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is a beautiful southern city, but extremely land locked. In my adolescence, my family and I would visit the beach and I would be in awe of the oceanic landscape, so I’ve always felt this call to the sea. As soon as I got the chance, I followed that call, and enlisted in the Navy.
My time with the Navy further propelled my fascination with the sea. Experiencing it from the viewpoint of a ship, as opposed to the beach, was life changing to say the least. Many tend to get this sense of finding their place in the world through experiences like these. For me, it was being immersed in this vast, complex, natural wonder that only a few of us get to really see and experience.
Following the Navy, I studied and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, a passion I chased so that I could build ships. Soon after, I began working in shipyards — a career path that ensured I was always near the sea. And that’s what led me to my second passion — technology. While building, I took noticed that having to translate designs back and forth, manually producing 3D models from drawings was time-consuming and error prone. I knew there was a better way, so I made one.
And through that process, I discovered that my real interest was figuring out how to how to use technology to better communicate, design steps, improve processes, and make better vessels. I wanted to learn more and consume as much knowledge as I could about technology and innovation at the time. I had the chance to work with some of the foundational companies and technologists in computer vision, augmented and virtual reality, as well as some of the biggest names in enterprise technology. I left Norfolk, VA, where I lived while building ships, and found myself in the center of it all, working in emerging technology and splitting my time between Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
The startup life is a great way to develop leadership skills because you need to be able to work fast and smart, so you’re not left behind. It was exciting, but I missed maritime. Then, the shift to decarbonization began and that’s when everything came together for me — I could leverage the expertise I gained through my time in technology to use software as a means for maritime companies to begin operating sustainably and competitively. When I learned about ABS and its plan to expand its 160-year-old enterprise and develop a software company to do just that, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it. As CEO for ABS Wavesight™, I am spearheading a software organization committed to developing the technology our industry can use to competitively transition its operations while making an impact on our environment.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
The maritime shipping industry is at a pivotal moment in its history — it’s unmatched in the modern era. The good news is that we have the technology needed to overcome the challenges and rising pressures from regulatory bodies to reduce emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. For instance, not having access to the internet meant communication between shore to ship was unpredictable and unreliable. Now, we are seeing more connected vessels due to the introduction of satellites that orbit at a much lower level and can transmit incoming and outgoing signals 24/7. This means, we are now able to leverage the most modern technology approaches that built the web and Web2.0. By utilizing the best practices learned through building that web, in conjunction with the constant state of vessel connectivity, we’re offering the industry the ability to operate competitively while simultaneously maintaining compliance.
Here’s the thing: A lot of people look at maritime and see an industry that’s behind the times, but that’s not the way I see it. Shipping companies are pragmatic. Many of them have been operating for decades, and they’ve succeeded because they’re intently focused on a simple business equation: risk and reward. It’s about delivering a reliable service and keeping supply chains functional — not about keeping up for the sake of it. Operators have been waiting to adopt connected technology because there hasn’t been a compelling reason to do so.
Now, there is a compelling reason, and that’s really where we come in. We aren’t the reason for the change, but we will be the catalyst for the solution. We’re using technologies that have been honed and tested in other industries to deliver the solutions on which shipping’s next era will be built. I’m not sure I see it as disruption so much as offering tools that support the industry’s natural progression toward connected, data-led operations.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I’ve had quite a few people I considered mentors, but this specific boss of mine — from my days building ships — sticks out. He was this absolute force of nature. He stood well over 6 feet tall, and he had the personality to match. He was tough but fair and consistent in his high expectations.
However, alongside those high expectations, he had an unshakeable sense of what mattered when. I admired that. He knew when to push and when to give us a break, which is, unfortunately, a trait that’s less common in leaders than one would hope. Although I like to think I’m a slightly more approachable leader, I try to bring the qualities I admired in him — his intuition, prioritization skills, reliability, and commitment to his craft (ship fitting for what it is worth) — to my work each day.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
This — see I love this. In the tech world, everything is about what’s new and what’s next, and that’s great. Innovation is crucial to progress. However, focusing on “disruption” for its own sake is counterproductive. All the emerging technologies we have? They’re tools. They aren’t cure-alls.
This impulse to move to what’s new, simply because it’s new, leads to noise and misinformation about the actual potential of the technology. It muddies the waters and often detracts from the value of the tool. In my book, every “disruptive” technology — AI, ML, computer vision, you name it — has a time and place, but not every time or place is right for every tool. These “disruptive” technologies need to be used in the right situations and left out of the places they don’t belong to make room for more impactful, proven, solutions across the board.
Can you share the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
I really have two that I return to time and time again, and they go hand in hand:
- “Never ask permission to do your job.”
- “Understand the limits of your authority.”
As a leader, it’s crucial that my team has the agency to solve problems on their own but understands when it’s time to elevate a situation. If you can master those two things, you’ll be on your way to success no matter the industry.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
My goal is to use Wavesight’s technology to connect maritime entities with cutting-edge, venture-backed startups to help the industry meet the lofty emissions goals it faces while embracing a more connected, strategic future.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. I see it as a sort of guide to innovation and technological disruption. It talks about how companies in the business of innovation are always operating with the goal of building momentum and explores how knowing when to double down and hit the gas in the midst of that pursuit is the key to success in technology spaces. I really connected with its message, and its changed the way I view my role at Wavesight. Innovating is our business, and keeping momentum — pushing for more — is what will keep us successful in the long term.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Don’t try to boil the ocean.” To me, it’s a reminder that I can only do so much. So many people try to excel at everything or care about every cause — but it’s a fruitless effort. When I find myself feeling overwhelmed, it helps me remember to take a step back and take a breath so I can refocus my energies on the things that matter most. Boiling the ocean is an impossibility, but anyone can make a cup of tea.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Climate change is one of the most significant challenges we will face in our lifetime. I know not everyone believes that, but I do. I chose to focus on decarbonizing shipping because, honestly, there are few other industries in which the actions of so few people will have such a profound impact in mitigating its effects.
If I could curate a movement to do good, I would encourage others to do the same — not by pursuing careers in maritime tech, necessarily — but by picking the thing they care about fixing and devoting their time to fixing it. So my movement? Pick one thing and go for it. Stick with it. Be loud about it. Be excited about it.
No one person can fix every problem, but hundreds of people who care about hundreds of issues? They can fix hundreds of problems.
How can our readers follow you online?
Readers interested in my work can keep up with me on ABS Wavesight’s website and LinkedIn.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
