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Visionary leader, technology change-agent, innovative philanthropist, and trusted advisor…
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Alan Trefler posted thisThis is a terrific story about what thoughtful, disciplined innovation can look like in practice. NAB's work to scale AI in real customer interactions, while grounding everything in well‑designed workflows and responsible execution, is exactly the kind of forward momentum the industry needs. What really stands out is the collaboration behind the scenes. These kinds of transformations only happen when teams come together with clarity of purpose and a willingness to rethink how work gets done. It's energizing to see that spirit so clearly on display. We're proud to support the great team at NAB and grateful they are willing to tell their story so others can learn from it. Thank you to all involved including Peter Steel, Christian Nelissen, Jessica Cuthbertson, and Lisa Marchant. https://lnkd.in/eX-9rUps
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Alan Trefler shared thisIt is a real pleasure to work with thought leaders like the Ford team. Congratulations on the spectacular event that got everybody thinking!Alan Trefler shared thisHad an incredible Pega day event at the Ford GTBC Chennai. Lot of focus on the latest GenAI and Blueprint put together by Deepak, Krishna, Mark and Kaveesh from the Pega systems. The experience stations were really engaging. Deepak Visweswaraiah Krishna Potluri Flt Lt Vasu Tiruvali Ramaswamy Regis Kumar Thomas Kaveesh Joshi Rabi Asirwadh P MohanKumar Annadurai Ananth S Mark Abbott
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Alan Trefler posted thisThe recent New York Times article by Clive Thompson on what coding looks like in the age of AI highlights something many of us have been seeing up close: the craft of software development is rapidly shifting from typing code to orchestrating intent. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. For decades, we’ve been adding layer after layer of abstraction to reduce drudgery and elevate human creativity. What’s different now is the magnitude and velocity of that shift. The article captures an important truth. AI can take away the tedious parts of coding and leave teams to focus on the architectural, systemic thinking that actually drives outcomes vs. outputs. That aligns with what we see at Pega every day. When you pair generative capabilities at design time with predictable, deterministic workflows at run time, you get something powerful - innovation that is fast, responsible, and resilient. What developers describe as “talking to AI” mirrors what enterprises are now doing at scale. They’re moving from hand‑crafting pieces of software to shaping systems that can evolve in minutes, not months. This will work most effectively in the long run with guardrails to ensure enterprises can move fast without breaking things. Reliable testing, transparent reasoning, and workflow‑driven orchestration matter more now, not less. Here’s what I find really interesting. The soul of the work doesn’t disappear. It shifts. The real value comes from judgment, curiosity, and the ability to see patterns across complex problems. That’s where teams thrive when the foundation underneath them is solid. For anyone building the next generation of enterprise systems, the message is clear: AI isn’t the replacement for software development. It’s the accelerator. And if we design it thoughtfully, we can build better, faster, and with far more humanity at the center. https://lnkd.in/eK-XAAe7
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Alan Trefler shared thisHere's something I think about a lot: the enterprises that will win in the next decade aren't the ones that move the fastest. They're the ones that move the fastest without breaking the things that matter. Vibe coding has opened up the ability to describe what you need and watch it materialize right away. Sometimes "built in an afternoon" can quickly become "audited for six months" if you're not building on the right foundation. That's not a reason to slow down. It's a reason to build smarter. We explored all of this in comic form. By their nature, comics have always helped people visualize new worlds, and that’s exactly what we’re standing on the edge of right now. (And admittedly, in this comic world, I’m always having a good hair day.)Alan Trefler shared thisSome tech moments are so transformative, white papers don’t do them justice. In The Transformation Chronicles, our new thought leadership comic series, hear straight from Alan Trefler on where the future of the enterprise is headed. In Issue #1, Alan explores the power of vibe coding. How do you move at the speed of AI without losing control of what you just built? Read up & stay tuned for more! (Hey Alan Trefler, we hear your illustrated alter ego has some thoughts on “good vibes.” Care to weigh in? 😉)
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Alan Trefler shared thisSeventy years after Dartmouth helped launch the field of artificial intelligence, it was energizing to bring the conversation back to Tuck for a discussion on what happens when AI stops just creating content and starts running businesses. The McLaughlin Atrium was full of Tuck MBA students, Dartmouth students, faculty, staff, and members of the Upper Valley community, all leaning into the future of AI in business and the role leaders will play in shaping it. Loved how engaged the audience was throughout, and the questions went right to the heart of the future of AI in business. Returning to the campus where undergraduate work first sparked my fascination with AI and ultimately the reason I started Pega, was a powerful reminder of how far the field has come, and how many important questions still lie ahead. Grateful to Larry Weber for being a terrific partner in the conversation, to Patrick Wheeler and the The Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck School of Business team for hosting, and to the Tuck community for such thoughtful engagement.
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Alan Trefler posted thisIt’s always a pleasure to speak with Jon Fortt. This week, we talked about what AI really means for enterprise software at a time when some are predicting a “SaaSpocalypse.” The market is wrestling with a lot of noise, and some of the conclusions being thrown around don’t hold up to how real businesses operate. There is no question that AI will reshape how companies engage with customers and how work gets done. But it is a mistake to assume that connecting agents to data is enough to run an enterprise, or that code generation somehow makes robust orchestration platforms unnecessary. Some vendors will struggle in this moment, but our clients run mission‑critical operations that depend on workflows, governance, and architecture that reflect how their businesses actually function. In those environments, AI strengthens well‑designed systems rather than replaces them. The meaningful distinction is how AI should be used and when. At design time, AI can help teams rethink processes, modernize legacy estates, and imagine better ways of operating. At runtime, businesses need predictability, explainability, and auditability. That is where we provide a structural advantage over approaches that reinvent the problem on every interaction. What we see across industries is not the collapse of software, but the growing need for systems that can adapt with clarity and predictability as the world changes. That has always been our focus. Thanks, Jon, for the thoughtful conversation, and to our teams, partners, and clients who continue to tune out the drama, focus on outcomes, and use AI to move from experimentation to execution. https://lnkd.in/dghWA6it
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Alan Trefler posted thisAGI is dominating a lot of the stage time in Davos this week. Some leaders are predicting one‑ or two‑year timelines, others are debating what happens the day after AGI arrives, and entire sessions are built around speculative futures. It is attention‑grabbing, for sure. But there is also a very different conversation happening in the rooms where enterprise reality meets ambition. Many leaders are now preoccupied with a more grounded question: How to use AI at scale inside systems that were never designed for it? And candidly, that is the obsession that matters. The reality is that organizations are not being held back by the models. These days, the biggest challenges come from trying to bolt AI onto brittle workflows designed assuming a human will do the work, rather than automation or AI. Teams often misuse generative reasoning at runtime, hoping it will magically fix structural issues, rather than applying it thoughtfully at design time to reinvent the way work gets done. That is where unpredictability creeps in, and where promising pilots fail to scale. We see repeatedly that AI failures are strategy failures. Unclear outcomes, fragmented processes, and legacy architectures limit value more than any model constraint. Leaders who are genuinely focused on AI at scale are the ones leaning into rethinking workflows, modernizing systems, and building environments where AI can operate predictably, transparently, and with the reliability that regulated industries demand. And this is where the theme in Davos about broadening the dialogue is so important. Ideally, the conversation should balance the AGI fascination with a more practical question: How do we design systems and workflows that allow today's AI to work safely, efficiently, and repeatedly? When organizations invest in guided, workflow-driven AI instead of runtime improvisation, they create the conditions for real transformation. AGI may come someday. But AI at scale is the challenge that defines enterprise competitiveness right now.
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Alan Trefler shared thisI’m proud that Pegasystems is joining this World Economic Forum effort to ensure opportunity in an increasingly AI-driven world. We’ve committed to support 10,000 individuals through skills-development programs, empowering a new generation of innovators with Pega Blueprint™ and future-ready skills. We’re making Blueprint available to our community, and with over 200,000 Blueprints created so far, it’s already transforming how organizations design and deliver applications. As the reach of Blueprint expands, it will empower an increasing community of digital pioneers to harness the power of AI. But technology alone isn’t enough. That’s why we’re also leveraging the Pega University Academic Program, our global initiative to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Through hands-on training in AI, cloud, and essential human skills like design thinking and consulting, we’re helping people thrive in the Intelligent Age. AI is changing the nature of work. Let’s make sure it changes lives for the better. Learn more about the pledge and join us in building an inclusive future. https://lnkd.in/exv-uC79.Alan Trefler shared thisTech leaders from the World Economic Forum's Communications and Technology Industry Community have launched a shared commitment to ensure #inclusive, equitable economic opportunities in an AI-driven world. The pledge involves 25 leading tech companies, with a combined annual revenue of more than $600bn, which will support 120 million individuals with access to #technology, #skills and career pathways by 2030. Find out more about the scale, diversity and global footprint of the pledge here: https://lnkd.in/e9DvycFw #WEF26
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Alan Trefler shared thisthis is terrific - and i heard great things from clients too!! well doneAlan Trefler shared thisLast night in London, PegaFest was named Silver Winner at the B2B Marketing Awards - Best Brand Initiative category. 🎉 I couldn't be prouder. What makes this special is the journey. PegaFest began in APJ three years ago and scaled into a global program in 2024. And at the end of 2025; we’ve just wrapped another incredible year, with the momentum continuing to build. 🚀 The spark? A Sydney tram ride in a post‑COVID world where Alison Chu and I were brainstorming how to truly engage our Pega Developer & Delivery Community. We knew one thing for sure: no more stuffy hotel ballrooms, with no natural light, death by slides. That’s not what excites these young developers - especially with our inability to maintain attention in a post Covid world (the game had changed!). Instead, we tore up the traditional rulebook and rebuilt it in electric colour - and created a festival of Pegasystems - showcasing the amazing new features within each annual release of Pega Infinity - getting our developers excited about banking their career on our platform, advancing their skills and delivering in hyper speed for their clients, employees, and customers. Across Australia, the US, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and India we didn’t just host events… we ignited a movement and we built a community. ⚡ 🎧 From music halls to nightclubs; to unconventional gaming venues and rooftop bars, PegaFest brings a raw, real, brilliantly alive global community vibe. The most requested (by clients) event in our regional playbook. And the results? Off‑the‑chart engagement. Real momentum. Real pipeline. Huge shout‑out to my PegaFest partner in crime Alison Chu, and to my regional team for turning this vision into reality - first regionally and now globally. We all share this prize together - regional marketers, global marketers, creative, SCs, CSMs, AEs, product marketing, regional and global leaders, MCs, Demo whizzes... the list goes on and too many to tag, but HUGE love 🩷 to you all. Don Schuerman Catherine Dutton Emma O'Brien Ayako K. Arindam Chakraborty Brittney McLennan Michael Brenner Carly Underwood Smerz, CMP Kait Strovink Carlos Perez Dom Gregson Michael Howell Karen Boles Jackie Flynn Pooja Sarin Golechha (she/her) Andrew Brown Nikola Pitman Eloise Forbes Rajen Sanggaran Chris McFadden Takumi Ozawa Deepak Visweswaraiah Minaz Tejani Sophie Baker #B2BMarketingAwards #LifeatPega #PegaFest
Alan Trefler replied to a comment
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Dr Jacqui Hepburn M.Ed., CFCIPD (she/her) So glad to hear that. Thanks for the feedback. We feel the same about working with you and your team!
Alan Trefler commented on a post
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Congratulations to Dr Jacqui Hepburn M.Ed., CFCIPD (she/her), her team at NHS24, and the Pega, Coforge, and Amazon teams for this terrific accomplishment. NHS24 does such important work for the citizens of Scotland, and it’s great to see them recognized.
Alan Trefler commented on a post
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Thanks Mass Technology Leadership Council and congratulations to the Pega Blueprint team for building and continuing to evolve such an outstanding product! I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished, impressed with your commitment, and excited by how clients and partners have embraced this game changing technology.
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Alan Trefler reacted on thisAlan Trefler reacted on thisI am officially back from maternity leave and feeling incredibly grateful. The time spent at home with my Sweet P was very special. I’m so thankful I was able to step away for 5 months, slow down, and be fully present for this chapter. Thank you for my team for holding down the fort while I was out, as I took on my new favorite title as “Mum”. And lastly, thank goodness for Blueprint building a plan to get us through his 5 month regression. Teething & rolling & growing. Oh my!
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Alan Trefler reacted on thisAlan Trefler reacted on thisSo incredibly proud to stand on the stage with the Pega team and applaud NHS24 for the recognition they received- winners of the Public Sector Innovation Award. This has been a truly collaborative initiative working closely with NHS24, Coforge and the Amazon team to transform the service NHS24 provides to all of Scotland. Dr Jacqui Hepburn M.Ed., CFCIPD (she/her) and all her team are well deserving of this award!
Experience & Education
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Pegasystems
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Volunteer Experience
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Founder
The Trefler Foundation
- Present 30 years
Education
Pam and Alan Trefler established the Trefler Foundation in 1996.
The Foundation launched its work in Boston through a deep, long-term engagement at Dorchester High School, a district high school in the Boston Public School system that was facing grave academic and administrative challenges. With resources, partnerships, and dedication, the Foundation and the staff of Dorchester High School made significant progress over nearly a decade, improving performance, graduation rates, and…Pam and Alan Trefler established the Trefler Foundation in 1996.
The Foundation launched its work in Boston through a deep, long-term engagement at Dorchester High School, a district high school in the Boston Public School system that was facing grave academic and administrative challenges. With resources, partnerships, and dedication, the Foundation and the staff of Dorchester High School made significant progress over nearly a decade, improving performance, graduation rates, and post-graduate success. When Dorchester High School was transformed through school restructuring in 2006, the Foundation continued its work at the new entity, Dorchester Academy. Today, the Foundation maintains an on-going relationship with Dorchester Academy, with a specific focus on Food & Nutrition. http://treflerfoundation.org/
Patents
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Methods and Appraratus for Integration of Declarative Rule-Based Processing with Procedural Programming in a Digital Data-Processing Environment
Issued US 8,479,157 B2
The present invention provides methods and systems for integrating a procedural computational model with a declarative computational model...
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Methods and Apparatus for Work Management and Routing
Issued US 8,335,704 B2
Methods and apparatus for service-level based and/or skills-based assignment of a work item to one (or more) of a plurality of resources based on fitness, for example, of skills required by the former to those provided by the latter...
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Rules Base Systems and Methods with Circumstance Translation
Issued US 8,073,802 B2
The invention provides, in one aspect, a method of finding a rule in a rules base that includes a plurality of rule entries, each having a rule and an associated objective and one or more associated circumstances...
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Methods and Apparatus for Digital Data Processing with Mutable Inheritance
Issued US 7,711,919 B2
A method of automated workflow processing includes transforming and object, A1, which is of class X, into an object which is of class Y...
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Integration of Declarative Rule-Based Processing with Procedural Programming
Issued US 7,665,063 B1
The present invention provides methods and systems for integrating a procedural computational model with a declarative computational model...
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Rules Base Systems and Methods with Circumstance Translation
Issued US 7,640,222 B2
The invention provides, in one aspect, a method of finding a rule in a rules base that includes a plurality of rule entries, each having a rule and an associated objective and one or more associated circumstances...
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Methods and Apparatus for Digital Data Processing with Mutable Inheritance
Issued US 6,976,144 B1
A method of automated workflow processing includes transforming an object, A1, which is of class X, into an object which is of class Y...
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Rules Bases and Methods of Access Thereof
Issued US 5,826,250
A rules base according to the invention comprises multiple entries encoded in a storage medium, e.g., optical disk, magnetic disk, or read-only memory or random access memory...
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English
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