Fostering a passion through innovation impact and mentorship: Grant Stellmacher

Just a year into working at RSM, audit associate, Grant was quick to adapt to our innovative culture.

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Culture Innovation RSM careers

Just a year into working at RSM US LLP, Grant Stellmacher, audit associate, was quick to adapt to our innovative culture. Grant submitted not one but five ideas to the RSM CEO Innovation Fund, which provides our employees funds to cultivate their grassroots ideas. He shares how his passion for innovation came about and discusses some of his favorite inventions so far:

I credit Professor Choton Basu at the University of Wisconsin for encouraging my innovative mindset. He taught us that innovation really is just a compilation of ideas that have already been proven, and extrapolated from one another, to build something that’s truly unique.

I realize I won’t be able to invent something as inspired as the internet, but I can make micro improvements built upon each other to create something different. And that’s how others can contribute to innovation too.

My favorite idea I submitted to the CEO Innovation Fund, and the one for which I’m pursuing a patent, is the Tribe of Mentors. This invention allows a user to go back in time and pose the most challenging questions to the Earth's brightest minds, even those beyond the grave.

Can you envision speaking with Albert Einstein, Socrates or any other thought leader on a virtual app or hologram? We can speculate what their most likely answers would be to your questions utilizing natural language processing. This tool takes user input and queries against open-sourced data available for the specified person. Even if the question has never been answered before, this invention can predict the most likely response through applied artificial intelligence and sentiment learning.

Like the name my invention suggests, it’s important to surround yourself with a tribe of mentors when innovation is a priority. My career advisor, David Hackbarth, has been one of my biggest mentors at RSM. He continually encourages and challenges me, helping me continue to build upon my innovative ideas.

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