William Avila, Mobile Herd Management Solutions Product Manager at VAS, spent many summers as a young boy on the farm creating lasting memories and learning life lessons. Whether at home on the farm, in ag classes at school or while showing registered Holsteins at the county fair, William set out to learn as much as he could. He applied those learnings on his grandfather’s dairy and in his role with VAS after the herd’s dispersal in 1985. “All those years of being on the family dairy helped prepare me for my role at VAS and for life,” William recalls.

Growing up in the dairy industry has shaped who William is today. He’s proud to follow in the footsteps of his Portuguese ancestors – whose involvement in and commitment to agriculture runs deep. In fact, the cow is largely woven into Portuguese history and celebrated often at Portuguese festivals and celebrations. “Dairy is a great teacher for how to master life’s challenges. There is always something new to learn and you see how it benefits the people of the world in countless ways,” William explains.

Outside of his 35-year-long career at VAS, William shares his passion for agriculture and expertise in product management as an industry advisor for the computer sciences department of a local high school. William enjoys sharing with students how he uses his special insights from growing up on a dairy to foster creativity from users and developers when solving workflow challenges.

From the beginning until now, there’s no question that William takes great pride in serving dairy farmers.