Simon Lara serves as Chief Information Officer at SPS Poolcare, one of the fastest growing service organizations in the United States. In just four years, SPS Poolcare has grown into the largest pool service provider in the country by applying enterprise grade technology, disciplined execution, and a strong focus on local customer relationships. Simon leads technology strategy across the organization, overseeing platform design, data, security, and operational systems that support rapid scale. His background is unconventional, blending deep technology leadership with formal training in sports coaching and sports psychology, a perspective that strongly shapes how he builds teams, culture, and performance inside the business.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- How SPS Poolcare scaled nationally in four years using technology as a competitive advantage
- Why enterprise systems matter in traditionally fragmented service industries
- How AI is being used to generate revenue instead of only cutting costs
- The role of data driven insights in operations, maintenance, and hiring
- Why customer relationships stay local even as the company grows
- How sports psychology directly influences IT leadership and team performance
- Why team chemistry matters more than traditional IT service metrics
In this episode…
Simon Lara explains how SPS Poolcare approaches growth differently by treating technology as a core business engine rather than a support function. From supply chain to routing, reporting, and customer engagement, enterprise systems allow small, locally run pool businesses to operate with scale and consistency without losing personal relationships. He emphasizes that technology alone is not enough, and that trust, familiarity, and continuity at the local level remain critical to customer retention.
The conversation shifts into how SPS uses AI across the organization, particularly in reporting and forecasting. Simon describes an internal platform called Clarity that allows teams to ask questions directly of their data, uncovering insights around pool maintenance, vehicle servicing, chemical usage, and hiring. Rather than focusing first on cost reduction, the company prioritizes AI initiatives that support revenue growth, faster decisions, and improved customer experience.
Security and technology selection are framed as balance decisions. Simon outlines how SPS evaluates AI first tools alongside established platforms, weighing innovation against resilience and experience. The goal is not to chase trends, but to build a durable, flexible security and technology portfolio that supports long term growth.
A defining portion of the discussion centers on leadership philosophy. Drawing from more than two decades of basketball coaching, Simon applies sports psychology principles to corporate IT leadership. He explains how team chemistry, shared goals, and mutual accountability outperform traditional service models built on tickets, SLAs, and customer service metrics. By aligning incentives and encouraging teams to care more about each other’s success than individual outcomes, SPS fosters a culture designed to win, not simply operate.
Resources mentioned in this episode
Matthew Connor on LinkedIn
CyberLynx Website
Simon Lara on LinkedIn
SPS Poolcare Website
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