Coming Full Circle: A Network Leader's Return to Equifax

In this Q&A, we sit down with Ben Petty, Vice President of Network Solutions, to discuss his incredible journey at Equifax. From starting as a fresh-out-of-college network engineer to leading a global team, Ben shares insights on what makes the network team so essential to Equifax operations and how he creates a strong team culture.

Tune in to learn about the people, principles, and projects that define the Equifax Network Solutions team.

Tell us about your career journey at Equifax.

My career at Equifax is a bit of a riddle, but the answer is pretty simple. I’ve been here for four months, but I also have 16 years of experience here, and it all started 26 years ago. It's a long history, but a great one.

I actually started at Equifax as a Network Engineer right out of college. I was on a small, two-person team handling all of our internet security, networking, and servers. It was a great learning experience. Eventually, our team was outsourced to IBM, and I became the Wide Area Network and Routing Team Lead for IBM, still working on the Equifax account.

After leaving for four years, I returned to Equifax as the Global Network Architect. My role evolved from there, first into a Global Cloud Network Engineer as we built out our private cloud, and then I was asked to start a new department: Data Center Services. It started small—just DNS, DHCP, and SMTP—but we kept adding more technologies and protocols like managed file transfer, VDI, tokenization, and encryption. It was an incredible ride.

Just recently, I came back to Equifax, and now I'm the Vice President of Network Solutions.

What makes the Equifax network team unique?

What sets the Equifax network team apart is our scale. I like to think of us as the 'UPS of the company'—the crucial delivery mechanism for everything flowing in and out of the business.

The network is absolutely vital here. We manage a wide range of infrastructure, from on-prem and office networks to everything that flows through the cloud. This provides us with a ton of really valuable experience.

And we're just getting started. There's still so much opportunity for automation and enhancing what we do every day. We're not a team that's just maintaining; we're constantly building and improving.

Tell us about your team’s dynamic.

Our team has a great dynamic. There's a lot of laughter and a huge amount of engagement and communication between everyone.

When I first joined, I sent out a survey to get a sense of the team's strengths and areas for improvement. The feedback I received consistently highlighted the high level of trust between team members and across different teams, which is a core principle of my leadership.

This trust fosters a strong culture of collaboration. Team members are always willing to pause what they're doing to help a colleague, regardless of their specific team or geographic location. This spirit of cooperation extends beyond our immediate group to our partners in Canada, the UK, and elsewhere. I'm proud of how our team consistently steps in to help where they can, and enable each other and the business.

Check out the video below to hear Ben’s top career tips and discover who would make a great fit on the Equifax Network team:

How would you describe your leadership style?

My leadership philosophy is built on two core principles: communication and trust.

First, I believe in clear, consistent communication at all levels. It's essential that everyone on the team understands our shared priorities, what we're working toward, and any challenges we're facing. This transparency is the foundation for the second principle, which is trust.

When there is trust at every level, a team becomes significantly more efficient and productive. Everyone is aligned on the same goals, and we can move forward without constant second-guessing.

One way that I provide clear communication is that I send out a weekly newsletter called “Monday Musings.” It's a way to provide a quick recap on our progress, highlight both our successes and areas for improvement, and outline the priorities for the week ahead. I also try to include a personal touch and some humor to build a stronger connection with the team.

Learn more about available opportunities at Equifax.