Keith Bentley, CTO of Bentley Systems

The Bentley brothers run the show at Bentley Systems, creators of MicroStation, the 2nd most popular CAD program in the world. We found Keith in London, where Bentley Systems was hosting its annual European user conference, BE 2007.

by Roopinder Tara, June 21, 2007

1. How many Bentley brothers are there?
   There are 5. Greg, Barry, Scott, me, and Ray. Four of us work for Bentley Systems (Scott used to but he started his own, non-CAD company a few years ago)
2. Who were the smart ones in school?
   We all did pretty well, but Greg and Barry were both Presidential Scholars.
3. Bentley's a private company yet it publishes a annual report. Why?
   We may be private but we think of our users as “investors,” and we do have many stock holders to inform.
4. Still, you don't report income. Is Bentley profitable?
   We have been profitable nearly every year in our 23 year history.
5. Do you think design software has more capability than users need?
   Advanced users would say it is not capable enough.
6. Do you fly first class?
   No, I'm in the back of the plane.
7. How do you handle jet lag?
   I don't seem to get it too much.
8. What is your favorite drink?
   Just a beer. Any beer. Yuengling is a local favorite.
9. How are you educated?
   Bachelor's in electrical engineering from University of Delaware, masters from University of Florida.
10. What is your view of the CAD media?
    It used to be more interesting years ago. Now I mostly read user stories, about standards and trends.

See more questions, including Keith's view of the competition and the next version of MicroStation, here.