GET TO KNOW
If you could go back and change one career decision , what would it be ?
If I run a tally , there are arguably a million errors and many decisions that could have been made sooner but , given we ’ re all an accumulation of our experiences , there ’ s probably nothing I would do differently .
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
Cybersecurity is an obvious one . In today ’ s times , it ’ s an evil necessity and we ’ ve seen decision makers becoming far more cognisant of the need to invest in robust protection measures . We ’ re also seeing companies spending a lot of money on taking friction out of the environment , to make the customer and employee experience better . The bulk of our advisory work is around simplification – using technology to make things easier . Everything else is secondary .
What are the region specific challenges when implementing new technologies in APAC ?
Our focus is on Australia and New Zealand and they ’ re both pretty good . Companies here are open to experimentation and to exploring new technologies and solutions . For a medium sized company like ours , working with Australia ’ s biggest ICT spenders , the big four banks , is difficult , but I understand why , given the complex , highly regulated environment they operate in . Our other real challenge is people . It ’ s a global problem and the number of female STEM graduates is particularly low . The issue is at the school level – the subjects they choose in years nine and 10 . Schools need to be encouraging girls to do the right sort of subjects , or at least not actively discouraging them . It ’ s way too late once people get to university .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?
It ’ s been a very unusual year but the main thing would be the complexities in managing people in a work from home environment , particularly younger people who need more guidance . At the same time , we ’ ve been going through a public listing process . In the next 12 months , the challenge will be managing in that listed environment . The level of governance , oversight and reporting is much higher and there are natural limitations on the things you can do . Instead of having a small set of stakeholders , you have thousands . I know the theory of the challenges having worked in the public environment , but there are still lots of learnings for me . The trick is to isolate the business from the pain of being public , by delineating the regulatory and reporting elements from the way you manage operations and people .
What advice would you offer to someone aspiring to obtain a C level position in your industry ?
Be the best you can be at the job you ’ re doing and always do more than your job description demands . Move on to broaden your experience , not for a more impressive job title or a few extra dollars . And don ’ t do it too often ; very few people in the networks I ’ m in job hop . You can get one or two mulligans if a role really is the wrong fit for you but generally aim to stay somewhere at least three years . Avoid playing politics – it ’ s an issue in every industry but if you focus on what you need to do , the rest will go away . And stay humble . When you look around the table and think everyone else is a fool , the fool is probably you ! p
80 INTELLIGENTCIO APAC www . intelligentcio . com