GET TO KNOW
side, more CIOs
are realising the need to invest in ‘core
modernisation’, part of which means fully
embracing cloud-based infrastructure as a
key focus in the coming years.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside of the office?
I enjoy walking with Zuzu, my golden
retriever, following football, rugby and
tennis on TV and reading long novels to
escape from work. Les Misérables is one
of my favourites, maybe because it has a
surprising connection to my job; Hugo’s
thoughts about the future of work in 1860
are completely relevant to thinking about
the future of work in 2019.
If you could go back and change one
career decision, what would it be?
I arrived in San Francisco in 1999, just as
the dot.com bubble was bursting and before
the web 2.0 balloon inflated, but I would
have moved there much earlier in hindsight.
If I had moved earlier, I could have been
Mark Cuban. If I had got there later (but still
younger than I did) I could have been Marc
Benioff. But je ne regrette rien.
The Internet is now
morphing into the
‘Splinternet’ with
three different flavours;
European, Chinese and
the original American
Internet. This is a big
challenge for CIOs, who
will have to manage a
growing number of data
policy-based environments.
This will require extra
funding, but there is always
a risk that non-technology
executives will look at
the issue as a ‘more money for nothing’
message from the IT department.
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?
Non-technology business leaders now know
more about technology than ever before.
With that knowledge, they have become
more demanding – questions such as
‘where’s our Blockchain strategy?’ and ‘why
can’t we just use Slack?’ have become all too
familiar – and a little knowledge can be a
dangerous thing.
Time spent fighting off the ill-informed is
time that CIOs could use on more valuable
tasks. With greater visibility of technology-
driven initiatives, CIOs have to be better
politicians than ever, something that they
traditionally have not excelled at.
“
I AIM TO HIRE
GOOD PEOPLE SO
I CAN GIVE THEM
FREEDOM AND
OFFER THEM THE
OPPORTUNITY
TO MAKE THEIR
OWN FOOTPRINT
ON THE BUSINESS
AND WIDER
TECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain a
C-level position in your industry?
Learn to speak ‘business’ as soon as you
can by taking as many rotations outside of
the IT department as possible and making
as many allies outside of IT as you can.
Most importantly, show that you love what
you do. Being known as a member of the
‘Department of No’ isn’t going to earn you
a place in the board room. n
What are the region-specific
challenges when implementing
new technologies in Europe?
Localisation of everything from language
to cultural alignment continues to be a
challenge for large multinational companies
in Europe.
A lot of technology is ‘global’ and overrides
national borders, but increasingly it has
to be sensitive to ‘local’ wants and needs.
GDPR is an expression of this new reality.
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