GET TO KNOW ...
On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .
Mark Lippett , CEO , XMOS
wWhat would you describe as your most memorable achievement ?
I ’ ve always worked in teams , so it ’ s more difficult to pick out individual achievements . But XMOS has been a great success – it ’ s a growing company and we ’ re moving it from a niche provider to a mainstream tech company with huge opportunity . Helping the team achieve that has been a tremendous experience .
What first made you think of a career in technology ?
My father was a technologist and I ’ ve always been inspired by his ability to make things work . As a result , I ’ ve always been one of those people that takes things apart to see how they work and ( sometimes ) put them back together again . As a result , I had more mains electric shocks than I could count by the age of 10 !
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
It ’ s a cliché to say you need to employ great people and get out of their way , but I do believe that . I ’ m all about facilitation – helping people to do their thing the best way possible . But I would add that while you need great people , you also need to give them a compelling vision to aim for and then to keep them safe – both psychologically and , just as importantly now , physically .
What do you think has emerged as the technology trend of 2020 and why ?
For obvious reasons , we ’ ve seen a huge uptick in the use of touchless , contactless and voice technology , particularly for anything that traditionally has lots of people touching the same thing , for example taps and soap dispensers in public toilets . These trends are , in turn , also driving the need for more intelligence in endpoint devices to make them work seamlessly . Alongside voice assistants , we ’ re now talking about embedding intelligence into more devices
“
MY FATHER WAS A TECHNOLOGIST AND I ’ VE ALWAYS BEEN INSPIRED BY HIS ABILITY TO MAKE THINGS WORK .
that surround us every day , so that we can truly use voice , alongside other sensor technologies , as a control interface in a much more diverse set of applications .
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
Again , for obvious reasons , the industry is seeing a lot more investment in infrastructure that allows people to work remotely . We are www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
81