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What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
I think the industry is investing heavily in sustainability and it ’ s investing heavily in promoting developing technologies that allow AI to live at the Edge .
Certainly , at Iceotope we see those as probably the two most pressing challenges . How we actually manage sustainability and then the proper protection of the technology in the places where AI needs to flourish outside the data centre .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside of the office ?
I don ’ t suffer much from stress , I ’ m able to compartmentalise and multitask a lot of the time . I have a settled and happy home life as well . I play music , I build models , I have a workshop where I can do projects . I live in the countryside and we have all kinds of walks . So , I immerse myself in them .
If you could go back and change one career decision , what would it be ?
We can ’ t know what our different futures would be , we get to live one linear path and our choices are our choices . Life is good . Could it have been better ? Possibly . But we can ’ t waste time thinking about it .
What are the region-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in Europe ? reassurance . It ’ s less likely to be an early adopter of new technologies . But it tends to be a fast follower . Sales cycles can be longer as they ’ re more technical , they tend to be less rooted in value and more in technical detail .
But equally , Europe shows real leadership . It ’ s starting to show leadership on things like sustainability . It can be an engine that is driven more by the census model and hence is more driven to make sure everyone has the same solution or something like the same solution .
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 ?
The biggest impact has to be COVID . It ’ s changed the pace that we can do certain things , it changed the way we communicate , see each other and how we manage and motivate the team .
It ’ s been a huge challenge for us , but people have stepped up to it amazingly well . But let ’ s not pretend that things such as lockdowns have not harmed some individuals . Some people have done well in lockdowns , some have been absolutely miserable . And that can create challenges .
We are going to have to look at how we bring those people through the experiences they have had ; we are going to have to re-knit and recreate working practices because working from home is here to stay in different degrees .
Europe differs from other parts of the world in that its decisions are driven by data , consensus and
Above all that , the impact on young people has been horrific . We really have to give space to young people in these next couple of years . We somehow need to make that back up to them , because they ’ ve given up so much , so willingly , to protect the older population from this disease . We have to look to these people and help them flourish and invest heavily in them .
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain C-level position in your industry ?
I used to work for IBM and its motto for many years was ‘ Think ’. My experience says the real lack of thinking is probably the biggest issue that we face often in business .
I see people have opinions ; I see them work hard . But actually , sitting down and thinking , ‘ How will we do this ? How to position ? How do you solve the problem ?’ is the least common trait . p
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