CIO and Co-Founder at Not Just Another Group
Can you please provide a little introduction about yourself
Currently based in Oxfordshire, UK. I am the co-founder and CIO/CTO of Not Just Another Group, which comprises of a group of companies in the retail, manufacturing, consulting and events management space. I live in the countryside with a menagerie of pets, am super keen on all things mechanical & vehicular, and in my spare time (which there is little!), I am a student & practitioner of Wing Chun Kung Fu
What has your journey to your position been like? What path have you taken?
My journey to where I am today has taken a non-traditional route, insomuch that I was never a developer, or on the IT Infra side of Technology. My career started at 16, joining the Royal Navy as a Communications Specialist, which comprised of learning morse code, through to waving different types of flags, all the way to the complex world of military communications systems. The vast majority of my roles during this time were consultative in nature, yet also developing my position as a Subject Matter Expert in specific critical areas. Having spent both my formative and a significant period of my 20's in and around military communications, I went over to the private sector, gaining formal Project & Programme Management training, and exercising my newly found skills in large organisations such as SSE & Nielsen. Around 10 years ago, I decided to move back into the consulting arena and ensured that any consulting roles I undertook still had both the technological and strategic components that I had spent the first half of my career focusing on. During this time, I developed further my appreciation for the commercial side of Technology in businesses, whilst also developing wider knowledge and appreciation of fringe and emerging technologies such as Blockchain, AI and other technologies.
Has it always been your vision to reach the position you’re at? Was your current role part of your vision to become a tech leader?
My vision has always been firmly set as wanting to deliver the best outcome for whomever the recipient of my work is. Having spent many years working with leaders who have transitioned from Industry 3 to Industry 4.0, I have felt and seen the pain and struggles they have displayed navigating a rapid change of technological landscape, and this element, in particular, became my North Star to be able to provide my insight, instinct and expertise in current, historic & emerging technological trends and insights, whilst continuously improving myself as a Technologist, to remain relevant and on the bleeding edge of technology has, and will offer businesses and consumers.
Have you had a role model or mentor that has helped you on your journey?
I try not to idolise any previous leaders, as I truly believe in having an open mind (or empty cup in Martial Arts theory). However, soft skills as a leader are incredibly difficult to possess wholesale, and usually, our tech leaders are strong in one area, or another, but rarely in all. One such person who has acted as a blueprint to how I behave as a leader is Abby Jones, VP at Nielsen. I was fortunate to have Abby as my leader whilst delivering a luminary programme for Nielsen, and whilst the technology was complex, it was the leadership, diplomacy & calm under fire that has given me some of the blueprint I have taken forward in subsequent roles.
How do you see the role of the technology leader evolving over the next 5 years?
Technology leaders historically have operated in this air of mystique, where other areas of the business couldn't possibly understand the magic and complexity of what goes on in the Data Centre, or in the back of the thick client PC under one's desk. Technology presently has become somewhat demystified, and will continue to become more and more transparent...and less specialised, as we move forward with initiatives and technological innovations such as No-Code application development, and suites like the Microsoft Power Platform. In the next 5 years, technology leaders need to adapt to this democratisation of technology, and move into the innovation space, where emerging technologies such as quantum computing, Mixed Reality workspaces & AI can both accelerate the delivery of end-user solutions and also provide the platforms and foundations for yet to be conceived problems. Technology leaders need to accept, and embrace, the availability of more efficient solutions to service the daily needs of their users, and develop strategies to move the business away from the legacy IT consumption model that plagues enterprises, to much more flexible, Opex-led strategies that provide space for the introduction of these new innovations.
What skills do you think leaders of the future will need in order to thrive?
Technology leaders of the future need to develop a strong open mind for non-standard and non-conformist technology decisions and strategies. Everything about technology should be about control, but the last 5-10+ years have taught us Technologists that trying to control 100% of your technology strategy is like trying to push back the tide. Embracing the chaos of change is fundamental to providing the most appropriate service to your enterprise and consumers. Another area of development is familiarity of all things Enterprise. If you consider the often overlooked hub and spoke model of organisations, Technology should be the hub of the enterprise, with all areas of the business (Product, Finance, CEO/Board, Sales, etc) consuming services and giving back feedback/input into this critical function. As a leader, fundamental understanding of the operating environment, strategic direction, and how technology can act as a co-delivery partner is fundamental to ensuring that technology can stay not just relevant, but timely in delivering on the whole of the Enterprises commitments.
How do you keep current with new skills, technologies and personal development?
I think of myself as a grazer of information. I an constantly scanning the horizon on multiple mediums (websites, traditional news media, literature, etc, etc) for small indicators of information or opinions that either reinforce my views, or provide a counterargument, and deep diving where possible into the source material to understand more and to learn. Development of skills, and also personal development, generally comprises of more shorter form education and courses, as opposed to multi-year studying. One of the greatest innovations that isn't spoken about very much is the availability, method of delivery, and richness of content we have around technology learning. If there is an area where my knowledge is not strong, I can become proficient enough to engage engineers in deep conversation in a matter of hours now, which is fantastic.
What do you see as the next leap in technology that will impact your business or industry in particular?
I would say AI, as this is likely the go-to for most industry leaders, let along technology leaders. However, AI in and of itself isn't going to be enough to move the needle in a meaningful way. I see a combination of Industrial IoT, AI and Low/No-Code platforms as a combination of technologies that will have a huge impact across all of our businesses. As we see lower-skilled workers displaced by the emergence of AI, these resources can be reutilised to take advantage of the combination mentioned above, and bring the knowledge and expertise of working directly at the source of the operation, to developing and optimising the technology tools that have replaced them in their previous roles.
"As technology leaders, we are custodians of outcomes that are only partially our successes."
If you were mentoring a leader of the future, what advice or guidance would you give to help them on their way?
Be open to all opinions. It is easy to think that you are the gatekeeper to the success of the organisation, but as technology leaders, we are custodians of outcomes that are only partially our successes.Is there anything in particular that you would still like to achieve in your career or what is the next step on your journey?
There is always so much to do, and very little time! Apart from delivering on my current commitments of course!, I would like to develop a solution for the general public. I have studied and researched Smart City technologies, which subsequently has a lot to offer manufacturing!, and if I can contribute in any way to this, that would fulfil a dream of mine for sure. It has to be impactful, improve or eradicate a real world problem and be free at the point of use. They are the conditions.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
Other details that you'd like to add:
Not Just Another Group are a Living Wage employer, paying all of our team members the living wage, regardless of what region/country they are based in. In our food manufacturing operations, we strive to demonstrate our mission of equality through developing products that suit every dietary or religious belief. We believe that there should be no barriers to enjoyment of our products, and therefore work with accreditation companies such as The Soil Association, Coeliac UK, RINA, etc, to demonstrate our commitment to our customers in providing suitable products that satisfy the spectrum of needs our customers have.
A big thank you to Dougie Anscombe-Stephen from Not Just Another Group for sharing his journey to date.
If you would like to gain more perspective from Tech Leaders and CIOs you can read some of our other interviews here.
