The Office of the CTO

Ian Smith

Chief Technology Officer

After achieving an Honours degree in geology at the University of Sheffield, I started my IT career working for the British Antarctic Survey, later moving to a warmer climate and joining the team that built the HSBC internet banking environment. My career path has taken me through many of the top global banking, utility and services organisations. Primarily focusing on backup & recovery and storage, I’ve experienced support, architecture and deployment over a wide software and hardware spectrum. My strong operational, troubleshooting and consulting base has given me a clear understanding on how to create, and communicate technology solutions to fix business issues.

The key focus in my life is to be a “hands on” technical innovator. While I have been involved in almost every aspect of designing, researching, developing and deploying commercial software, I still see my CTO role as one where I continually look to the future of technology and how this can be incorporated into the direction enterprise business is moving.

I need to maintain an awareness of current information technology systems in business, and more increasingly, consumer environments. To challenge the accepted and push boundaries, in order to deliver ideas and direction to the company. Working with my peers to pull on their experience and their knowledge enables me to think creatively.

As a CTO I look outside the technical role and work closely with other departments, to understand marketing, commercial and financial aspects to formulate a coherent vision of new technology we can deliver. In a fast-paced environment it’s crucial to be able to adapt to change, embrace new ideas and technology and, what I strive to do daily, to enjoy IT.

When possible, I enjoy adventure motorcycling and dream of completing the Dakar endurance event.

You can follow me on Twitter @iantsmith