Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 07 | Page 101

GET TO KNOW... On the lighter side of things, we ask the industry experts what makes them tick. . . . Neil Stobart, VP of Global Systems Engineering at Cloudian What has been your most memorable achievement? applying for an IT graduate scheme at Woolwich Building Society in 1996. Building a team at Cloudian that has worked incredibly hard, achieved success and bonded as a unit. Creating an environment where there is safety for individuals to challenge the orthodox, do things differently and have the creative freedom to shape how we engage with our customers and shape our business culture. This is what I like to think I offer the team and hopefully they agree. The industry was completely different to today, but I have always loved it; that first graduate role gave me great insight into different disciplines and was the start of a life-long career in IT. What first made you think of a career in technology? A career in tech wasn’t always my plan; after completing a degree in Economics, I found that I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Bar work wasn’t enough to support a life in London so I ended up successfully “ The philosophy is simple: happy customers are loyal customers and we want all the organisations we work with to come back to us with any challenges that we can help them solve in the future. What kind of management philosophy do you employ with your current position? I believe in putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and treating them as you would like to be treated and this is the philosophy that I like to ensure that both myself and my whole team employ. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), MACHINE LEARNING (ML) AND DATA HAVE BEEN DOMINATING HEADLINES AND THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THESE TOPICS WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 101