Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 18 | Page 83

A DAY IN THE LIFE GET TO KNOW... On the lighter side of things, we ask the industry- experts what makes them tick… Glyn Yates, Regional Director, Axios Systems Middle East What would you describe as your most memorable achievement? Personally nothing competes with creating happy children as an achievement. In professional terms my greatest achievement is with the achievement of others, those that I worked with and who have gone on to bigger and brighter things, both in IT and other fields. Every now and then I will have one of my old teams send a kind reminder of our time together and how they are still successfully employing the methodologies from the coaching/ mentoring and daily interaction we had. What do you think will be the hot technology talking point with be of 2017-2018? There are a few, from AR and VR to robot workforce automation, to even AI, however I still think the IoT topic has a long hype curve to transition, especially with understanding meaningful What made think of a career in real-life applications and how to monetise that from a value technology? proposition perspective, taking it from niche into mainstream. With an honours in Chemical Engineer I was due to enter the O&G Within Service Management, the ability to integrate with leading space, however as I was completing University there was a cyclical edge technology stacks to automate end to end service delivery trough for the Oil market, so at 21 I started working for a regional throughout the enterprise is critical to streamlining operating costs while improving auditability and customer/citizen satisfaction. company in the UK selling photocopiers and fax machines under the tutelage of a proper old-school hard-nosed Sales Director, How do you deal with stress and who I thank to this day. A few roles and many years later I really enjoy evangelising about the enablement of business through unwind outside the office? technology. To unwind I have to physically hide my phone, and my daughter What style of management is the greatest advocate of that, so my time with my family is very precious and welcome. Other than that I try to hack around a golf philosophy do you employ with course every now and then, attend most of the concerts in Dubai your current position? and I follow a lot of live sport. That’s a difficult one to pigeon-hole, as you need to have many If you could go back and change a management styles in many situations, however as an overriding core philosophy I would have to say I reinforce the concept of career decision, what would it be? legacy – that being in 10/15/20 years, if you were to look back on There has been no role that I would change, as I’ve learnt from yourself today, how would you want your family, your company, the good and bad of each one, however I would go back and your customers and your market to remember you as, and how does that differ from how you are perceived today…then work on address my expectations of a few of the people I have worked with the gaps. I use mantra’s like ‘do the right things, at the right times over the last 25 years – those that I expected too little from and to the right people for the right reasons’ which I affectionately call those that I expected too much, which would have culminated in The Lost Rights, and ‘succeed in spite of, don’t fail because of…’. better outcomes for both persons. Thankfully I’m older and a wiser now, but still open to learning everyday. Make things simple and execute well. www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 83