On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .

Landing a multi-million-dollar , multi-year commitment from an enterprise customer four months after arriving at Solo . io in late 2021 is up there . We managed to find a client with a huge transformation program underway and the moons aligned . Growing our APAC team from three to 12 is another thing I ’ m proud of , mainly because our new joiners have come across from very large organizations like Google , Red Hat and VMWare . I took the leap myself because I believed in the technology and the organization and it was a good feeling to have that decision validated by people I really rate . They ’ ve put faith in me as a leader too and that ’ s flattering and humbling .

What first made you think of a career in technology ?

I stumbled into it ! I was selling classified ads at my local paper , the Reading Chronicle , in the UK . My mum was working as a facilities manager for a company called Integralis , one of Europe ’ s largest security systems integrators . Her job had nothing to do with IT but I met one of her colleagues at a barbecue and we hit it off . He was a sales lead and offered me an opportunity as an inside sales rep .

Although it was quite different from ad sales , my skills proved pretty transportable .

What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?

My philosophy has always been to not just ask people to do things , but to do them myself and demonstrate how . Obsessing about the customer and how we can make them successful is a key driver for me . I provide honest and direct feedback to my team members to help them grow and I like it when they return the compliment because it ’ s a two-way street . Outside of decisions about quotas and numbers , which we don ’ t have much input on , I try to bring people into the decision making process wherever possible .

Living in an ‘ always on ’ culture makes it harder than it used to be but having a supportive family and young children helps .

www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO APAC 79