For me, cloud computing was probably the biggest game changer. It fundamentally changed the way organisations think about technology, moving from owning and managing infrastructure to consuming services with flexibility, scalability, and speed.

But I would say AI is now bringing an equally significant shift. Cloud changed how we build and operate technology; AI is changing how we interact with it, how we make decisions and, ultimately, how we create value. I believe we are still at the beginning of understanding its full impact.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” - you’ve probably heard this quote before. What we see as simplicity on the surface hides an extraordinary level of complexity underneath.

Building technology means bringing together multiple cloud platforms, distributed architectures, security, automation, observability, data and increasingly AI capabilities. Everything needs to work together!

The real challenge is no longer just making technology work. It's managing that complexity while making the experience simple for the people who use it. I believe that simplicity is one of the hardest things to engineer.

Cloud is becoming much more than an infrastructure foundation. It remains the platform that enables AI to be developed, deployed, integrated and scaled, but AI is also changing how we deliver technology solutions.

One interesting shift is the emergence of roles such as Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs), bringing engineering capabilities closer to the business and directly into the customer's environment. Instead of simply building technology and handing it over, the focus is increasingly on understanding real business challenges, experimenting, adapting and delivering solutions that generate tangible value.

I believe the future is not just about building better technology, but about bringing technology, engineering and business closer together. Cloud provides the foundations, AI accelerates what's possible, and people make the connection between the two.

I think so, and this is one of the most interesting changes we are experiencing.

We have moved from a world where access to information was a competitive advantage to one where answers are increasingly available to everyone. The real differentiator is becoming our ability to ask the right questions, challenge the answers we receive and understand what to do with them.

AI can accelerate our thinking, but it cannot replace critical judgement, experience or business context. In fact, I believe that the more powerful AI becomes, the more important human judgement will be.

There is a quote by Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, that has always resonated with me: "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it."

It reflects how I try to approach life, both personally and professionally. I believe we should be conscious of the impact of our decisions, understand that success is not only about what we achieve, but also about the difference we make along the way.

For me, it's about making a positive difference, however small, in everything I do. Helping someone move forward, creating an opportunity or supporting someone else's growth can have a lasting impact. And I've learned that when we help others grow, we grow too.

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