Recommendations
Leadership & Vision
I worked in a team led by Neil when he was BT's Digital, Data, and Integration architecture director. Not only is Neil a visionary architect but he is also a brilliant team leader. At BT, he managed a team of senior professionals and had the knack of creating exactly the right circumstances and motivation for them (us!) all to excel. I thoroughly recommend Neil to anyone who is looking for a technical leader who can get the content and the team right and deliver even in the most challenging of circumstances.
- He is the most forward looking, visionary leader I have worked with - He led and drove the biggest data initiative BT had ever undertaken as one example
- He is the best people manager I have worked with, able to create a superb team environment, even during covid, which in turn drove the team to produce significant outcomes
Neil is a fantastic digital leader in architecture, leveraging data and using AI. With excellent skills at managing demanding stakeholders.
I had the privilege of working closely with Neil at BT. His visionary leadership paved the way for a landmark deal with Google, one of the flagship project for BT. As the Principal Enterprise Architect for data analytics, I admired his unwavering support and his knack for encouraging bold thinking. The multimillion pound Data Acceleration prog to modernise BTs 200+ data platforms with petabytes of data was initiated under Neil's leadership. Above all, his empathy made him stand out. He skilfully guided the team through the challenging times of Covid.
Having worked in the same business unit as Neil for the last few years, it has become obvious that Neil has exceptional vision around both new technology and the way it can be used to drive direct benefit to an organisation. His ability to understand the business need and architect the appropriate solution to match that, while engaging the organisation to appreciate the value are unequalled in my opinion. His dedication to his craft is unerring and the professionalism he displays, and the visionary outlook he has makes it a real pleasure to work with him.
Strategic Thinking
Having worked with Neil recently at Fujitsu I found him to be extremely professional, a great communicator with a strong technical background. He has the ability to think across the whole enterprise and apply business intellect to develop a compelling technical solution. A calm and strategic thinker with a great depth of knowledge and experience to tap into.
Neil was always at the cutting edge of technology trends and ideally placed to set the direction for our architectural strategy. He has a keen eye for aligning architectural decisions with long-term business goals.
Sustainability
