We are pleased to welcome Andy Thomas to Sopra Steria’s ServiceNow practice as Principal Architect. His extensive experience in technology, developed over a successful career, will be invaluable for Sopra Steria’s clients as we work with them on their transformation programmes.
To get to know Andy better, we asked him some questions about his career to date, and how this has shaped his views on technology.
Interviewer: Hi Andy. Welcome to the team! I’m sure you’ll be a great addition to the ServiceNow practice. Tell us a bit about how you’ve got to this point in your career. How did you start out?
Andy Thomas: Thank you for the welcome! It’s great to be on board. Taking you back to the start, I wasn’t the academic type, but I had an interest in electronic engineering. I left school at 16 with the aim of a military aircraft electronics apprenticeship. But unfortunately I was diagnosed as colour blind and I had to seek another career path.
I’d had an interest in computers so went ahead and started a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) position at IBM, working in an IT support helpdesk role initially. I went on to work in managed services, both on the vendor and client-sides. I enjoyed managing the implementation of helpdesk technology, becoming the product owner and eventually a contractor helping organisations to migrate to new platforms.
As a contractor, my first client selected ServiceNow as its platform of choice, and 15 years later, I’m still working on ServiceNow implementation.
Interviewer: The rest as they say is history! What is it about ServiceNow that caught your eye all those years ago?
Andy Thomas: Well, I was drawn to the incredible growth ServiceNow was achieving. Its trajectory, even as the market leader, showed evident innovation. They were early adopters in cloud first development, which was closely aligned to my own vision for the future. As pioneers in SaaS and then PaaS, ServiceNow was moving out of IT, into a joined up single platform.
But one of the main things about ServiceNow is the true sense of community for all who work with the platform. ServiceNow wasn’t just winning customers, it was also winning people, creating a familiar and successful ecosystem – one that I wanted to be part of.
Interviewer: We’ve talked about the past, and your career up to this point, but what about the future of technology? How will the latest technology like AI impact the world?
Andy Thomas: I have to admit, I do spend quite a bit of time playing about with AI. But while elements of AI are new, there are also elements that have been around for decades. What’s exciting is the new applications in real world situations. It’s about using tech to make sure tech is doing what it’s supposed to do – solving citizen problems.
Interviewer: Who do you take as your inspiration? Who has changed the way you think about the future?
Andy Thomas: I’m regularly inspired by the people ‘at the coalface’. This is where I am inspired to understand challenges and solve problems. By talking to and listening to our end users, be they citizens, customers or employees, we can truly understand the issues they face and deliver the right outcomes, at the right time.
Connect with Andy on LinkedIn to discuss more about Sopra Steria’s growing ServiceNow practice.