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

Keith Williams , Chief Technology Officer at Capgemini Engineering

One of my most memorable achievements came last year when we partnered with the America ’ s Cup , the world ’ s oldest international sailing competition , to develop a way for TV viewers to visualise the wind over the race area – making the invisible , visible !

Drawing on our expertise in technology , engineering , data and design , we used LiDAR ( light detection and ranging ), sensor fusion and scientific computation to reveal the wind in augmented reality ( AR ) and virtual reality ( VR ) graphics . The technology , WindSight IQ , achieved a first in the history of sailing and broadcast television , and I couldn ’ t be prouder of the team who made it possible in just seven months !

What first made you think of a career in technology ?

Early on I became interested in safety critical systems . These are physical systems with computing as a key element , where failure can result in injury or loss of life . For example , it might be radiotherapy machines , railway signalling , air traffic control or helicopter landing systems .

I loved these projects because of the need of uncompromising quality and engineering precision to ensure maximum reliability and safety . I wanted to work on the most extreme engineering problems , so that ’ s where I gravitated .

What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months ?

Of course , AI has changed all our jobs in the last 12 months . But at the same time , it ’ s important to understand that AI is not new . In my first ever project back in 1994 I was using AI based image recognition techniques to process cervical smears using functional programming . That is still a trendy combination today .

So , what has changed ? The ChatGPT moment was important because it made AI and Gen AI accessible to your average person on the street and it put AI on the radar of CXOs . The current noise around AI is partly justified because it ’ s effectively solved the problem of communicating with AI . For the first time , it ’ s enabled a high level of interaction between people and machines .

However , from an engineering standpoint , AI on its own is still ultimately making educated guesses , which inherently limits its use in applications that require absolute correctness . In engineering we often need to combine technologies like Gen AI with other more deterministic models and approaches .

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

I take the ‘ shut up and listen ’ approach to management . To achieve the results , you want from your team , you need to manage reality , and for that you need to establish reality . Technology leaders need to be obsessive about attaining an accurate picture of what is actually going on and that involves listening . Related to that is focusing on details . You need to see the big picture to see where you ’ re going , but just as

The ChatGPT moment was important because it made AI and Gen AI accessible to your average person on the street .

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