Ian Bower

Sr. Principal Consultant, NTT DATA UK

Management Consultant in Technology - I work for one of the largest technology companies in the world (Head office in Japan), and am a consultant in the London advisory business. I am a specialist in Agile ways of working, scaled agile transformation and Business Design. These are particularly interesting in today's world whereby companies have realised that they need to become more agile (not just in their processes, but in their mindset, culture and product development). Moving from traditional ways of working and culture to this is generally very difficult and requires significant coaching and trust. The latter is where Business Design comes in. Business Design is a relatively new way of building products and businesses, which takes Service design, product design and commercial viability into account. I see this as being the pragmatist in the room that helps break down pre-existing perceptions, opens up new ways of thinking, fosters creativity and helps make it commercially viable. One generally needs to be entrepreneurial in this role which leads me onto my other passion.
Entrepreneur - I have in the past and always keep dabbling in entrepreneurial activities. I have built and run an online creative agency, failed at many unsuccessful businesses from online charities to food delivery. But the latest one I am building is an online Business Travel Agency. I generally do this because I love to explore the world outside my immediate sphere of influence and to broaden my knowledge on different topics with a serious purpose. I find that my approach to these ventures is often from the end-user's perspective which once again compliments my skills in business design and product design.