From construction to Carnival Cruises - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast

Building the unsinkable stack

Ever had to refit a hotel that sails away mid-project? Steve Capper has.

What do parking sensors, AI and datacentres have in common? They all keep the world’s most famous cruise ships afloat - technologically speaking, at least.

In the latest episode of Ctrl Alt Lead, Tom Allen sits down with Steven Capper, CDIO at Carnival UK, whose remit includes brands like P&O Cruises and Cunard.

Formerly a multi-award-winning leader in the construction sector, Steve talks candidly about the monumental challenge of running enterprise IT in an industry that literally never stops moving.

From bricks to boats

After 35 years in engineering and construction, Steve confesses to having become a “ship geek”. And his new role is no retirement cruise: within weeks of joining Carnival, he found himself mid-refit on a massive liner, where - ironically - he was able to draw heavily on his experience with major construction projects.

No room for error

Cruise ships, it turns out, are more like floating cities with their own datacentres - two per vessel. That redundancy isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. “It’s like Noah’s Ark,” Steve jokes. “We have two of everything.”

Each ship runs 365 days a year, and downtime in any system could have far-reaching consequences. Updates are rigorously planned around dry dock refits and, when necessary, IT teams are flown to catch up with ships on the move.

Some even live on board, proving that working in IT can, in fact, get you a cabin with an ocean view.

The tech behind the tan lines

Steve gives a rare peek into the full tech stack behind a Carnival voyage, from navigation and immigration systems to hotel, casino and restaurant management. Add in chartered flights for thousands of passengers, logistics for tonnes of food, and round-the-clock support – plus efforts to roll out AI for contact centre automation and guest experience optimisation - and you’ve got an enterprise infrastructure as complex as anything on land.

The full episode proves that IT at sea is about more than just WiFi and weather apps. It’s also about stakeholder engagement, tech-enabled transformation and above all else, resilience.

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