Paul McGeady

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2026.

I am a determined, service driven, results focused IT professional with over 25 years' experience in delivering Technology-driven solutions. I have enthused the role that IT plays in the modern business, maturing it to best enable what organisations demand. I have achieved success in all aspects of the roles I have undertaken. My remit has been to enable organisations to be better, more efficient, more productive and more profitable. Maximising communication and collaboration; I bring the measurable and value-add contribution that today's boardroom seeks. I am able to deliver the strategic dialogue to executive colleagues as well as drive the resultant journey into all parts of the organisation.

What's the most exciting part of your current role?

We have done some exciting stuff!!

• Implementation of an internal IT team absorbing technical and management responsibilities away from contract resource.
• Infrastructure overhaul migrating away from a failing Citrix platform into a modernised solution
• Transitioning the entire service portfolio into the Cloud over an 18-month programme.
• Delivering a business benefit driven programme of works offering immediate value from targeted opportunities. E.g. utilisation of existing Microsoft technologies to replace expensive legacy solutions. (Approx. saving of £100k in year two.)
• Delivery of proven, robust and secure Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity processes.

We can now build on this foundation and I foresee the following exciting opportunities:

• Accessible digital services, websites, apps etc. allowing our residents to self-serve 24/7 -Automated communication tools such as chatbots, SMS alerts, triggers from our business applications etc.
• Extending our IT skills and digital learning into the resident community

Utilising technologies such as AI to:

• Monitor resident feedback and address concerns
• Implement predictive maintenance plans through analysis of repair history
• Automation of routine and manual processes.
• Utilisation of smart technology e.g. safety monitoring, energy efficiency, real time reporting.
• Improved data management supporting improved decision making

What do you do in week one of a new project to avoid pain in month six?

Communication is key. Obviously projects will need sponsors, resources allocated, test plans etc. however in week 1:

1. Tell everyone what we are planning to do
2. Tell everyone why we are planning to do it
3. Tell everyone when we are planning to do it
4. Tell everyone what it means to them
5. Tell everyone what we will need to ensure we are successful.

Before the end of week one we REMIND everyone of all 5 points above. It's an initial service promise that gets everyone on board. updates on progress are then welcome nuggets of information- not surprises

What’s the part of your estate you most want to simplify in 2026?

Data - particularly the process we follow when responding to Subject Access requests. It’s complicated, the requests are growing, and the quality of requests is improving thanks to AI.

Excluding smartphones, what piece of technology could you not live without and why?

My security dashboard. Constantly informing my team on landscape threats. It has an additional benefit in that it allows me to report our security confidence to the exec team.

What excites you most about the future of IT?

For me it's the way in which it can make a material difference to the quality of someone's life. We are looking at assistive technologies, so investigating how we can be alerted when someone is in trouble or distress etc.

The continued evolution of AI, where it will continue to plug gaps within peoples' capabilities. e.g. people with difficulties writing - AI can translate speech to text better than ever before. Real time interpretation from one language to another etc.

From a practical standpoint, predictive analysis so we are able to maintain our assets before they break.

What talent are you quietly proud of that would never show up on LinkedIn?

Ricky Gervais follows me on Twitter (now X). He once commented on a photo of my dog that saw it then get half a million views

What’s your most-used keyboard shortcut or command that you wish everyone knew?

Windows+L - 25+ years in this type of role and still have to remind people to lock their computers :)