Zakki Ghauri

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

Zakki has been working in local government for over 20 years and has worked for a number of London councils during this time. He is currently the Group Director of Digital & IT for the City of London Corporation and the City of London Police, where his focus has been on stripping away complexity and bringing IT across the wider organisation together.

Zakki sits on the Local Government Digital Panel, LGA AI Steering Group and serves as a Local Government Association Peer for Cyber Security. He also advises on national campaigns and projects to improve cybersecurity across the sector.

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

The most exciting part of my job is the ability to shape real change at scale. As the Group Director of Digital and IT, I'm not just responsible for technology, but for how the organisation thinks, works, and serves London in a rapidly changing world. I get to influence strategy, culture and delivery, turning ambition into practical outcomes that make a genuine difference to colleagues and the public.

Whether it is modernising core systems, adopting AI tools like Copilot, or building strong data and cyber foundations, I am involved at every stage – from committee papers and investment decisions through to frontline delivery. Seeing complex programmes land successfully across a highly federated organisation is both challenging and deeply rewarding.

The role sits at the intersection of people, politics and technology, which is intellectually stimulating. Balancing risk, governance, pace and innovation while navigating a historic institution requires judgement and adaptability. No two days are the same!

Above all, it is the people element that makes the job exciting. Supporting talented teams, developing future leaders, and creating the conditions for them to succeed gives the work meaning. Knowing that what we build now will leave a lasting legacy is a powerful motivator.

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

Carry out a "pre-mortem" - getting the team together to think of all the ways the project could go wrong in the future.

We run a structured exercise where the team assumes that the project has failed, and they work backwards to identify and mitigate the causes before delivery begins.

We have found that IT projects fail less often because of technology and more often because of:

A pre-mortem ensures that we pick this up in advance and put the right mitigations in place.

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

Our network infrastructure. We have over 120 different offices, and they use different connectivity standards and methods. We are looking to have a single solution covering all of our 120+ sites.

We're moving to a SASE solution which will be the largest public sector roll out - using over 65 miles of cabling!

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

My Apple Watch. It tracks my workouts, sleep, allows me to leave my phone at home and go for a run, plays my Audiobooks and Podcasts without the need for a phone, and allows me to pay for things!

What excites you most about the future of IT?

The pace of change is unparalleled, and with the rapid changes to AI, I'm excited about what the future will be.

In over 22 years of working in the IT space, I haven't seen the pace of change anywhere near as fast as it is, and I firmly believe that AI will ultimately be a force for good.

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

I'm a father of four children with my oldest being 16 and youngest being 6.

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

Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V