Vipin Ahlawat - Director of IT Services, Loughborough University

What's your proudest work-related achievement of the last 12 months?

Bringing together all the staff with IT responsibilities from across the university to create one cohesive team, with a shared mission to support our staff and students in becoming an increasingly digital organisation. This has helped us cement our place as the highest-rated university IT service in the country, in the eyes of the students.

What's the number one skill today's IT leaders need?

The ability and willingness to make connections and influence beyond the traditional domain of IT.

How many people work in IT in your organisation?

135

What's your top priority for the next 12 months?

Increase the agility and flexibility of IT in order to respond to the uncertainties facing the sector, while also tightly controlling costs.

What's your annual IT budget?

Approximately £13m, across capital and revenue.