James Whitebread

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2023.

James specialises in senior-level technology, business and operational leadership and development, with proven commercial and entrepreneurial flair. He has a track record of defining technology strategy and leading high profile strategic business initiatives.

James is experienced in leading and managing multi-disciplinary teams around the world - from the USA to Russia - and utilising core methodologies including Scrum, Agile and Waterfall as appropriate.

How did you get into IT?

It's really nice to reflect on this one. I got in to technology, as I would call it now, at an early age. Probably at 8-9 years old my parents brought me a BBC B, I learned to programme in Basic and play what I thought were amazing games. I progressed to an Amiga 500 and X86 PCs.

It seemed natural to go on to university to deepen that knowledge out of an enjoyment for technology. After university I couldn't imagine working outside of technology or with technology. Though I was still learning my place, I started my career in Kent Police's technology team in a civilian technology role.

How do you ensure diversity is taken into account in your IT recruitment?

At the Royal Opera House, we believe that diversity is about making sure we are able to attract and develop talented people who bring more, precisely because of the breadth of their diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures and outlooks.

Recruiting and working with talented teams is just the start. We are working to create an environment where everyone knows they belong and feel that they can do their best work. This requires inclusive leaders with the ability and desire to continually seek feedback, to really listen and to establish a culture where diversity is genuinely valued and promoted.

Success in this endeavour is critical to the organisation's future and we commit to holding our leadership team accountable for achieving these goals. It is vital that responsibility for EDI is shared by everyone within the organisation, and our strategy includes commitments from every area of the House, in line with our values and behaviours - Respect, Openness and High Standards. While our plan supports EDI in the broadest terms and across all protected characteristics, there is additional focus on addressing current under-representation in ethnicity, disability, socio-economic mobility and gender.

Our EDI commitments fall under six themes, which align with the Arts Council England's Inclusivity & Relevance Principles. This is a commitment in the organisation and a commitment in technology.

Which technology are you currently most excited by?

Whether you are the Opera House, a start up or even a global banking organisation, keeping pace with technology represents a challenge. One of the most important foci when it comes to the pace of technology is security. Here we need to ensure we are focused on risks as they occur, patching software and deploying new security controls as needed. We have no choice but to move with the collective pace of technology development.

Beyond cyber security, we have the opportunity to investigate, understand the benefits, and control how we might apply them to the Opera House; and to plan how, and when, the business case and technology is right for us.

For me personally, I really enjoy keeping as up to date as possible, whether on technology that is directly connected to the business or indeed to my personal life. I enjoy learning and continually developing my knowledge. I try to ensure I have a good technical knowledge of the technologies we utilise across the organisation, and those that are likely future state technologies. This isn't as straightforward as it was during the years I was a more hands-on engineer. I focus now on learning about a technology, often taking a certification to be able to calibrate my knowledge. Given the time commitments of my role I find myself squeezing time in on journeys, lunch breaks and the rare quiet evenings and weekends at home where I can be found watching learning videos or reading a good technology book.

It's always easy when talking out exciting technology to mention AI and the possibilities. Who hasn't heard about ChatGPT and the possibilities it offers? And of course that helps the technology industry and the creative industry to better understand the possibilities of AI.

I am, though, very excited about more down to earth possibilities: using automaton technologies, connecting systems together to join up datasets and allow the organisation to be data driven, to create even better stronger relationships with our customers and to ensure we are delivering the services our customers need.

I believe for many years organisations have focused on deploying new technologies, often siloed, and not often focused on changing the way of working or ways of interacting. For many organisations this represents an opportunity to optimise, to improve and to leverage further value.

What would an outsider find the most surprising part of your job?

The most surprising part of the job I have today is not the core technology management, relationships with the team and the organisation, but actually the opportunity to be part of a public facility, a historic enterprise with passionate members of staff, members, donors and visitors. And just how we can be part of the legacy in the way we support and operate the organisation.

What's your secret talent?

My secret talent, at least to my own mind, is my passion for the movie world. I have operated in the media and entertainment domain for some years and have learned about production processes, how content is created and how media is managed. I'm incredibility passionate about this domain.

What makes you laugh?

I really enjoy the obvious humour around human behaviour. The kind of aberration humour that explores the day to day behaviour we all exhibit. A friendly kind of humour, perhaps the Michal McIntyre form of humour