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Pankaj Kane

Pankaj Kane

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2024.

Pankaj Kane is the Chief Engineer for Admiral Group. He has over 25 years of technology experience in financial services, having worked in India, New Zealand, Denmark and the UK. He brings with him significant experience in building an engineering culture and capability in large organisations.

How did you get into IT?

After completing my MBA in Finance from a reputed institute in India back in late 90s, the IT boom meant there were plenty of opportunities to get into the technology sector. I joined that influx, not knowing really what it mean, but it was the best decision of my professional life. This career has allowed me to learn so much, travel and work in different places, value diversity and become a more tolerant person.

What do you consider your greatest IT achievement of the last 12 months?

We have defined a comprehensive strategy to improve our engineering capability and in the last 12 months have moved the dial significantly. The implementation of our new operating model, career path journeys, upskilling, tooling strategy, automation improvements and a data led management of engineering maturity has delivered tangible and measurable benefits. These are both in terms of reduced cost and increased quality and velocity. Changes of this size and scale, in such a short space of time, are only possible in a progressive organisation like Admiral.

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

Admiral is committed to diversity and has been for several years. As part of our diversity and inclusion agenda, we:

I am a huge fan of diversity of thinking and therefore am a supporter of initiatives like Code First Girls, that allow people from different backgrounds to get in IT.

Which technology are you currently most excited by, and why?

Generative AI. The rate of change in the last 12 months has further confirmed in my mind that this is similar to an 'iPhone moment' in AI. I am confident that this is one of those innovations that will have a significant impact on our everyday life. Every organisation is busy working on use cases that will give them an edge over their competitors.

I am especially excited by the use of GenAI in the software engineering lifecycle. It will be used by engineers to write code, use boiler plate codes snippets, improve maintainability of codebase, improve refactoring, migrate from one technology to another, create test cases and test data, improve estimations and predictability - the potential is massive.

Organisations will need to solve security, data control, finding differentiation, managing risk and cost. We still must fully understand the social, commercial, and regulatory implications of this technology and as such I am watching this space with great interest.

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

I am always keen to be close to execution and this role allows me to blend the strategy, vision with execution. Although software building methods and automation are important, I spend most of my time thinking about people capability. Removing the blockers and allowing smart engineers to express themselves, within guardrails, is the utopia we are building towards. I also spend a lot of time talking about conveyor belts, manufacturing processes, removing reliance on heroes, governance as an enabler for agility etc.

All of these seemingly random words help me demystify the method of Software Engineering for my stakeholders. One can easily underestimate the effort needed to simplify and explain what engineering excellence looks like.

What's your secret talent?

Talent is too strong a word, but I am a decent cook and am half good at most sports I get involved in. I am also a performance coach, which is a very fulfilling experience.

What makes you laugh?

The banter between my teenage kids is my regular source of laughter. And yes... a good dad joke always gets me going.