Tom Clark

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2025.

Tom Clark is CTO within the Ardonagh Group, which provides insurance services with 11,000 employees. He is also a Non-Executive Director for a number of organisations.

Tom has been recognised in a number of Global 100 CIOs, UK CIO100, and Top 100 Technology Leaders lists. In 2024 he won Chief Technology Officer of the Year at the Digital Technology Leaders Awards and was Finalist for the IT Leader of the Year at the UK IT Industry Awards.

Tom has a Bachelor's degree in business studies and a Master's degree in IT management, and is a BCS Chartered IT Professional and Fellow. He is married with two daughters, two dogs and is a keen home renovator.

What's the most exciting part of your current role

This has to be the phenomenal team I get to work with. It's the strongest, most positive, and creative team I have ever had the pleasure to be part of. Individually they are an incredible, award winning set of people – and collectively we are a force to be reckoned with who, have moved mountains this past year and driven best-in-class engagement throughout the team.

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

That's a tough question, as it has been a very good year for achievements. I think the most transformational one for our business is the change of our major service provider. We went through a full market review, site visits and customer references before contracting with a true leader in the field. This is going to be transformative for our colleagues and the delivery of change. Fundamental to this is how we have positioned them as strategic partners and not simply suppliers. I look at this transition as something seismic.

What's the biggest challenge facing IT leaders today, and how are you tackling it?

I think it's the pace of change across all aspects of technology. This means that technology or contractual lock-ins, which historically gave certainty and price benefits, can now hold us back as things move so fast.

I am tacking this through a fundamental tenet of our strategy which is to build in flexibility by design, so we can swap out components or suppliers without disruption. For example, choosing a partner for AI development that is not based on a proprietary technology and has the ability to take and use best-of-breed. That avoids the picking the shiny thing that is great for today but could be the also-ran tomorrow.

This requires the right choice of technology partners who can bring the experience, skills and capacity to solve your problems quickly and easily.

What piece of technology could you not live without, and why?

This would definitely be my phone, which is never outside of arm’s reach. Access to everything is there now and it can often feel odd to have to refer to a tablet or laptop to carry out any digital tasks. I saw the forecast recently that 87% of the world's population is expected to own a smartphone by end-2025, meaning it’s truly ubiquitous.

What excites you most about the future of IT?

It’s less about specific areas of technology and more about the potential for positive impact on businesses, the environment and society. By combining different technologies, the potential to solve real-world problems and drive efficiency is immense.

What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?

I worked as a snowboard instructor and was a sponsored competitor, representing various brands. However, this was surpassed by my job as a wedding car chauffeur, which involved managing unpredictable situations and handling challenging clients.

If you could instantly master one new skill, what would it be?

I would love the ability to quickly learn and speak foreign languages. I'm so jealous of people who pick up languages by osmosis and can instantly switch between them.