IT Week's IT Leader Profile

Adrian Davey is in charge of the 100-strong IT department at track maintenance company Tube Lines

What does your job entail?
Defining the long-term road map for Tube Lines, in terms of applications and supporting the wider business objectives. Also managing day-to-day IT operations.

What was your first job?
Site production manager for the Reading Festival.

How did you get into IT?
I moved from management consultancy into a senior management role at a dot-com firm. I’ve been in IT ever since.

Which IT qualifications or courses have proved most useful to you?
It’s not about IT, it’s about business, so I’d say my management consultancy experience, which was similar to doing an MBA.

Which web sites do you have bookmarked at work?
I have the usual ones like BBC and London Underground real-time travel news, but for day-to-day work I use search engines and then bookmark an article that interests me.

How often do you check your BlackBerry?
Only a couple of times a day. I’m not an addict.

Which person do you most admire in IT?
The business-focused entrepreneurs, and although some are monopolistic, they have created industry standards that make life much easier for end users.

Which technologies do you most rely on outside the office or at home?
I’ve got a very high-tech bean-to-cup coffee machine that brews the perfect cup. It can even be hooked up to the internet to check it’s doing the right thing with the particular blend you’re using. I’d struggle to wake up without it.

Which recent IT news item do you think will have the biggest impact on your organisation, or the industry in general?
The power consumption of IT equipment is a hot topic. The industry really needs to start taking energy efficiency seriously. This is a major priority for Tube Lines – we reduced electricity consumption in our offices by 19 per cent last year, but the IT industry can help us do even more.