Kevin Heslop
CIO
Sanctuary Group
Kevin Heslop is the Group Director of Technology (CIO) at Sanctuary Group and he oversees the teams that support current technologies, deliver new and future technologies aligned to the needs of the organisation, manage data and analytics and promote awareness of cyber security. Kevin is responsible for supporting the roll-out of systems that enable the creation of internal maintenance services, leading the implementation of the Groupwide SAP platform, cloud strategy and migrations.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started my career as a technology consultant, working principally with software vendors. After that, I had a successful period of self-employment where I carried out programme delivery and assurance. This led me to permanent senior leadership roles, where I now reside as the CIO at Sanctuary Group.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Enthusiasm is a core foundational value. You need to love what you do and have a passion for gaining positive outcomes. It's impossible to bring a coalition for positive change without a love for what you do and what's possible.
With disruption being a key theme of the past year, where do you see your role as a CIO going in the next 1-2 years?
The CIO needs to be part of the culture movement these days, and I'm getting more involved with shaping the culture at Sanctuary. The pandemic has changed many norms around how companies engage with colleagues and customers, and positive culture changes will be key to future successes.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CIO?
Time management is a vital part of this role. Allocate your time to looking at strategy, business alignment, long-term planning, technology roadmaps, etc. Your ability to walk and talk about what's to be done, what it can do for the business and how it aligns to strategy will set you up for success. Also, build a group of people within your team and around the business who are aligned to these same objectives.
Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.
- I still try to play Ice Hockey despite being too old.
- I enjoy long distance running.
- I enjoy traveling with my family.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
The biggest value for me is the huge advantages that come from being part of a network of peers and benefiting from the discussions, idea sharing and support that comes with it.
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