AECOM CIO and EMEAI vice president Steven Capper Job TitleCIO & VP AECOM EMEAI When did you start your current role?March 2014 What is your reporting line?EMEAI CEO and Global CIO Do you meet with and discuss business strategy with the CEO every week?Every month Are you a member of the board of directors?Yes What other executive boards do you sit on?AECOM Global IT Executive Does your organisation have a CDO?No What different responsibilities does the CDO have?I don't believe there is a difference, I am carrying out a wide range of things that would be expected of a CDO. What non-technology responsibilities do you have in the organisation?I am responsible for contributing to help win work. I am heavily involved in site safety and have to carry out safety tours. How many employees does your organisation have?100,000 Does your organisation carry out significant trade in the EU?Yes What number of users does your department supply services to?20,000 How do you ensure that you have a good understanding of your business and how your customers use your business's products?I have been in the engineering and construction industry for 26 years. I have worked in the operations side of the business and worked at the largest companies within this sector. Arup, Skanska and now AECOM. AECOM technology strategy and agenda Is your organisation being disrupted by the internet, mobility or technology oriented start-ups?No Are you empowered by your organisation to disrupt from the inside?Yes Describe a disruptive measure you’ve led or played a major part in?I am heavily involved in the deployment of iPad technology and apps such as BIM360 to significantly increase the productivity of our work force across our sites. Moving away from paper based methods of working! What major transformation project has been recently completed, or is underway at your organisation?We are currently absorbing 55,000 staff from URS, a company AECOM purchased late 2014. This is a significant project as you can imagine. What impact will the above transformation have on your organisation?We are striving to consolidate all systems and become the very best Design, Build, Finance and Operate business in the world. This project is going to take up to 3 years to integrate all our systems. On top of all of this we are trying to deploy a system that effectively pulls our many systems into a simple dashboard. Bringing together all useful bid information, tracking, leads, CVs, financials and so on to better enhance the way we engage. This brings together social media, Oracle finance, Salesforce and HR systems to name but a few. We are actively encouraged to be at the forefront of innovation and to contribute towards our common goal. How has your leadership style contributed to the outcomes of the transformation project?I believe I am a people person with common sense, I am heavily involved in the people side of the integration. Bringing together two large IT teams to act as one and drop the legacy way of thinking. What key technologies do you consider enable transformation?Office 365, Salesforce, Social Media, Chatter and Cloud storage. Are you increasing the number of cloud applications or infrastructure in use at your organisation?Yes What is your information and data analytics vision for the organisation?We are currently pulling this together, but we want to leverage the cloud where possible. How is mobile and social networking impacting operations and customer experience?BIM is a major factor in how we can deliver on time and on budget. We are heavily utilising mobile technology to speed to delivery of our projects and share data with our clients to enhance their experience. We are now looking into 3D printing for both visual and real life use. All 100,00 of our staff are connected to Chatter to communicate across our business and find people with the relevant experience to help on a project. AECOM also have managed Twitter feeds to connect with our clients and the public. Describe your strategic vision towards shadow IT and BYOD. How do you influence and engage executives and employees around choice?We have deployed BYOD to the Americas and about to follow suit across the other regions. Shadow IT is becoming less of an issue as we are actively connecting everyone involved in any form of IT so we can collectively bid for IT projects or support the rest of the business in the bidding process for other projects. Reporting lines are about to be changed to ensure everyone is connected to IT. The executives across the business are much more trusting of IT now we are engaging at the right level, our staff are very happy with IT and personal choice is a bonus. What strategic technology deals have been struck and with whom?We are currently re-tendering with Autodesk, Verizon, Bentley, Microsoft and Dell to name but a few, considering the additional requirements of the 55,000 new staff. AECOM IT security and budget Has your organisation detected a cyber intrusion in the last 12 months?Yes Has cyber-security risen up your management agenda?Yes Does your organisation understand the potential cyber-security threats it faces?Yes Has this led to an increase in your security budget?Yes What is the IT budget?EMEAI £35M – Globally £250M How much is the IT operational spend compared to the revenue as a percentage?1% What is the strategic aim of the CIO and IT operations for the next financial year?To bring two large companies together with no disruption, internal IT service to be the best, driving synergies and helping to win external work. Are you finding it difficult to recruit the talent you need to drive transformation?No Has recruitment and retention risen up your agenda as a CIO?Yes Are you looking for recruits in the EU to fill the skills shortage you have?Yes Does your IT organisation operate an apprenticeship schemeYes AECOM technology department How would you describe your leadership style?I am relaxed and confident in my ability to engage with people at all levels, I am very much a people person having worked at all levels. I have transformed teams, recently taking the IT team at Skanska, ranked 22nd and last in the company staff survey of all groups (including business lines), to No1 inside 14 months. Explain how you’ve supported and developed your senior leadership team to support your overall objectives and vision?I have given my leadership team free reign to get involved in projects and make decisions for themselves. They are well aware of the overall strategy and goals, I completely trust them to deliver, this is the only way to make a winning team and get their buy in to support me in my overall objectives and vision. How many employees are in your IT team?EMEAI 230 staff What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff?Hard to quantify but we have at least 10-20% outsourced. Does your team include key skilled workers from the EU?Yes