The Long and Winding Road

A Career of Adapting to Change

Natural Evolution

Having followed this summer’s music festival season, I was struck by how much these events had changed over the years. Places like Glastonbury are now (relatively) civil and for the most part family friendly affairs, with a broad array of music from all genres. A far cry from my early experience of festivals in the height of Grunge, Indie and Post-Punk, where the atmosphere was somewhat more ‘dirty’ (I think the less said about that, the better).

This got me thinking about how industries, and the people within them, need to evolve to stay relevant (65% of the jobs that exist today did not 20 years ago). In the same way, the music industry has changed from a band focussed industry to solo artists, this is highlighted by the fact that from 1990 to 1995 141 weeks of UK number ones were bands, compared to 3 weeks for the first 5 years of this decade, with one of those weeks belonging to The Beatles.

So how are The Beatles still relevant? In the early 1960s The Beatles started as a band with foundations in rock and roll providing them a platform for the musical evolution that followed. Using this platform, they grew from their straightforward pop sound to more sophisticated and diverse musical explorations, with new instruments and lyrical themes, where they reinvented themselves several time to push the musical boundaries. Because The Beatles always sought to evolve their sound and move with the changing musical landscape, they have managed to transcend generations and remain relevant 50 years on from their break-up.

The Beatles demonstrate the importance of being able to adapt to change and embrace new techniques and technologies. Being adaptable is something I am a strong believer in and tried to adopt throughout my career from a humble chemistry graduate over 20 years ago to leading digitalisation in the energy industry today.

The Chemist

Knowing what I do now people are often surprised that I am a chemistry graduate, the inevitable questions are asked of ‘why chemistry?’ and ‘how did you get here?’. The short answer to this is that I have always tried to follow what my interests, intuition and what I think I am good at. That is why I majored in chemistry with no real foresight of future progression or ambitions, but perhaps this attitude is why I have always embraced change.

Looking back at my career, I am a firm believer that strong foundational knowledge is the key to being adaptable. My early work in chemistry, at university and my first role in the labs at ICI Paints, provided me with that foundational knowledge of the principles and laws that govern the physical world that I have applied throughout my career.

In at the Deep-End

My first ‘real job’ was in oil & gas production chemistry with Oil Plus. A job which manifested itself because it was in an industry that interested me, and that my father worked in, and that the Oil Plus offices were really close to my house!

Oil Plus were a small organisation and a sink or swim situation for a young aspiring chemist. You were in the door and quickly being sent out to provide consulting services in an array of diverse locations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In Kuwait, I worked on a project where we were tasked with checking the composition of each well in the Burgan field (there were 100s). This meant towing a mobile laboratory offroad to numerous well pads each day, despite any prevailing weather (once after heavy rain the roads washed away), it felt like an elaborate and really slow rally!

This role gave me real responsibility of projects early in my career and I learnt a lot from the Oil Plus team, many of whom remain friends today. It also taught me three other things about myself; that I love travel and broadening my cultural horizons, I am terribly clumsy in a laboratory, and I wanted to focus on flow assurance as my next career step.

Reinvention & Straya

The next, and possibly most pivotal step, in my career was my reinvention from chemistry to flow assurance, initially with Penspen, where I had some excellent mentors, who taught me the artistic side of flow assurance (imagine my reaction when being told by a colleague to ‘think like a gas’, but it works!), and later with JP Kenny, MSi Kenny, Wood Group Kenny, Wood Group (same company multiple logos). This involved steep learning curve (and chartership) to ‘become’ a true engineer, whilst still leveraging my foundational chemistry knowledge and it was during this period I made a move to Australia.

Much of my work at JP Kenny involved integration ourselves and MSi Kenny, as two companies acquired by Wood Group with somewhat ‘overlapping’ capabilities. This involved a lot of conflict resolution and diplomatic skills, but I deem it a success as it enabled my move to Australia, which was more opportunistic than planned, and based on a 5 minute ‘shall we go for it’ conversation with my wife.

My time in Australia was an enjoyable time personally and where my career really accelerated, by having the opportunity to run large mega-projects and ultimately manage the process optimisation group for Wood Group in Perth. It also continued to expand my cultural horizons, through the diverse Australian linguistics, and by living abroad.

Out on a Limb

After 5 years in Australia it was time to come home, I love Perth, but it is a long way from loved ones and often culture. This was a point of reflection on my future and where I decided to transition away from the security of the large organisation to start the regional operations of Assured Flow Solutions (AFS), with some former (and current, but more on that later) colleagues.

This did not come without risk and, yet again, some personal reinvention, but is a career highlight. We built an expert team and consulting business, with a great industry reputation, to the point of acquisition by a private equity backed laboratory services company (SPL). AFS was a nimble, fast-paced and hugely enjoyable work environment with some great travel opportunities (apart from a puncture in a desolate location in Cyprus) and lifelong friends made along the way.

It is at AFS where I recognised the increasing importance of data in decision-making, so began the next reinvention of my career into becoming an energy industry leader in data analytics and digital. A departure from previous roles, but utilising the same basic principles in physics and data analytics.

It is also during this period I learned about how challenging and transient the private equity market can be, not only with acquisitions, but also changes in strategy and business direction, which led to my decision to depart and pursue of new horizons in data & digital with Wood.

Integration with Digital

My role with Wood Digital Consulting provided me the opportunity to broaden my horizons once again, guiding the strategy for digital partnerships in Wood required an understanding the capabilities and intricacies of data and AI platforms and how they can optimise energy production and decarbonisation. This allowed me to adapt my skillset to the rapidly expanding digital age, by learning new technologies and applying them in an innovative manner.

Unlike many, I do not see a transition to digital as a move away from science and engineering, but an opportunity to use foundational knowledge to integrate digital and AI as an additional tool for enhancement of capabilities.

Return of the King

Now it is time for my next step with Pontem Analytics to lead the growth of the company in engineering, digital, data and AI. A great opportunity to work with many of those previously mentioned friends and colleagues and, hopefully, a fitting culmination of my career evolution to date.

At Pontem, we believe in staying at the forefront of technological advancement, and applying it innovatively, to solve modern challenges and create more efficient and sustainable operations.

Across the Universe

As The Beatles’ continually evolved their sound to reflect changing musical trends, in my career I have also tried to embrace change in a journey of adaptation and growth. Each phase has been marked by a willingness to embrace new challenges and acquire new skills, ensuring that I remain relevant in a rapidly evolving industry. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities and support I have had along the way and I am excited about this new chapter.

The rapid pace of technological advancement means that the skills required today may not be the ones needed tomorrow and we must remain adaptable. The music industry is filled with examples of artists who either embraced change and thrived or resisted it and faded away. I think my journey highlights the importance of being open to change and learning to try and stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving technological landscape. It has been a long and winding road, but has been made easier with a little help from my friends, let’s keep the faith it continues across the universe.