Andy Hunter - Chief Technology Officer, ITPS
Did you always envisage a career in the world of Technology?
Definitely not, I was going to play rugby, drink beer and join the Royal Navy, unfortunately all three were mutually exclusive. I was actually working as a hospital cashier in the RVI when I decided to implement a cash receipting system. The then IT Manager for the hospital recognised this and gave me a job in IT.
What tips would you give to someone looking to work in the industry?
Personality first, technology second, not all answers in IT are technology based.
Tell us about the most exciting project you’re currently working on?
We are currently looking to onboard a Sovereign AI Platform within the UK, to compete with Gemini, CoPilot, ChatGPT. This needs us to design the DC to accommodate racks with up to 120KW per rack. We do this with Direct to Chip liquid cooling and massive power distribution. That is the basics of AI, power and cooling, this is then followed up by high performance Lenovo servers built with NVIDIA GPU’s all running a Large Language Model. The whole premise is that this is owned, operated and delivered by UK based companies, which in the current geopolitical environment makes a lot of sense to me, as we are potentially over reliant on the USA.
Tell us about your team?
I have an awesome team of people, they cover the whole of ITPS functions, they operate our platforms, provide governance for our systems, design and implement solutions and ultimately they sell them.
What are your long term plans for the business?
Long term I want to grow the business and make a difference to the region by helping the North East to be at the forefront of AI, providing the platform for us all to grow.
Whats your favourite piece of technology?
It is either my phone or my broadband router, one provides pretty much everything you need to function in the modern world, the other enables everything in my house to work from the TV to my coffee machine.
Do you have any heroes or mentors?
Yes thanks! There are loads of people that have given me advice and that I look up to, in fact too many to list here, they range from colleagues, old bosses, however I am contractually obliged to mention Mrs Hunter, who has supported me, kept me grounded and helped me in everything I do.
Whats your fondest career memory?
Can I pick more than one? Presenting to the IETF about Internet Routing and Security, and then building and connecting my 3rd DC.
Whats the best piece of business advice you’ve received?
I thought long and hard about this, as the answer is a negative and I am not sure if it is relevant. The advice was that “People will let you down, they won’t mean to, but they will. You need to understand that your motives and needs should align with theirs, when they don’t do that, people will go their own way and let you down.”
When not working how do you like to relax?
Sad I know, but I like to mess about with technology, my last home project was standing up an AI LLM at home to understand the technology better.
www.itps.co.uk