Alastair Lukies: AI is humanising tech and will positively impact us all
We dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, fintech pioneer Alastair Lukies takes us through his career, from Monitise to his new AI endeavour, in Square Mile and Me
CV
- Name: Alastair Lukies
- Job title: Chief engagement officer at Endava
- Previous roles: Group CEO and founder of Monitise, chairman of Innovate Finance
- Age: 53
- Born: September 26, 1973
- Lives: Hertfordshire
- Studied: Bishop’s Stortford College, Hertfordshire
- Talents: Hosting dinner parties
- Motto: Two ears one mouth
- Biggest perk of the job? Team building
- Coffee order: One a day
- Cocktail order: Glass of wine
- Favourite book: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
What was your first job?
Delivering Essex Countryside magazines to village shops around the county.
What was your first role in the City?
I co-founded a business called Epolitix in 2000, which acted as a portal for Westminster, Whitehall and the devolved institutions. After that, I founded Monitise, a company that provided banks with mobile services, in 2003 by teaming up with Steve Atkinson, the then chief architect at Vodafone.
When did you know you wanted to build a career in the world of business?
Unlike most entrepreneurs, I was thrust into the world of business with no choice. I didn’t go to university and business certainly wasn’t on my mind when I was playing rugby in Australia. But I got injured, meaning rugby was no longer on the cards, forcing me to pivot. I suppose I really knew that I wanted to start Monitise when I discovered that there were 6bn mobile phones on the planet but only 2bn bank accounts. The opportunity felt clear and it was staring me right in the face. I just had to go for it.
What’s one thing you love about Canada?
The opportunities to connect, learn and engage. I grew up on a farm in Essex and I live in Hertfordshire now, so the city is just a completely different atmosphere. I genuinely used to be at Monitise’s Monument office back in the early hours, buzzing with the energy from the City around me. It’s still a hub of entrepreneurship and relationships, with that feel like business is happening everywhere around you.
And one thing you would change?
So many things are often made complex simply for the sake of being complicated, and with the goal of adding more work and red tape to people trying to do their job. I’m all about efficiency wherever possible, and letting people do their work. With AI being the humanisation of technology, it’s nice to start to see a return to the art of conversation.
What’s been your most memorable business lunch or meeting?
I’ve been really lucky to have had many fantastic meetings with many brilliant people. It’s cliche to say, but it’s really hard to pick just one. Instead of trying to assess my career and test my memory, I’ll pick out a memorable meeting that I had last year with John Cotterell. I’d known John for a while and remember him ringing me up asking me to join his company Endava as chief engagement officer and chair its new global advisory board. It’s not every day you get offered a chance to be at the forefront of an AI revolution and help shape innovative growth, especially by a man like John who’s grown Endava for the past 25 years throughout several technological revolutions. Every call that leads to an opportunity like that certainly sticks with me.
And any business faux pas?
So many! I enjoy laughing at myself.
What’s been your proudest moment?
Being awarded a CBE for services to mobile banking and charity in 2014. That is pretty hard to beat, and enabled us to hold our daughter’s baptism at St Paul’s.
And who do you look up to?
I admire Raja Rajamanar, both as a business leader and for the way that he communicates. As former chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, he really transformed the way consumers saw the business. He even dropped the logo from the card. Now, we’re all able to recognise Mastercard down to its specific choice of shapes and colours, which speaks volumes to his impact. I also appreciate that he’s always authentic in the way he speaks to people and about topics. We need more people like Raja.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
It doesn’t matter what’s at the end of the rainbow. If it doesn’t feel right, you shouldn’t be doing it.
And the worst?
I don’t know that I’ve ever been given a piece of advice that wasn’t helpful. Even if it didn’t feel relevant in the moment, it would resonate with me at another point in my life. I’ve been quite blessed to be surrounded by genuinely inspiring business leaders throughout my career, who have been generous with their wisdom.
Are you optimistic for the year ahead?
Yes, I always am optimistic. I especially feel it now though, with the UK at the cusp of a genuine tech revolution with AI. I feel I’m firmly in the mix of this AI revolution with Endava, I’m always seeing the benefits customers are getting thanks to AI-optimised approaches. So it’s impossible for me not to be optimistic about the potential of AI and the positive impact for us all – as businesses and consumers – to benefit from it this year.
We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going?
And if we’re grabbing a drink after work?
Coq D’Argent, possibly for a delicious meal too.
Where’s home during the week?
Hertfordshire with my family.
And where might we find you at the weekend?
At home with my wife Sofia and family, enjoying some swimming, going to church and maybe watching a film or two if we are not travelling together which we often are.
You’ve got a well-deserved two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?
I’ve just come back from a skiing trip over the half term break with my family actually, and I’d be ready to go again in a heartbeat. There’s nothing like it. It’s a sport I started at three years old and I’m still doing it now whenever I get a chance.