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In today’s digital world, data is everything, and few people understand that truth better than James Gornall. With over 15 years of experience alongside a deep belief in the power that analytics can provide, he’s putting his expertise into practice as Director of Data and AI at Qodea, where he’s helping businesses turn data into actionable and transformative insights.
From accelerating drug development in healthcare to personalising learning in education, AI’s impact across industries has been profound. But while it’s easy to focus on the strengths of AI, James is quick to highlight the need for preparedness, starting with having the right skills. “Beyond technical expertise, soft skills such as effective communication, problem-solving, adaptability and a commitment to lifelong learning are more important than ever,” he told us.
This level of adaptability will prove to be essential as AI technologies continue to develop. With customer-facing agentic AI becoming more commonplace, it’s vital for these tools to be managed and maintained effectively by IT teams everywhere. As James puts it: “IT teams must adapt and develop expertise in understanding, deploying and managing this transformative technology.” He adds: “It is only once a business uses their data brain effectively that they can hope to harness the full power of agentic AI.”
He is also aware of ethical dilemmas yet to come. “As IT continues to advance, data ethics will become a critical concern,” he flags. “Over the next few years, much like we have seen with sustainability and other social causes, data ethics and data transparency will bubble up into the public consciousness.”
Before moving on to the ethical concerns though, we thought it best to start with asking James the basics: how does he envision the role of IT professionals evolving in the future?
The role of IT professionals is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements and the increasing reliance on technology in all aspects of life. To keep their organisation competitive, IT professionals must adapt to several key trends reshaping the industry.
One of the most pressing challenges is the rise of cybersecurity threats. As cyber-attacks become more frequent, advanced and insidious, implementing continually evolving cybersecurity measures has become essential. IT professionals must not only understand the specific threats their organisation faces and the best disaster response strategies, but be mindful of how their own actions could unintentionally increase the attack surface. For example, poor cyber hygiene – stemming from a lack of skills, focus and knowledge – often leads to vulnerabilities such as misconfigurations, inadequate patch management and the absence of essential controls like multi-factor authentication. These oversights from IT professionals can leave systems and data dangerously exposed. To outpace and outsmart cybercriminals, organisations require skilled IT professionals with a robust understanding of cybersecurity principles.
At the same time, the importance of data science and analytics has grown exponentially, with organisations leveraging data-driven decision-making to remain competitive. Many businesses already possess vast amounts of data, but the challenge lies in extracting actionable insights. IT professionals must develop expertise in analysing and harnessing this data to unlock its full potential.
Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are being used more frequently for automation. IT professionals will need to prepare to work closely with these technologies, integrating them into processes and solutions to enhance efficiency and productivity. Similarly, proficiency in cloud computing and DevOps is now essential, as these areas streamline software delivery and infrastructure management.
Beyond technical expertise, soft skills such as effective communication, problem-solving, adaptability and a commitment to lifelong learning are more important than ever. These abilities allow IT professionals to navigate complex environments and collaborate across diverse teams.
Overall, the role of IT professionals is becoming increasingly important and complex. By staying ahead of the latest trends and technologies, IT professionals can ensure that they are prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Among the emerging technologies set to revolutionise IT, agentic AI stands out as a transformative force. A more human-centric evolution of generative AI (GenAI), agentic AI doesn’t just respond to prompts – it autonomously makes decisions, takes action and learns from experiences to achieve pre-defined goals. This capability means agentic AI is capable of profoundly enhancing IT systems, especially in creating personalised and efficient customer experiences.
Customers now expect apps and experiences that are tailored to their needs and can help them solve problems fast. Agentic AI can crawl through existing data stores in seconds and surface the very specific answers they need. For instance, customers could take a photo of an item like a drill, and quickly be given the technical details and prescriptive advice on how to use it by drawing on the company’s existing data stores. Moreover, organisations will be able to use agents to prompt and anticipate future customer needs. For example, if a customer places an order for 10 solar panels with a building materials company, an agent can converse with the customer to better understand their project. Through this interaction, the agent can envision the items the customer may need next, giving companies the opportunity to offer up tailored deals.
What makes agentic AI truly impactful is its accessibility. Tools like Google’s Vertex AI Agent Builder allow even small organisations to create sophisticated agents with minimal coding. Over the next decade, as businesses prioritise scaling these agile agents, IT teams must adapt and develop expertise in understanding, deploying and managing this transformative technology effectively. This will involve IT making sure their data is fresh, that they have oversight on where it is stored and that it can be shared easily across platforms. It is only once a business uses their data brain effectively, that they can hope to harness the full power of agentic AI.
Over the next decade, organisations will realise the limitations of generic cloud solutions and search for solutions designed specifically for their industry – i.e. industry clouds. Unlike generic cloud services, industry clouds provide tailored tools, pre-built capabilities and deeper insights into the specific needs of sectors like retail, finance and healthcare. These solutions are therefore easier to customise, and will allow organisations to more quickly deploy cloud capabilities and focus on improving customer experience. In turn, they will find that time-to-value is also greatly reduced, as they can leverage pre-built solutions, avoiding the complexity and resource investment of developing their own.
In retail, for example, industry clouds will help businesses to tie their web and in person offerings together, creating a seamless omnichannel experience. Offerings like Click and Collect will become simpler to implement as cloud technology connects in-store and online platforms. Moreover, industry cloud will provide organisations with deeper insights into customers by combining data sources from across the entire shopper journey. Similarly, in healthcare, industry-specific cloud solutions will improve patient care through unified data management and advanced analytics.
Ultimately, the cloud will evolve into a more intelligent, sustainable and industry-focused ecosystem, helping businesses anticipate customer needs, foster loyalty and remain competitive in an ever-changing world.
As IT continues to advance, data ethics will become a critical concern, driven by increasing consumer awareness and the rapid growth of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Scandals like Cambridge Analytica have brought the misuse of personal data into sharp focus, igniting a demand for greater accountability. Over the next few years, much like we have seen with sustainability and other social causes, data ethics and data transparency will bubble up into the public consciousness – with consumers demanding that businesses can prove they aren’t misusing or selling data for questionable purposes.
Today’s consumers understand that data is power. They demand transparency in how their data is collected, used and protected, and expect to receive clear benefits in exchange for sharing it. This shift is especially relevant with the rapid growth of AI, which can not only analyse but generate new insights from customer data. A master at transforming old data into new, AI will raise critical questions about data ownership and, ultimately, accountability when data is misused.
To make sure they aren’t losing customers to competitors, businesses will need to embed data ethics into their core strategies. This includes establishing clear policies and practices that prioritise transparency, accountability and the ethical use of customer data. IT teams will play a pivotal role in implementing technologies and processes that ensure compliance with regulations, prevent unauthorised access or misuse and provide consumers with full visibility into how their data is handled.
In our client conversations, we consistently encounter use cases where IT has transformed industries in profound ways – and this trend shows no signs of slowing down.
In healthcare, IT is accelerating drug discovery and development through the use of AI and machine learning to identify side effects, optimise clinical trials and bring treatments to market faster. Digital patient records are becoming more sophisticated than ever, and combined with more joined-up IT across healthcare systems, create a seamless experience for patients and doctors. Remote patient monitoring is also becoming far more common, making healthcare more inclusive and accessible by bridging the gap in access to medical services, particularly in underserved regions.
In education, IT is enhancing collaboration among students, teachers and parents. Meanwhile, virtual classrooms and online courses are breaking down geographical barriers, increasing accessibility to education for learners worldwide. These innovations enable personalised learning experiences and open up opportunities for those who previously lacked access to quality education.
In finance, IT is at the core of fintech innovations, with blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies revolutionising transactions and improving transparency. Advanced cybersecurity measures are also critical, protecting sensitive financial data from ever-evolving cyber threats.
The rise of AI and machine learning presents significant challenges for IT professionals. While GenAI offers transformative potential – 83% of CIOs believe it will revolutionise business and society – it comes with a critical issue: data security. AI models, especially GenAI, rely heavily on vast amounts of data to function effectively. Whenever organisations use data, whether it’s customer or proprietary, there is a risk it may be inadvertently exposed if the right controls are not in place. There are countless examples of similar breaches due to misconfigurations with open storage data buckets in the past that IT professionals should learn from.
With regulations like GDPR and CCPA becoming more stringent, IT professionals must ensure they familiarise themselves and make sure their organisation complies with evolving data privacy requirements. After a GDPR breach, the ICO has the power to issue fines of up to £17.5 million, or 4% of a company’s annual worldwide turnover – whatever is higher. Firms can get caught out here, forced to pay significant financial penalties and suffering reputational damage, all off the back of a GenAI data leak.
The challenge isn’t just technical; it’s also cultural. Employees – sometimes even employers – are often unaware of the risks when using powerful tools like AI. Without proper training, the potential for mishandling sensitive data increases significantly. Workplace training on how to effectively use these tools is still uncommon and many businesses do not have clear policies around acceptable use or understanding about the pros and cons of using different models.
