Bridging experience and innovation: Ian Smith as Vega IT UK’s new Client Director

Ian Smith has followed a unique path – from pathologist to CTO to consultant – always with a focus on using technology to solve complex problems. His journey has taken him across healthcare, insurance, Cloud and software, giving him a unique perspective on how data and digital tools can transform industries.

Ian Smith has recently joined Vega IT as a Client Director and Domain Expert. In this dual role, Ian will support the UK business with proposals and new business opportunities, as well as assist in the delivery of those opportunities as a domain expert in the insurance, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors.

We had a chat with Ian to learn more about his career path, the challenges in the industries he knows best, and his perspective on the future of business and technology.

Welcome to the team, Ian. Could you share a bit about your journey so far and what motivated you to take on the role of Client Director at Vega IT?

I’m a pathologist by education and after graduating, started out working in the pathology lab at my local hospital. I’ve always had a general interest in technology, so naturally gravitated to that side of the business quite quickly.

That led me to MSD (Merck & Co), where I spent 23 years, travelled the world, and worked on some truly amazing projects where I helped translate technology to science and science to technology. 

From there I joined an insurance company in London called Hyperion (now called Howden) where I was the head of technology and delivery (CTO) for a digital start-up business within the group called Hx, tasked with developing the technology strategy to develop innovative data and analytic products for the insurance market. I then worked as a consultant, helping other insurance companies mature their data and analytic capabilities.

Within a year, and with a broad background in technology, data, analytics and strategy development across both the Healthcare and Insurance sectors, I was introduced to a small software company who were looking for a CTO to help them transition from software sales to SaaS. I joined Optibrium shortly after and spent 2.5 years building their cloud infrastructure, maturing their projects and services to run in the cloud and helping their customers make the transition.

From there I joined Vega and I am excited to bring this mix of healthcare, insurance, and technology experience to the company!

What has been the most meaningful and transformative experience in your career so far?

Leading the IT side of an immunotherapy cancer drug project at MSD in Switzerland was both the most challenging and rewarding part of my career. The treatment helped the immune system detect and destroy cancer cells with no side effects, and my role was to scale manufacturing and build the technology to bring it to market in just 18 months.

The most powerful moment came when the Australian Prime Minister, himself in remission thanks to the drug, gave an emotional speech to our team. It was a reminder of how technology can directly change and save lives.

Your career spans across so many roles and industries, and some of them are out of the box. Did those jobs shape how you work, lead and collaborate today?

Absolutely! My career took me in lots of different directions which has been key to how I lead and collaborate today. I’ve been lucky enough to work across multiple areas of business in several sectors, playing different roles, in different countries and cultures, all of which required me to adapt my style and develop my skills.

Outside of work, what are your main hobbies and how do you balance them with such a busy career?

Golf is my biggest passion and I play regularly and also serve as CTO and board member at my local club, where I’ve introduced new golf technologies. I’m also a bit of a petrol head, with a special love for Porsches, and I’m part of the Porsche UK club. And when I want to switch off, I get stuck into DIY projects. I’ve renovated three houses and enjoy everything from tiling and painting to woodwork and brickwork.

These hobbies give me a great balance – whether I’m out on the course, in the garage, or building something with my own hands.

Managing a good work life balance has always been important to me. I travelled a lot when my children were small, so good quality family time was really important and something I always focused on.

Having worked extensively in both insurance and healthcare, what common challenges do you see these industries facing with digital transformation?

Access to good quality data is the biggest challenge for both sectors. With good data, you can make informed decisions about your business. In the insurance industry, this is key to help brokers and underwriters work more efficiently. In the healthcare industry, this is key to help make decisions on how disease can be treated or prevented through medication. Data standardisation is also important in both industries. This will allow systems and organisations to easily exchange information.

From your experience, what turns a good client partnership into a truly great one?

I’m a big believer in 3 key areas for a good partnership – engagement, trust and a clear line of communication. Good engagement is achieved by having a common goal. Trust is built through delivering what’s agreed and a clear line of communication is built by overcommunication.

Your career shows a strong ability to adapt and reinvent yourself. Based on your experience, what advice would you give to businesses looking to stay agile and thrive in fast-changing industries?

The key to staying agile from my experience is to have a firm handle on the future headwinds that could impact the business, planning accordingly and ensuring a good execution of the plan.

AI is a good example of a headwind which is impacting businesses. Ensuring you have the right people, processes and technology to adopt/address will ensure success.

Looking ahead, what excites you most about supporting UK organisations on their digital journey with Vega IT?

For me, what’s exciting is giving UK businesses access to the large pool of talent Vega has to offer. I first became aware of Vega IT back in 2020 when at Howden and we were looking for our first partner to help build the business. After a significant RFP process, we chose Vega and it was clear their teams and knowledge were head and shoulders about the competition for the price point.

Since then, I’ve introduced Vega to 3 businesses and worked with over 100 Vega staff on more than 30 projects across 2 sectors. Every time they’ve been fully engaged as one of the team and delivered on time. This approach will have significant value to lots of UK businesses.

Ian’s story is a reminder of how much passion and expertise our people bring to Vega IT. We’re glad to have him with us and can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

Stay tuned for more stories from our people and the work we’re doing to shape digital transformation.