Lee Fulmer, chief data officer, UBS

Describe your career to date

I started my career working as a technologist in the government defence sector where they instilled an ethos of focusing on desired outcomes rather than ‘technology for the sake of it’. We worked with what people today call ‘user stories’ to ensure our solutions worked for our ‘users’. When I moved to the private defence sector a few years later it was a real eye opener. Everything was ‘cutting edge’ technology and money wasn’t an object, staying ahead of the competition was and that is where I learned how to illustrate the ‘art of the possible’.

When I moved to technology sector being able to set out a clear vision for the future state but delivered by user focused solutions made me unique among my peers. The approach has been a hallmark of my career and is how I moved in to design and media before eventually winding up in financial services.

In terms of actual roles, I have been a computer programmer, an engineer, a graphic designer, a commercial fisherman, a project manager, a journalist and a business architect - amongst other things. While most of these roles would probably not be considered ‘foundational’ for a chief data officer, they all taught me new skills which I continue to use today. The other thing they all have in common is helping me to hone my problem solving skills; something which, as one of my core abilities, has always been part of my ‘unique selling point’ and, in my opinion, the thing that differentiates a ‘good’ CDO from a truly ‘brilliant’ one.