Chief Information Officer play a crucial role in any startup. It takes an extraordinary person to fulfil the Chief Information Officer role. We have selected these Chief Information Officer’s for this list as they are inspiring for a variety of reasons – whether that’s pushing boundaries, creating groundbreaking products, or doing their bit to save the world.
Our analysts did their best to select be best, and most innovative Chief Information Officer’s. The list is in no particular order!
Kaveh Pourteymour
Chief Information Officer @ Neptune Energy
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Neptune Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Read more about Neptune Energy on Crunchbase…
Paul Cutter
Chief Information Officer @ Flutter Entertainment
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Read more about Flutter Entertainment on Crunchbase…
Matt Wilkins
Chief Information Officer @ Thought Machine
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Thought Machine is a Fintech company that builds cloud-native technology to revolutionize core banking. Read more about Thought Machine on Crunchbase…
Kash Ghedia
Chief Information Officer @ Welcome Break
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Welcome Break is one of the UKs leading independent motorway service operators and has 27 sites across the UK. Read more about Welcome Break on Crunchbase…
Mike Young
Group Chief Information Officer @ Centrica
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Mike brings a wealth of experience in managing global IT functions in partnership with customer-facing units, and using big data and digital technologies to drive revenue growth and improve the customer experience. Before joining Centrica he was group chief information officer with the media and digital marketing company Dentsu Aegis Network where he was responsible for all aspects of IT and data in a portfolio spanning 140 countries. Prior to his time at Dentsu Aegis Network, Mike was with the Post Office, where he was chief operating officer, serving on the Post Office board and that of its subsidiary, Post Office Financial Services. He also chaired the operating and transformation boards, and held senior executive positions at Orange, Verizon and BT.
Learn more about Mike Young on Crunchbase…Centrica is a multinational energy and services company developing innovative solutions, offers, and products. Read more about Centrica on Crunchbase…
Jon Townsend
Director of Technology & Information Security and Chief Information Officer @ National Trust
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We are a charity and completely independent of Government. We rely for income on membership fees, donations and legacies, and revenue Read more about National Trust on Crunchbase…
Andrew Porter
Chief Information Officer @ Brightpearl
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Andrew’s technology career spans over 20 years, in market leading investment banks, most recently at CIO level. Responsibilities have ranged from running targeted, business critical programmes, to managing a technology organisation of 500+ staff across 5 major locations. Functional areas covered, include; high volume, highly available, transaction processing systems, as well as process automation, workflow and client facing technologies. Andrew started his career as a graduate programmer, after completing an MSc in Information Technology and still likes to occasionally write code, to ensure he retains a deep understanding of what it takes to develop quality software.
Learn more about Andrew Porter on Crunchbase…Brightpearl is the omnichannel retail management system that puts your orders, inventory, financials, POS and CRM in one place. Read more about Brightpearl on Crunchbase…
Yogesh Sholapurkar
Chief Information Officer – Commercial @ Close Brothers
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Close Brothers is a leading merchant banking group providing lending, deposit taking, wealth management services and securities trading. Read more about Close Brothers on Crunchbase…
Ian Penny
Chief Information Officer @ Hiscox
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Ian Penny is a member of the Turbonomic Board of Directors. As Chief Information Officer at Hiscox, he is responsible for the Group’s IT, leading a team of 300 and reporting to the CEO. Ian Penny is a visionary IT leader and strategist with a wealth of global, blue-chip experience. He brings expertise in leading all aspects of IT including strategy, development, engineering, operations and program execution. Prior to Hiscox, Ian Penny was the Chief Technology Officer at Barclays, where he was responsible for IT infrastructure development and led cloud computing initiatives. During this time, he also served on the RedHat Product Advisory Board. Before that, he was Managing Director of Engineering and Architecture at JPMorgan, designing platforms for risk analytics, cloud development, and high-volume customer channels. He also has multiple experiences as a Turbonomic customer, trusting workload automation to drive greater efficiencies and accelerate digital transformation initiatives at Hiscox, in addition to his time with Barclays and JPMorgan. Ian Penny holds a Bachelor of Science, with honors, in Computer Science from the University of Kent. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and has worked extensively with the Venture Capital and startup community to build applied technology solutions. Ian Penny began his career as a distributed systems research scientist funded by the UK Government and has published papers on parallel computing and low latency networking.
Learn more about Ian Penny on Crunchbase… Read more about Hiscox on Crunchbase…
Alex Golombeck
Co-Founder & Chief Information Officer @ NFTU
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Read more about NFTU on Crunchbase…
Sean Hederman
Chief Information Officer @ Zilch
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Zilch is a buy now, pay later app that allows its customers to shop wherever Mastercard is accepted. Read more about Zilch on Crunchbase…
Steve Watt
Chief Information Officer @ University of St Andrews
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In his current role as CIO at the University of St Andrews, Steve is responsible for the IT Services function comprising around 75 staff, he is also a member of the University Senior Management Team. Steve is responsible for the strategic development of all IT provision, information assurance and governance and business transformation activities. Steve has worked primarily in the higher education sector in a variety of IT focused roles. He has also worked in the private sector for Low & Bonar plc in both Europe and North America. Steve is a European Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Chartered IT Professional and a Fellow of the British Computer Society and has 19 years experience working within the Information Technology field. Steve was educated at the University of Abertay Dundee where he gained a BSc in Building Engineering and Management, a MSc in Information Technology and later a MBA degree.
Learn more about Steve Watt on Crunchbase… Read more about University of St Andrews on Crunchbase…
Stephen Denton
Chief Information Officer @ Working Links
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Stephen has worked within the ICT industry at a senior level for over 19 years and has extensive experience in IT functional leadership with responsibility for running large operations and consultancy practices. He is a business and technology leader who has a proven track record in successfully leading and delivering complex transformational change across a broad range of industries. Stephen has undertaken numerous roles in the IT industry assisting businesses to defining ICT strategy for infrastructure transformation. Stephen joined Working Links from Getronics, an Aurelius portfolio company, where he was Business Improvement Director, responsible for solution enabled business development and growth. In this role he has responsibility for Getronics pre-sales activities and the architecture function, as well responsibility for supporting Getronics growth through M&A activity in the UK.
Learn more about Stephen Denton on Crunchbase…Working Links delivers specialist services for people across Britain and around the world. Read more about Working Links on Crunchbase…
José Nistal
Chief Information Officer @ GoMadrid
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José Nistal is co-founder and CIO of GoMadrid. He studied BSc. Finance & Marketing & Business Management at Comillas Pontifical University – ICADE and, additionally, Empirics of Management Program (The London School of Economics and Political Science), Global Leadership Program (Harvard University) and Frontiers of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). He is also an MBA, Finance & Entrepreneurial Management by The Wharton School. He previously worked at Merrill Lynch, Soros Private Equity Partners, Lehman Brothers, Alantra Private Equity, Cygnus Asset Management and Ecofin Asset Management.
Learn more about José Nistal on Crunchbase… Read more about GoMadrid on Crunchbase…
Nigel Leigh
Chief Information Officer @ XLMedia
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Read more about XLMedia on Crunchbase…
Vincent Chailley
Chief Information Officer @ H20 Asset Management
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Vincent Chailley CIO in H20 Asset Management. He previously headed the Global Fixed Income and Absolute Performance team of CAAM London. Starting his career in 1995 researching capital markets, he joined CAAM the following year as an analyst before becoming an investment manager in Asset Allocation and then Global Fixed Income. Vincent Chailley is a member of the French Actuaries Institute and holds a postgraduate degree in Economics and Mathematical modeling from ENSAE. He also holds a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from the University of Paris Dauphine.
Learn more about Vincent Chailley on Crunchbase…H20 Asset Management provider of asset management and investment advisory services. Read more about H20 Asset Management on Crunchbase…
Andy Smith
Chief Information Officer @ Arm Holdings
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Andy Smith joined Arm in 2014 as Chief Information Officer. Prior to this he spent 5 years as a Government CIO working for one of the agencies within Defence. Before that he worked for 20 years with BP in a variety of roles and locations around the world, the last 8 years of which were spent on a series of challenging CIO roles.
Learn more about Andy Smith on Crunchbase…Arm Holdings is a multinational semiconductor company that designs, produces, and licenses IP for digital electronic product development. Read more about Arm Holdings on Crunchbase…
John Mountain
Chief Information Officer @ Starling Bank
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As Chief Information Officer, John is responsible for IT strategy and ensuring the technology platform delivers the retail banking product required by Starling and expected by the Regulator. After many years as a technical architect working for clients such as Lloyds and Bank of America, he became increasingly frustrated with the inefficiency and lack of commitment to improving technology at the traditional banks. John approached Starling in mid-2015 because he was excited about the opportunity for a banking start-up that is also a technology business throughout. Since he joined, he has designed a systems landscape for a retail bank from scratch and recruited a team to work across platform, infrastructure, security and mobile. If he wasn’t working at Starling, John would be sailing around the world (or at least to France) and probably trying to solve some software problems on the way.
Learn more about John Mountain on Crunchbase…Starling Bank is a mobile banking platform that offers personal, joint, and business accounts. Read more about Starling Bank on Crunchbase…
Nigel Reynolds
Chief Information Officer @ Mattioli Woods
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Mattioli Woods is one of the UK’s providers of Wealth Management and Employee Benefit Services. Read more about Mattioli Woods on Crunchbase…
Gareth Jones
Chief Information Officer @ Visa
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Read more about Visa on Crunchbase…
Toby Hoon
Chief Information Officer @ Immediate Media Co.
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Immediate Media Co. is a special interest content and platform company. Read more about Immediate Media Co. on Crunchbase…
Sanjeev Jain
Chief Information Officer for EMEA @ Verizon Enterprise Solutions
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Read more about Verizon Enterprise Solutions on Crunchbase…
James Carlyle
Chief Information Officer & Head of Production @ R3
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James is R3’s Chief Information Officer and is focused on defining a candidate architecture and building out a collaborative lab for experimentation. Previously, James was Chief Engineer within Corporate Banking at Barclays, where he designed and delivered the bank’s corporate internet channel, and the bank’s US banking and dollar clearing platforms. Before Barclays, James co-founded two start-ups and holds patents in mobile data search and directory technology. He is a Chartered Engineer and holds a degree in Engineering Science from University College, Durham.
Learn more about James Carlyle on Crunchbase… Read more about R3 on Crunchbase…
Stuart Walters
Chief Information Officer @ BGL Group
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Stuart joined BGL as Chief Information Officer (CIO) in October 2013. He leads the Group IT functions and has strategic oversight of the technology agenda across the organisation. Stuart has extensive international experience, working in a number of agile and entrepreneurial organisations across the globe. Predominantly within the travel industry, Stuart has led IT functions in the US, Far East and Australia, as well as in Europe, having previously lived in Germany and Switzerland. He joined BGL from leading global travel business, Kuoni, where he was Group CIO. He has also held CIO roles at Worldhotels and Opodo.
Learn more about Stuart Walters on Crunchbase…BGL Group digitally distributes insurance and financial products. Read more about BGL Group on Crunchbase…
Doug Gardner
Chief Information Officer @ Flying Tiger Copenhagen
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Read more about Flying Tiger Copenhagen on Crunchbase…
Kaj Siebert
Chief Information Officer @ Social Finance
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We partner with government, social sector and the financial community to find better solutions to society’s most difficult problems. Read more about Social Finance on Crunchbase…
Mark Rice
Chief Information Officer @ thebigword
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We are technology-driven language communication leaders trusted by the top 100 global brands and organizations. What language barrier? Read more about thebigword on Crunchbase…
Daryl Flack
Chief Information Officer and Co-Founder @ BLOCKPHISH
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Analysis shows that human actions are overwhelmingly at the heart of many data breaches, and cyber attackers are actively seeking to exploit this to compromise target systems. If global organisations and nation states with their considerable resources and budgets are struggling to stem the flow of data breaches from this threat, what hope do ordinary businesses have of protecting themselves? Join us for a comprehensive and insightful presentation from BLOCKPHISH, who will use examples drawn from real attacks to reveal why, if you have a cyber security aware workforce, you can be more confident in your ability to be resilient to cyber-attacks.
Learn more about Daryl Flack on Crunchbase…BLOCKPHISH provides organisations with the ability to improve their resilience against phishing attacks. Read more about BLOCKPHISH on Crunchbase…
Laura Meyer
Chief Information Officer @ HarperCollins
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As HCUK’s CIO, Laura oversees the company’s technology division, incorporating a wide variety of tools, applications, projects and services, supporting customers across the company. Laura also has executive oversight for Distribution and Production. Formerly Senior Vice President, Technology and Operations, for Turner Broadcasting System Europe (part of the Time Warner Group), Laura has held a variety of senior positions in her field.
Learn more about Laura Meyer on Crunchbase… Read more about HarperCollins on Crunchbase…
David Gallimore
Chief Information Officer @ Fleet Operations
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Fleet Operations is a consultancy that specializes in administration, vehicle procurement, reallocation, fleet & risk management solutions. Read more about Fleet Operations on Crunchbase…
John Seglias
Chief Information Officer at National Grid Electricity Transmission @ National Grid Partners
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Read more about National Grid Partners on Crunchbase…
Rafi Vasserman
Chief Information Officer @ EBS BrokerTec
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Rafi was appointed Chief Information Officer of EBS on June 2012. From 2005 Rafi served as EVP Engineering and General Manager of Israel for Traiana (acquired by ICAP in 2007). From 2000 to 2005 Rafi was VP R&D of ClearForest that developed text mining solutions. Prior to 2000, Rafi was employed in several roles in Tecomatix Technologies Ltd.
Learn more about Rafi Vasserman on Crunchbase…EBS BrokerTec is a leading electronic trading platforms and solutions business in foreign exchange and fixed income. Read more about EBS BrokerTec on Crunchbase…
David Doherty
Chief Information Officer @ Jurassic Fibre
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Jurassic Fibre is a Devon based independent telecommunications company, building a brand new fibre optic broadband network Read more about Jurassic Fibre on Crunchbase…
Alexander Cutler
Chief information officer @ IRIS Software Group
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Alex Cutler is the IRIS Chief Information Officer (CIO), bringing 21 years of experience of business-orientated IT leadership, programme management, business transformation and business change, product management, software development, cyber security, infrastructure and network expertise. Alex Cutler joined IRIS after spending more than two decades in Capita plc where he rose through the ranks to be group CIO. Alex joined at the bottom of Capita, and was promoted into numerous roles in many of Capita’s hugely successful software businesses – helping many dominate their markets. Alex is passionate that by putting customers first, putting ourselves in our customers shoes, and valuing our staff – both customers and the company can enjoy success.
Learn more about Alexander Cutler on Crunchbase…IRIS Software Group is a UK-based enterprise software provider. Read more about IRIS Software Group on Crunchbase…
Ian Gibson
Chief Information Officer @ Zenith
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Ian devises and delivers the strategy for Zenith’s systems and IT services. He is responsible for finding the right solutions for our customers and driving new technology developments that deliver on our values. Ian also leads the business change and transformation teams, providing a best-in-class programme of change management for internal and customer initiatives.
Learn more about Ian Gibson on Crunchbase…Zenith is an independent leasing, fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business. Read more about Zenith on Crunchbase…
Paul Tennant
Chief Information Officer @ Simply Conveyancing
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Simply Conveyancing is a fantastic business with a strong track record of innovation Read more about Simply Conveyancing on Crunchbase…
John McInerney
Chief Information Officer @ NBN Co
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Read more about NBN Co on Crunchbase…
Max Brown
Chief Information Officer @ Options Technology
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As well as working with senior management on the strategic technical development of the Options platform, Max Brown’s key role at Options has been leading the design, build, and management of a 20,000 ft2 purpose built, high power data centre facility at Park Royal in the UK. Through this role, Max has fully utilised his experiences in electronic engineering and large scale IT project management skills. In addition, Max also manages the relocation of Options’ equipment between locations and designs and implements projects for new data centre co-location clients.
Learn more about Max Brown on Crunchbase…Options is a global leader in financial technology managed services and IT infrastructure products. Read more about Options Technology on Crunchbase…
Jeffrey B. Liles
Chief Information Officer @ Harbert Growth Partners
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Liles joined Harbert Management Corporation in February of 2011. He is responsible for global technology initiatives at HMC, including network Infrastructure, business continuity and disaster recovery, software support, mobility management, and telecommunications. Liles is an experienced Senior Information Technology Executive with over 27 years of corporate expertise, involving both domestic and international companies. Throughout his career, he has held numerous key management positions focusing on core computing competencies, process engineering, data architecture, security, and network operations within the manufacturing, logistics, and financial industries. Liles earned a BS degree in Health Care Management from the University of Alabama and a BS degree in Computer Science from Jacksonville State University.
Learn more about Jeffrey B. Liles on Crunchbase… Read more about Harbert Growth Partners on Crunchbase…
Jess Brown
Vice President and Chief Information Officer @ RelaDyne
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Jess Brown is responsible for RelaDyne’s Information Technology platform, including all IT services and support. Under Brown’s leadership RelaDyne has leveraged leading-edge technology to install a common computing platform throughout the organization and has integrated the new computing system into all of its business units to foster common operating procedures and capitalize on economies of scale. Other technology highlights include the deployment of a CRM system, a demand planning and forecasting system, and an industry leading B2B customer-facing website. Prior to joining RelaDyne, Brown spent nearly 24 years with Wolseley PLC, holding positions at group companies Ferguson Enterprises and Stock Building Supply and at Wolseley’s head office. Ferguson, located in Newport News, Va., is the nation’s leading plumbing, HVAC and building supply distributor. There, Brown held a variety of technical and business operations positions. He began his career at Ferguson in 1987 as an IT Support Analyst and was promoted into programming, analyst and IT management roles; he steadily rose through the ranks to Ferguson’s Director of IT. In 2004, Brown assumed international responsibility for all Wolseley companies’ software as Director of Software Applications. In addition to creating and deploying technology during his Wolseley group tenure, Brown held roles in business reengineering and optimization, programs to gather market intelligence and gauge customer service, and business restructuring for operational efficiency. During his tenure at Stock Building Supply, he was Director of Business Operations. In this role he developed common business processes to facilitate system utilization. Brown received a B.S. Degree in Management Information Systems from Christopher Newport University. He has completed executive development programs at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and management development at the Gallup School of Management.
Learn more about Jess Brown on Crunchbase… Read more about RelaDyne on Crunchbase…
Deborah Cassidy
Chief Information Officer @ PRA Group
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Deborah oversees all enterprise corporate systems for PRA Group in North America and Europe and reports to Kevin Stevenson, PRA’s president, chief administrative officer, and interim chief financial officer. She has more than 20 years of IT leadership experience across several industries, with the past 10 years in the financial services industry. Most recently, Deborah was senior vice president and business chief information officer for Genworth Financial, Inc. She previously served seven years with Allianz Assistance as vice president and chief information officer and 15 years with the Tredegar Corporation. She earned a Master of Science degree in management information technology from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and information systems from Mary Baldwin College.
Learn more about Deborah Cassidy on Crunchbase… Read more about PRA Group on Crunchbase…
Dave Lowe
Chief Information Officer @ Croud
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Dave Lowe is the Chief Information Officer at Croud. He is a former Director of Development and Operations at TruRating. Mr. Lowe received a bachelor of science in Chemistry at The University of Sheffield.
Learn more about Dave Lowe on Crunchbase…Croud is a digital marketing agency that provides services including SEO, PPC, content, programmatic, paid social, and analytics Read more about Croud on Crunchbase…
Dave Whalley
Chief Information Officer @ Thoughtworks
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Read more about Thoughtworks on Crunchbase…
Nigel Watson
Chief Information Officer @ Northumbrian Water plc
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Nigel started his career in 1981 on a government YOP scheme at the Eastern Electricity Board earning £23.50 a week. He’s come some way since then, having been an ex-pat in such places as San Francisco, Guadalajara, Toronto, Sydney and Istanbul. During his career he has worked for some of the most prestigious organisations in the world, including GE Capital, Microsoft, Vodafone and Travelport. Nigel has held senior positions across most domains within Technology. More recently he has specialised in the field of transformation, mergers and acquisitions. He joined Northumbrian Water Group in 2015 to help the company prepare for the opening of the retail competition for business customers. His appointment as CIO two years ago sees him lead the development and use of new technologies. The Group has the stated aim of becoming the most digital water company in the world.
Learn more about Nigel Watson on Crunchbase… Read more about Northumbrian Water plc on Crunchbase…
Harry Doyle
Chief Information Officer @ Arts Alliance Media
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Arts Alliance Media develops software and solutions for the digital cinema industry. Read more about Arts Alliance Media on Crunchbase…
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