Simon Niven – “It’s really not about the tech. It’s all about the people and the process.”
Simon is CTO at ED&F Man Commodities, a global player acting as a supply chain partner, trader, and logistics provider for essential soft commodities across the world.
His discussion opened with a surprise: “I haven’t ever written a commercial line of code.”
For Simon, CTO leadership is fundamentally a people and process discipline, not a technical one. His early career in support roles forced him to understand how organisations actually function, which shaped his belief that technology leadership is “a management and leadership issue, not a tech problem.”
Key Insights:
The CTO role is outward-facing. Engineers look inward; executives look across the business.
Think carefully about whether leadership is really for you. “If you like tech, stay in tech. CTO leadership is a people game.”
Strategy beats execution. Managers run departments; CTOs define the 3–5 year direction.
Credibility comes from delivery. “If you commit to an outcome, ensure it is delivered.”
His advice to aspiring technology leaders: shape your personal brand for the role you want, empower your managers, and be ready to make difficult decisions when people aren’t performing. Leadership, he reminded the room, is not the next obvious step if you’re a talented engineer; it’s a fundamentally different career.
Brett Winch – “You can’t pass the buck if you’re the technology leader.”
Brett Winch is CTO at Fnality Services, the operational and product delivery arm of the Fnality Group, supporting the company’s regulated blockchain–based wholesale payment systems.
His perspective was defined by accountability, scale and regulatory scrutiny.
“The buck stops with you. You have to be at the forefront of everything.”
Starting his career as a hands-on technologist in Australia and later leading major transformations in the UK, Brett emphasised that stepping into a CTO role means embracing total ownership: from operational resilience to cyber risk to regulator engagement.
Key Insights:
Accountability is the defining trait of an executive. As CTO “You’re accountable to your boards, the regulators, supervisors, everyone. You are the accountable person.”
Empowered teams make great leaders. Brett credits a lot of the insights he can leverage in the C Suite to the empowered and accountable managers below him.
Decisions must be made with imperfect information. Waiting for certainty is not an option. People rely on leaders for their opinions in times of uncertainty.
Always define the worst-case scenario. Responsible leadership means planning for downside risk.
Interact with the whole business, not just technology. “You can’t have the technology if you don’t have a clear idea of all the other pieces in place.”
For Brett, C Suite roles demand pace, resilience and judgment under pressure. Technical skill is only the entry ticket; what matters is how you manage risk and lead through ambiguity.
Luke Nihill – “Boards aren’t interested in whether you can code.”
Luke is the Co–Founder and Group MD at Qurated, with over a decade of placing high-impact technology leaders in financial services C Suites. He framed the modern CTO role as a strategic, commercial function, not an engineering one.
“A strong CTO can align the entire organisation behind a shared technology vision.”
While technical competence matters, it isn’t what distinguishes an executive. What matters is storytelling, influence, and an ability to make complexity legible to senior decision-makers.
Key Insights:
Start with the business problem. Tech exists to enable strategy, not define it.
Clarity under pressure is essential. In crises, boards want narrative, impact and prevention, not granular detail.
Technology is now the engine of the business. It’s no longer a back-office function. Tech leaders need to be immersed and aligned with all parts of their organisation.
Talent density drives performance. High-performing teams multiply organisational output.
The strongest CTOs balance purity and pragmatism. Perfect architecture rarely beats timely and effective delivery.
Luke challenged the room to think bigger: modern technology leaders must be commercial operators who understand growth, regulation and product, not just engineering excellence.
What Comes Next
The evening showed just how varied the path to the C Suite can be, but also how consistent the underlying themes are. Technology leadership at the executive level is about judgement, influence, clarity, people and commercial impact. Aspiring leaders must shift their focus from delivery and writing code to how they can effect change and shape an organisation.
We’ll be running more Qurated Engineering Community events throughout the year. Sign up to stay in the know
Register Interest
