View from the Top
A Conversation with Jamie Beaumont, Ultima's New CFO
Edition Seven
Meeting the challenge of rapid technological change. Reframing IT as a critical business enabler.
I have spent the past few years at the forefront of technological innovation. I spent 2.5 years at LEGO Ventures, the investment arm of the LEGO brand. My job was to articulate the future ambition for the LEGO Idea of “learning through play” and build an investment thesis and strategy to support this via direct investment into the most promising start-ups and technologies across education and digital play.
In my last role, I helped to lead a team that developed novel voice recognition technologies underpinned by generative AI, unique data and a proprietary approach to the challenge of dealing with ‘hard to understand’ voices (such as young children, people with speech impediments and foreign language learners). We scaled this business and, ultimately, successfully exited to a corporate acquiror at the end of 2023.
So, what does this have to do with taking on a new challenge at Ultima, our clients and partners… and what attracted me to join a 30+ year-old IT Managed Services company at a time of radical technological disruption?
Immersing myself in the venture ecosystem for the last 7 years, it became clear just how fast technology is now developing, and the implications this has for corporates. These implications are wide ranging and may have significant consequences both strategically and in multiple functional areas across organisations irrespective of sector or size. From the outset, it was clear that Ultima is particularly well placed to support corporates as not just a tech supplier but as partners in navigating these opportunities and challenges.
For some companies, technology is their product and the core of their business. These companies will have invested in significant internal expertise, capability and focus when it comes to understanding and leveraging cutting edge solutions to drive their business forward.
For the vast majority this is simply not the case. Technology is not at the core of their business. However, as it has evolved, IT has become a critical enabler. Increasingly, it underpins business operations and may even be a source of transformative productivity gains (see Klarna’s leveraging of AI to significantly reduce headcount); but equally it is creating and becoming a more significant risk (as the rise in data breaches demonstrates).
In today’s landscape of technological change and disruption, the archetypal corporate IT function is coming under increased strain as it tries to juggle the concerns of leaders and needs of stakeholders, often with limited resources – and more so with a lack of informed strategic oversight.
I recall having conversations 10 years ago where, when CEOs were asked about their digital strategy, the most frequent answer was “I’ve just hired a great CTO”. Now the conversations are getting more pointed, with organisations starting to tackle issues not just about their tech stack and online presence, but around proprietary data, cybersecurity, the adoption of AI and much more.
The challenges faced and opportunities presenting themselves are coming onto the business horizon at an ever-faster pace, and their magnitude is rapidly amplifying. Look at the recent CrowdStrike outage.
It ‘only’ affected approximately
devices globally, but caused chaos, with Delta Airlines recently admitting it cost them $0.5bn.
However, the ability of companies to respond to incidents such as this, is necessarily limited by capacity, expertise and frame of reference.
The adage “no-one ever got fired for buying IBM” looks increasingly out-of-date today as disruption accelerates. How can you be sure that the legacy companies across today’s tech stack represent the best solutions over a 5-year investment cycle? But simultaneously, how do you parse the many options out there and understand how to develop the right approach for your business?
More than ever before, the right answer for many businesses will be to look externally and bring in a partner whose knowledge and technology experience can provide both smart thinking and help on a practical level. But why look outside the building? More specifically, why do I believe that Ultima has a role to play.
Let’s revisit the following:
How do you see Ultima's competitive advantage and differentiation in a crowded IT market?
It’s a combination of factors, both technical and people based that make Ultima stand out:
- Expert led, service driven technology solutions
- Integrated, 24/7 managed services capability covering the entire customer IT lifecycle.
- A genuine customer-centric and value-driven approach. Ultima’s high and sustained NPS score of 75+ is a key indicator of this.
- Strong and long-standing partnerships with leading technology vendors, such as Microsoft, and the ability to leverage their platforms and products to deliver best-in-class solutions and services to our customers.
- An innovative, forward-thinking approach to the adoption of new technologies and solutions in a rapidly evolving space.
- People who have real talent, care about their clients and most importantly, love what they do. Ultima has an exceptional track record of retaining great people.
Summary
I’m not a technologist, but I am a technophile that understands the critical importance of technology to organisational success. I love working with the smartest people that are generous in sharing their knowledge. I appreciate the tension between the speed at which organisations are capable of evolving, the change in the world around them – and the challenge of closing that gap.
I believe Ultima is a business with the right skills and the right approach, in the right space at the right time. I love the people here and their passion for what we do. Most importantly, I’m excited to play my part.
To Ultima's customers, I believe that our success is inherent in understanding the part we play in supporting your success. We are committed to delivering on your needs and expectations to support you both operationally and strategically as partners.
To Ultima's partners, your support and collaboration is key, and we are dedicated to working with you in service of our mutual customers.
Biography
Jamie Beaumont is CFO at Ultima. He has a passion for finance and strategy, and he has worked with and led businesses across various industries, including technology and AI, digital media and business services.
Jamie graduated from Oxford University, qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PwC, where he advised clients on mergers and acquisitions. He then joined David Phillips Furniture, where he led the company to double its turnover, treble profitability, and completed a management buyout with FPE, a private equity firm. He moved to LSL Property Services plc, where he developed and executed the company's acquisition strategy and corporate development. He then joined Tangent Communications PLC, where he took the company private, restructured it for growth and diversified it into new markets. Most recently, he was the COO of an AI company that developed speech recognition technology for children and achieved a successful exit in November 2023.
Jamie Beaumont, CFO, Ultima
