About
I like getting to grips with how things work: how the parts fit together, where the difficulties are and what might make things better. The technology I work with has changed a lot over the years, from early Macintosh computers to the internet, streaming, the cloud and now AI. The curiosity hasn’t.
I tend to learn by trying something, seeing what happens and working through what it tells me. Explaining it helps too. Putting an idea into words often shows me what I understand and what still needs more thought.
My technology journey
- The Mac years. I started out in 1988 at AppleCentre Preston learning Macintosh computers, showing people what they could do and helping customers solve practical problems.
- The early internet, 1995 to 2004. I co-founded UK Internet Provider Ltd with friends and was its Technical Director, looking after web hosting, email and support.
- Streaming at Sky. I left UK Internet Provider in 2004, took a short break and moved to London. In 2005 Tomorrow Communications placed me at Sky, where I worked in network engineering. Between 2010 and 2012 I designed a dedicated video network (the DVN), the in-house delivery platform behind Sky Go and NOW TV, and I joined Sky permanently in 2014. From 2017 I led the solution architecture for its software-defined successor, which I designed to be portable. I co-presented it running in Google Cloud in 2019. I designed it so a later cloud decision would not mean starting again. Engineering and operations teams did the build.
- Today. I’m a Solutions Architect working on large-scale streaming platforms, across cloud and systems integration. I’m also learning how AI assistants fit into how I work. I use Cursor when I build this site, and Grok when I research. Assistants also check facts and review my drafts, and I decide what to change.
Sharing what I learn
Explaining has become an important part of my work. I wrote a five-part series for Streaming Media about live-video workflows and quality of experience, gave the Streaming Forum 2018 keynote and co-presented the platform we built with Sky at Google Cloud Next ’19. I’ve also put together a five-part course on how live streaming works, from the camera to the screen. They all grew from the same interest: taking something complicated and finding a useful way to explain it.
Becoming a dad in 2019 changed my priorities and how I think about time. I continued working in technology, while writing much less publicly. I’m making more room for it again now, with a clearer sense that I want work to support the life I share with my family and the people I care about.
How I solve problems
Most problems I work on don’t start from nothing. Something is usually already there, and people depend on it. So I tend to work in five steps:
- Understand. What’s already there, how do people use it and what do they need to change?
- Question. Check the assumptions, including my own, and ask what the problem really is.
- Simplify. Look for what we can build on and the smallest change that will help.
- Test. Try it on a small scale first and see what happens.
- Learn. Explain what happened and carry it into the next decision.
Running through all five is judgement. Ice hockey players talk about skating to where the puck is going, not where it’s been. For me, that means choosing something that works today and should still make sense as the technology moves on. There’s rarely one right answer, so I try to make the choices clear enough for the teams who will build and run it.
What I’m building and learning now
Outside work, this site is part of my learning. I rebuilt it in Astro with Cursor’s help, testing each change on a separate preview site before anything goes live. I use Grok when I research. Assistants also check facts and review my drafts, and I decide what to change. I’m also building a personal tool for keeping track of unfinished tasks. Some experiments work and some show me why an approach doesn’t. Both are worth writing up, including the things I’ve reconsidered, so that someone else can take something useful from them.
I've been lucky to work on some of the UK's biggest live sports streams with great teams at Sky. Views are my own. What I write here draws on public talks and sources and my own experience, and it isn't an official Sky position. If you'd like to quote or reuse something, please see Linking and reuse.