Many professionals operating in the telecommunications sector are passionate about their craft, but that could not be more truly said for Virgin Media O2’s (VMO2) Julian Davidge.

He now serves as the Director of Technology Service and Operations at the British media and telecommunications company, where he oversees technology, service and operations. His rise to the top is a product of graft, grit and determination, dedication and sheer passion for telecoms-related work.

Rising through the ranks

“I joined the British Army’s Royal Signals at 16 so, I've done telecoms related work since I left school and continued to ever since,” he says.

It’s the way his career began — with no qualifications — that motivates him to speak to young people about pursuing apprenticeships to break into their chosen industry.

“I've worked hard,” he adds. “I've been given opportunities and I've taken them. I’ve also made a lot of mistakes along the way. But you have to be resilient.”

It's the resiliency he instils in people that he also takes forward in his current role, where he is responsible for more than 45 million connections. A daunting prospect for many, this pressure is what Julian thrives under and gets him out of bed each morning. 

“That kind of ownership, accountability and responsibility is what motivates me and it makes me really proud,” Julian continues. “We've got great teams that are doing all this work for us and continuously improving where we're going.”

The making of Virgin Media O2

Julian joined what was O2 in 2018 and, three years later, the brand merged with Virgin Media to create the joint brand we know today. As it exists now, its services touch nearly every single household in the UK, including more than 45 million mobile connections and nearly six million broadband connections.

As Julian and his team transitioned with the merger, the emphasis on their technology mission — to deliver a connected experience that our customers trust, love and advocate — became increasingly stronger.

“We work to empower our people to innovate in delivering connectivity that delights our customers in a reliable way and also makes us fit for the future,” Julian explains.

“For me, the primary focus has been around getting all the data sources and good quality data in a single place which you can access on a regular basis. If you can't do that, then you can't ask machines to make decisions on your behalf.”

Julian and his team have experience in AI, with a specific focus on pattern recognition, which uses data trends and patterns to predict and prevent problems

He continues: “This means, where you can't predict and prevent them, you can mobilise very quickly to make sure that if there is any customer impact, that’s kept to an absolute minimum.

“This has been a massive journey and I think we are in a place now where, with automation and AI, things that used to take days are now at the click of a button are done within a second.”

The future of telco

Encouraging others breaking into roles in telecommunications and technology, Julian advises that although it’s a tough place to be, he offers this.

“You have to have good self-belief,” he says. “It’s a lonely place. You have to be resilient and clear on your self-assured way of working and direction of where you’re going. 

“There are times which are really stressful — big outages, challenges with people at work, organisational change — but bringing people on the journey through that, that's the most important bit.

“Every day is different. I try and balance my time between how much time I focus on the people in the team versus the strategy of where we're going and the delivery. You have to get all of those components to blend together and have a balanced outcome if you're going to be successful.”

Read the full story HERE.

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