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The stories of the pioneering people behind IT

This expanding database contains more than 200 oral histories recorded by the Archives of IT team. They tell the extraordinary story of how the Tech industry has transformed our lives, in the words of the people who made and are making it happen.

You can filter interviews by subject area below or use the Search button at the top of the page. If you know who you are looking for, use our A-Z list here.

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Simon Segars

Simon Segars joined the computer industry as a graduate trainee with the telecoms company STC in 1986. He joined ARM, the designer of reduced instruction set computer microprocessors in 1991 as the 16th employee in the most junior role as a design engineer. He rose as ARM as it became a world-leading vendor of IT microprocessor design handling customer relations, sales, acquisitions and became CEO in 2013. He advises the UK government on military innovation. He piloted the takeover of ARM by the Japanese SoftBank Group and is a broad member of the SoftBank board.

Sir Nigel Shadbolt

Sir Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Computing Science at the University of Oxford and Principal of Jesus College. He is Chairman of the Open Data Institute which he co-founded with Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 2012.
He is also a Visiting Professor in Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. During the course of his career he has made significant contributions to the fields of Psychology, Cognitive Science, Computational Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Semantic Web and Web Science.

Dr Alan Shepherd

Alan has had a long and varied IT career, with a background in research, innovation, technology assessment, and large scale contracting.   He has held senior technology management appointments in both public and private sectors, and recently has specialised in highlighting the growing business impact of emerging technologies.  He has been responsible for many major projects and investment decisions, and has considerable experience of IT-supported and IT-driven business change programmes.  He is very familiar with the difficulty of implementing change that affects workplace culture and tradition, a challenge that’s still very much with us today.  Alan is a Chartered Engineer, and has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Intel Corporation, and as a Council Member of EURIM and of the Parliamentary IT Committee.

Dame Stephanie Shirley

Dame Steve Shirley founded the software house F International initially only using women workers who worked from home. It was in 1962 and she had hit the glass ceiling again in her employment. She had £6 of capital. She was good at finding people who could become high achievers. Having been saved when a million children died in the holocaust she decided to make hers a life worth saving and likes to feel that she has made a difference. Her work gives purpose to her existence.