Peter Kane Head of Customer Services at the Hartree Centre

Peter is Head of Customer Services at the Hartree Centre. The centre assists in transforming UK industry through high performance computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

He joined the centre in 2015 and has been responsible for developing a culture of customer focus, ensuring the journey customers take, exceeds their expectations.

He is passionate about strengthening links between schools, colleges, universities and employers to develop a pipeline of talent of digital skills for all.

What is the thing you are most proud of in your career so far?
Being appointed as Head of Customer Services for the Hartree Centre, and steering focus towards embedding new methodologies to interact with our customers.

Most exciting or unusual thing that’s happened in your role?
Asked to develop training and skills for our customers, this has transformed our approach to understanding what skills are required by industry for them to achieve their goals.

The biggest changes you have seen?
The scale in which technologies have advanced and the need for these to be used to resolve modern problems.

How do you approach a challenge?
Head on, weigh up the options and go for it, a challenge is there as a positive thing to stretch your professional and personal development.

What are the most important qualities you look for in the people you work with or are hiring?
Enthusiasm, openness, willing to participate and eager to learn, sometimes personal qualities outweigh qualification, as long as an individual can demonstrate competence in an area, we can help them grow technically, to do this they must be willing to engage.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about careers?
Don’t jump in, make the odd mistake, learn about yourself, a career should develop over time.

What’s the biggest opportunity ahead for young people?
To make a difference, in the digital world technology is advancing at great speed, new computing methods are on the horizon, play to your strengths as learning a particular skill can open up a range of opportunities.