My Work

What do I do?

Good question! I work for a company called Endava (FTSE: DAVA) and my official title is Guidewire Head of Discipline. But in reality, my role is difficult to fit into a single snappy role title!

Back in December 2006 I started working for a small boutique UK software consultancy called Business Agility. On New Years Day 2007 I found myself on a plane to California to train and certify with a company called Guidewire. Guidewire is a technology company that builds software and platforms for the P&C insurance industry. They are now the global leader in insurance software and platforms, but back in 2007 they were just starting to get a foothold in the market. So, I was one of the first consultants outside of North America to train and work with Guidewire.

After I certified, Guidewire retained me as a “white labelled employee” (ie, subcontracted me) and I remained in the US for a couple of years working on my first client engagements, mainly living in Los Angeles.

Brian's CV
My CV!

I eventually returned to the UK and worked my way up through the company in various roles such as technical leads, team lead, technical architect and principal consultant before eventually becoming a ‘managing consultant’. This role came with many important responsibilities, not least as the co-manager of the Guidewire practice. I started moving away from direct client engagements as a developer and taking on more managerial and business oriented roles assisting pre-sales and supporting sales.

In 2022, Business Agility was acquired by Endava through a M&A process, where I became Guidewire Head of Discipline. Endava acquired Business Agility purely for it’s Guidewire capabilities, and as the practice manager, I retained the same responsibilities I had at Business Agility, but also took on a number of other responsibilities including sole manager of the practice in charge or resourcing, people management, pre-sale and sales support amongst other business responsibilities such as client engagement and success management.

So, I spent years doing client project work and living on the road, but nowadays I cover pretty much everything at a practice/business level. Basically, if it’s associated with a Guidewire project, I’m generally involved in it!

For more information, check out my LinkedIn profile! Or take a look at my CV!

Guidewire Expert

Guidewire certified specialist/professional with 20 years in the P&C and London Market industry, and an experienced Guidewire practice manager and product lead.

Technical background

30 years of software development experience with languages including GOSU, Java and Javascript. Specialist in systems integration and enterprise architecture.

business roles

Experienced in product strategy & roadmap planning, stakeholder & client engagement, Go-To-Market (GTM( strategy for insurance tech, RFP & RFI responses, pre-sales and sales support and opportunity management.

people management

Guidewire practice manager responsible for management of large teams across a portfolio of accounts, including professional development and overall resource management.

client facing

Strong customer facing skills and client engagement and success management

methodologies

Deep experience in Agile Product Development, SAFe and Guidewire SurePath frameworks.