It’s not always the longest journeys that are the most significant. It’s a little under 2 years since I joined Agilysis, but it’s time I moved on now. Nevertheless, it’s been one of my most meaningful career journeys.
When we started, in April 2025, we had a strong feeling that we knew what needed to be achieved and we’d be moving in the same direction for some time. I knew that Agilysis was being a bit more ambitious than it thought it was, but I also knew I had the skills and experience to transform the business. This is not my first rodeo.
Working closely with the Executive Team, we came to realise over the first year that we were heading in the wrong direction.
Like many SMEs, in the early days Agilysis relied on the extended talents of a small team. The result was that it developed a diverse technical portfolio of discrete tools custom-written to perform particular functions. The belief, in approaching me to take on the Head of Technology role, was that the way forward was going to be to continue these tools and bring them in under one professional engineering umbrella.
The reality is that the business has grown and with it, the economic balance has changed. Agilysis is now in a position to invest in frameworks and tooling which cover the vast majority of what it needs to achieve.
The correct business strategy was not custom engineering complex solutions, it was in finding the right tooling, frameworks and platforms to enable it to deliver quality products and services with a lighter engineering structure.
From Q2 this year, we’ve been working on that change of focus, on the implementation and on creating the correct engineering quality for the business.
For me it means that, for the second time in my career, I have effectively made myself redundant. My recommendation to ET has been to follow a path that doesn’t need my skills, or to be precise doesn’t need technical leadership at my level.
We think we’ll reach the critical cut-over point soon, which means that I’m a free agent in the New Year.
I’m genuinely not sure what my next adventure will be. For the past 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of being able to choose my next challenge. I’ve been a Lead Developer, a Software Architect, a Product Owner/Manager, a Head of Technology and at various points along the way a Project Manager, a Business Analyst, technical presales and actual sales. For a short time, due to someone jumping out of a plane with a reserve parachute that was too small, I’ve even been a CEO (he was fine, eventually).
There have been tough times, of course, but I wouldn’t change any of it and that’s what makes me really excited about what the future is going to bring. I love working with SMEs, I love never quite knowing what’s going to be thrown at me when I get to work in the morning and working with great teams to figure out how to get it done.
You knew that meant a sales pitch was coming, right?
I’m not necessarily looking for another full-time job. I’ve got a host of ideas of what I could do next. If you think it might be worth us having a conversation, about a role, a contract, a service, or just an idea, please take a look at my LinkedIn, the About Me section or just email me at tom@tomfosdick.com.