Europe’s top 10 CIOs

Banking and Finance

Kenneth Harvey
Group General Manager and CIO of HSBC Holdings plc

Harvey is responsible for the development, deployment and operation of the technology assets of the company. Previously, he served as Group Executive and CIO for Household International, a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. In the role, he led Household in the design, development and implementation of industry leading technology. He joined the company in 1989 and was promoted to CIO in 1999. He was appointed Group Executive for Household in 2002 and advanced to his current position as of January 2004. Harvey started his career in data processing in computer operations for a regional savings and loan company. He has held numerous progressive positions in technology and marketing at several world-class banking and consulting organisations.

Energy

John Leggate
Group Vice President and CIO, BP p.l.c.

Leggate joined BP Exploration in 1979 after having worked in the early years of his career in the marine consultancy and nuclear industries. He is a chartered engineer and a graduate of Glasgow University where he read Engineering. In January 2000 Leggate was appointed Group Vice President, Digital Business, where he is responsible for both Information Technology and e-business, ensuring a fully integrated transition as the corporation moves from e-business discovery to deployment. Previously, Leggate was appointed President of AIOC (Azerbaijan International Operating Company) and before that, he was Manager of BP's combined Southern North Sea (SNS) Gas Asset in the UK. He is also a member of the BP Amoco Group Senior Leadership Team.

Insurance

Dr Gerhard Rupprecht
CIO of Allianz

Rupprecht’s career with Allianz Group began back in 1979 after he worked as a systems planner/programmer for Standard Elekrik Lorenz AG. This is in stark contrast to his early career when he was a teaching assistant at the Institute for Mathematics at Stuttgart University. In January 1989 he became a deputy member of the Allianz Management Boad, and in January 1991 a full member. October 1991 saw him appointed Chairman of the Management Board of Allianz Leben. This year Rupprech, 57, was made Chairman of the Management Board of Allians Deutchland.

Telecommunications

Alnoor Ramji
CIO of BT

As CIO of BT Group and CEO of BT Exact, Ramji is in charge of developing and delivering a unified strategy and leveraging BT's information technology resources to maximise support for the company's growth and transformation plans. Ramji joined BT in May 2004 from Qwest Communications where he led the company's web, IT and internal network functions, as well as its business and billing operations. Before joining Qwest in 2001, Ramji was one of the most recognised IT figures in the City of London, where he was global CIO at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. He was also founder and CIO of Webtek Software, a successful software house based in India.

Transportation

Edouard Odier
CIO and EVP of Air France.

Odier took up the position of CIO at Air France in October 2003. A graduate from Ecole Centrale Paris, Master of Sciences MIT, he entered the aviation company in 1977 and managed Air France Operations Research Group from 1982 to 1989. He joined Amadeus France as General Manager from its creation in 1989.

He was appointed as Vice-President Development of Air France IT Department in April 2001. Edouard Odier is 51 and married with four children.

Pharmaceutical

Paul Burfitt
CIO of AstraZeneca

Burfitt’s 30-year career began at ICI where he was employed as a mathematician in research engineering at the company’s plastics’ business. He later moved from mathematics of chemical and manufacturing processes into process control engineering. Burfitt later became a plant manager in heavy chemicals manufacturing before he managing warehouses and fleets of heavy goods vehicles across Europe. Zeneca then came calling and he was made head of the pharmaceutical company’s IS department. He made his latest career move came when Zeneca merged with Astra in 2000 to form a global pharmaceutical giant, and Burfitt was selected to be the new CIO.

FMCG

Neil Cameron
CIO of Unilever

Cameron has 30 years in the IT industry under his belt. He joined Unilever in 2003 from Diageo plc where he was also in the position of CIO. His appointment made him Unilever’s first dedicated CIO. Cameron is responsible for a 4,000-strong IT worldwide IT department and an annual budget of €800 million. Prior to Unilever he was CIO of the North American arm of Marks and Spencer. Cameron started out in IT in 1973 with RHM Management Services but only ever intended this to be a temporary position. However, he occupied various technical and junior management positions for different organisations including Dixons Stores, TSB Trustcard, Aer Lingus and IBM.

Electronics

Claus Weyrich
SVP, Corporate Technology, Siemens AG

Weyrich joined Siemens Research Laboratories in 1969 after studying physics and mathematics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Four years later he headed up Siemens AG’s Semiconductor Research Department. In1978 he transferred to the Solid-state Electronics Department where he was head of Optoelectronic Semiconductors. Weyrich then accepted the position of head of the Material Sciences and Electronics Unit at the company’s Corporate Research and Development Department. In 1992 he was made an honorary professor at the University of Munich and two years later Siemens appointed him head of the Research and Development Technology Department. In 1996 he became a member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG.

Retail

Colin Cobain
CIO of Tesco

Cobain’s main accountabilities include delivering a strategic programme of investment and delivering the day-to-day service required to support a high volume business critical environment. Cobain was educated at Liverpool University where he read Computational and Statistical Science. He started his career working for the Mars Group and later joined Thorn EMI in 1990 as IT Director for Rumbelows. In 1992 he was employed at Kingfisher where he spent time on the boards of both Superdrug and Woolworths. He set up a wholesaling/export business whilst at Superdrug and launched the world’s first national interactive digital TV store at Woolworths. In 2000 he spent eight months establishing an Internet start up which reached pilot stage before he joined Tesco.

Jean-Pierre Corniou
President and CIO, Renault

Corniou holds a graduates' degree in Economics from the Université de Paris I, and also studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. In March 2000, Renault appointed Mr Corniou Senior Vice-President, CIO, and Member of the Management Board, and he has since led a major overhaul of the Group's IT departments. He has been at the forefront of active research into the role of information systems within corporate strategy and management policies, as IT columnist for magazines. Corniou, who is married and a father-of-two, received the 1999 IT Manager of the Year award from the French press.