In this Celebrity 10Q interview, we are very proud to feature Tom Ilube, the CEO of Garlik and Chairman of the UK Technology Strategy Board’s Network Security Innovation Platform.

Tom Ilube (46) is Chief Executive of Garlik, the VC-backed online identity management company with over 250,000 customers and offices in London and New York. Garlik was founded by Tom in partnership with Mike Harris, the founding CEO of Egg plc. Garlik’s advisors include Sir Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and Professor Nigel Shadbolt, who is leading, with Tim, the Government's open data initiative.

In recognition of its potential global impact, Garlik was selected as a World Economic Forum, Davos 2008 Technology Pioneer, and Tom was invited to attend and present on identity management at the annual WEF meeting in Davos as well as the summer meeting in China.
Tom’s technology career spans 25 years with a range of blue chip organisations including Goldman Sachs and PwC. Over the past 16 years as a technology entrepreneur, Tom has raised around £30m in venture funding.

In 1998 Tom was part of the original founding team of Egg plc, the world’s most innovative online bank. He was programme manager for the original launch and, after a period externally founding and running a software company, he subsequently returned to serve as Egg’s Chief Information Officer and a member of its Executive Committee. At Egg, Tom managed a technology team of 500 staff, several thousand servers, a large number of suppliers and significant projects across multiple sites. He established strategic relationships with major vendors, resulting in Bill Gates and Tom jointly presenting the launch of a new Microsoft operating system at the QEII Centre in London.

Tom has served the Secretary General of the International Telecoms Union, a Geneva-based UN-agency, as a member of the High Level Expert Group on Cybercrime. In 2009 Tom was appointed Chairman of the UK Technology Strategy Board’s Network Security Innovation Platform, looking at issues relating to identity management, authentication and cybersecurity across Government and industry. As a sort after speaker, Tom comments regularly in the media and at conferences on identity management and cybersecurity issues.

Tom holds a BSc in Applied Physics and an MBA (Finance). In 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Technology.He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Tom’s wider interests lie in education. He is Governor/Trustee of three Academies and is currently creating a new Academy in Africa for gifted and talented young people.

Tom is married with two children. He lives in Richmond, Surrey.

10Q Tom Ilube

Q1. Tell us a bit about your early years and growing up in Nigeria?

I grew up in Nigeria, the UK and Uganda. In Nigeria, I attended Edo College, Benin City and then studied applied physics at the University of Benin. I had a wonderful time in Benin, in the seventies and eighties. My only regret is that I didn't travel around Nigeria and see more of the country.

Q2. Was your interest in Information Technology a late development or have you always been wired in that direction? If you had to live your life again and were given the opportunity to choose another career outside of IT, what would that be and why?

I became interested in information technology whilst at Uniben. We were told that there was only one computer in the whole university, hidden away in a building run by the maths department, but we never saw it! We would just submit our hand-written computer programs and wait to hear whether they had run correctly. So when I actually had the opportunity to lay hands on a computer of my own, I was addicted. Perhaps in another life I would have been a research physicist, studying the nature of the universe, but I am not clever enough for that really.

Q3. It can be rightly said that you are at the top of the ladder in your career. Could you tell us a bit about the bottom of that ladder and how difficult the climb has been? What is your is your ultimate professional goal?

I would like to think that I am mid-career, not at the top of the ladder. There is a lot that i still want to achieve both in my professional and charitable life. The start was not easy. I applied for hundreds of jobs to get on the ladder and worked hard to gain a foothold. But persistence paid off and I made progress, gradually building a reputation in my chosen arena of technology. My company, Garlik, provides identity protection services in the UK, the USA and soon in Germany and Asia. We aim to roll out across the world and make the internet a safer place for millions of users worldwide.

Q4. The cyber culture in Africa has grown significantly from the mid 1990s. Across the continent, there are millions of Africans whose social and/ or business lives revolve around the internet. Do you see the emerging market as a potential market for your products and services, including, possibly, an online bank?

Africa is certainly a promising market both for our products and for any internet services. In fact, one visionary Nigerian bank that really understands the web has already approached us to discuss providing our protection services to its customers, and a South African company is keen to launch there too.

Q5. You are currently involved in creating a new Academy in Africa for gifted and talented young people. Why gifted children? Is there any personal experience that has tailored this initiative?

I am fascinated by people with really brilliant brains. When I was studying physics at Uniben, there was a fellow student in the maths department who had a level of intellect that was simply amazing. I always felt that if he had been in the UK, USA, China or anywhere, his gift would have been recognised early on and he would have received special attention and investment. These people are future Nobel prize winners! Countries around the world have recognised that investing in young people with these special intellectual gifts is so important. My new charity, the African Gifted Foundation, is the first pan-African academy dedicated to finding, selecting and enhancing the education of Africa’s brilliant young minds; and I am working with some of the world's experts in gifted education on this initiative.

Q6. You have been involved with/ benefitted from Venture Capital funding. What can be done in Africa to create a similar environment where start ups and potential mega businesses can enjoy and blossom with VC funding?

We need to create a culture of investment in start up businesses across Africa. From Silicon Valley in California to Silicon Fen in Cambridge, UK, countries have seen the benefit of a systematic approach to building a venture capital industry, through a range of industry and academic partnerships, tax and legal regulations and, most importantly, an exit route through floatations for successful companies.

Q7. You presented a paper at the prestigious World Economic Forum, Davos 2008 on Identity management. What was the thrust of your presentation?

My company, Garlik, was honoured to be selected as a World Economic Forum technology pioneer in 2008 and I was asked to present on cyber security and on the future of the web, both at Davos, Switzerland and at the "Summer Davos" in Tianjin, China. I highlighted the challenge that individuals, companies and governments face with the rise of cybercrime and the steps that can be taken to protect yourself. The web is an amazing phenomenon and it has brought untold benefits to perhaps a billion people worldwide; but as with any good thing, we need to be smart about how to protect ourselves, because there are bad people out there who will try to use it against us.

Q8. You are no doubt one of Nigeria’s bright lights in Diaspora, with tremendous achievements in the IT industry. Have you received any official recognition from the Nigerian government, or have you been approached by the Nigerian government or private corporations to help in the area(s) of your specialty?

There are many bright lights in the Nigerian diaspora. In London, in the USA and across the world, there are amazing men and women doing amazing things, often without recognition. I would love to see this community making a more powerful contribution to its country and continent. It is challenging for people who have been away for a long time to know how and where to contribute; but of late, I have seen some great people moving back to Nigeria to play their part and that is excellent news.

Q9. It appears that most of your activities are centered around the developed world. Do you have concrete plans to help jumpstart cyber security awareness in Africa, generally, and in your homeland Nigeria, specifically; by way of workshops, conferences or special projects? What in your view is the biggest challenge of cyber security in Africa?

As issues of cyber security grow in the Nigerian and African context, amongst companies and governments, experts from around the world will be ready to make their contribution. There are a lot of Nigerians involved in this field and I am sure that we will all play our part as people reach out.

Q10. What are your favourite travel destinations and how do you unwind away from work (what are your hobbies)?

I love travelling. This year I hope to visit Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania and Ethiopia, as well as various parts of Europe and the USA. Away from work I practice tai chi, a slow, relaxing form of exercise that helps the mind and model unwind; as well as spending a lot of time with my family.