Cherif Sleiman, VP Europe, Middle East and Africa at Infoblox finds there is one universal business language.

Verne Global’s CTO, Tate Cantrell, is fascinated by low power processing at the edge and massive computing resources at the core.

My generation was fortunate enough to see an unbeatable challenge achieved. I was a child when the first man walked on the moon. It was an extremely inspiring moment and hence an exciting “job” to go for.

An astronaut of course, for the discovery and adventure!  I settled for a private pilot’s licence. To me the cool thing about flying is the ‘invisible complexity’. Engines, rockets … all of the motion is encased in the hull.

Honestly? From the age of four, I believed that my true vocation would be as a priest. However, that all went out of the window after my first kiss, aged 16. I saw stars and never looked back.

1. As a child what job did you want to have when you grew up?

I remember wanting to be a number of things between the ages of 8 and 12:

(a) a spy — after reading The Thirty-Nine Steps

(b) a pilot — from various comics

(c) Sir Clive Sinclair

I wanted to be a TV cameraman: the thought of being involved with the creation of something that impacts people’s lives so much, and the fact that it wasn’t sat behind a desk all day, which is something I never wanted from a job.

1. As a child what job did you want to have when you grew up?

I wanted to be a pilot in the RAF, but that plan was scuppered when at the age of eight I discovered I was colour blind. I was attracted to the idea because it seemed a fast, adrenaline-filled role. I still plan to learn to fly and get my private pilot’s licence one of these days. It’s not quite a Tornado jet, but the [...]

I wanted to join the Foreign Office and work in Embassies like my dad and travel the world. Instead I’ve found myself working in software for the last 30 years!  I now look after the International Business operations (EMEA & APJ) for Progress,

1. As a child what job did you want to have when you grew up?

Astronaut or scientist. At least the second part worked out for the 10 years that I spent as a physics student and researcher.