Back to all CXOs

Karl Hoods CBE

Group CIDO

Karl Hoods CBE
Quote start
As a progressive department, we have a strong appetite for technology and digital services. We were able to pivot from working in offices to working from home and it was as simple as reminding people to take with them their laptops and chargers.
Quote end

Transformation Journey

Karl is an experienced Chief Information Officer (CIO) and has worked in the private, public and third sectors. He is currently Group Chief Digital & Information Officer at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero where he is responsible for the delivery of core services, digital transformation, innovation, knowledge management, and shared services. In addition, he is SRO for the cross-government technology interoperability agenda.

Previously Karl was Chief Digital & Information Officer at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Prior to that, he was the CIO for Save the Children where he was responsible for the delivery of technology and digital services to support humanitarian, policy, advocacy, and fundraising activities. He has also held business technology leadership roles with web and sports media startups and led major change programs for publishing leaders TSO.  His career in startups fostered his interest in how emerging technology can be applied to business problems. 

Karl has transformed the delivery of technology and digital services in a number of organizations, more recently he has taken steps to implement a cloud-based security approach to underpin a true cloud-first strategy across the board.



Lessons Learned

Make sure you’re working in partnership with CISO colleagues and jointly agree on the journey and key outcomes – nothing should be a surprise. Often the most difficult step in starting a genuine transformation can be getting started – start small, prove the approach, and scale.



DESENZ