Stuart Birrell - easyJet - Aiming for aviation nirvana with the help of digitization CIONET

In this #LeadershipDeepDive, Stuart Birrell, CDO & CIO at easyJet, talks with Hendrik Deckers about the competitive market of aviation and how the Covid crisis affected easyJet. Stuart says and explains how easyJet is changing under his leadership to keep up with competitors.

Stuart shares his insights on:
✅ Innovation at easyJet
✅ New operation model
✅ How sustainability has an increasing impact on business operations
✅ Leadership and management style
✅ Failure and lessons that comes with it

Stuart also talks about his business path from building factories for Nissan to running an entire IT department in easyJet.

Table of contents

01:12 | Introduction and Stuart Birrell’s background

04:01 | About easyJet

05:00 | Difference between easyJet and other carriers

06:40 | Changes and the approach to innovation

09:00 | Reaching balance between great technology and being cost conscious

12:40 | Fundamental role of IT in creating the best customer service

16:26 | Innovation at easyJet

21:56 | New operating model

26:20 | Benchmark of success in aviation

28:20 | Thoughtful cloud journey

30:36 | Sustainability

35:30 | Digital & IT organisation in easyJet

42:20 | Role of CIO & management style

50:00 | Leadership style

54:38 | Stuart’s core values

56:46 | Stuart’s MBTI: The Entrepreneur

59:30 | Development areas

01:01:45 | Personal mentors

01:05:05 | Mantra

01:05:58 | Values passed to the family

01:07:25 | Life outside of work

01:08:27 | Fears and loves

01:09:27 | Failures and lessons that come with it

01:12:20 | I am thankful for...

01:13:20 | Advice for young professionals