Mark Cockerill, ServiceNow. Image: Connor McKenna/SiliconRepublic.com
We’re back. The first episode of The Leaders’ Room’s season two features Mark Cockerill, senior VP for legal and Ireland lead at ServiceNow. This series is created in partnership with IDA Ireland.
Each fortnight, The Leaders’ Room podcast sees host Ann O’Dea get up close and personal with the Irish-based leaders of some of the world’s most influential technology, health-tech, software and engineering companies with operations in Ireland.
As well as getting their insights on the nature of good leadership and the strategies that define success in some of the world’s most influential companies, the series also gets their expert views on the big trends that are shaping their sectors.
In the first episode of season two, we speak to Mark Cockerill, senior vice-president for legal, and lead for Ireland at ServiceNow, the AI-powered cloud platform that helps businesses all around the world organise and automate their operations and the fastest ever pure software company to reach a $10bn valuation.
As an organisation that has long been employing machine learning and artificial intelligence, ServiceNow is a great example of how we’re well past the theoretical when it comes to AI and generative AI. In Cockerill’s words, “while developments like quantum computing might still feel a bit science fiction, AI is truly science fact”.
Notwithstanding his legal title, Cockerill has clearly always seen his skillset as useful to the day-to-day operations, and not just when a problem arises. And it is something he hopes to find in new recruits too. He says he always looks for that intellectual curiosity that means team members genuinely care about other people’s roles, and what’s happening throughout the whole organisation.
At a time when there’s much talk about the “end of the hybrid workplace”, Cockerill and ServiceNow are clearly going for a pull rather than push strategy when it comes to their talent.
While welcoming hybrid working, they are also creating the kind of physical spaces where people will actually want to come into the office, and Cockerill says this allows them to achieve a happy medium of their teams genuinely connecting but still having some freedom over where they work. I personally see this as the most likely way forward, but I think we’ll all agree, how the workplace of tomorrow will look remains unsettled as of yet.
Cockerill sees AI as not just a gamechanger, but one that could further democratise technology and invite different sections of society into the workplace, but he emphasises that can only happen if organisations – and indeed governments – concentrate on ensuring the right reskilling initiatives are in place.
We’re extremely grateful to all our interviewees for taking the time to come into the studio and share their insights and their intelligence again for season two of the podcast. And big thanks as ever to our partners IDA Ireland who have made this series possible.
The Leaders’ Room podcast can be found by searching for ‘The Leaders’ Room’ wherever you get your podcasts. For those who prefer their audio with visuals, filmed versions of the podcast interviews are all available here on SiliconRepublic.com.
Check out The Leaders’ Room podcast for in-depth insights from some of Ireland’s top leaders. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
