Ian Jones

Background

Ian began his career in manufacturing with Plessey Semiconductors.  As a Principal Engineer he held roles in process development, quality management and product engineering.  Whilst at Pressey he held his first commercial role as Assistant Business Product Manager, a key link between product sales, marketing and manufacturing operations.

Ian joined Intel in 1990 as a Customer Quality and Manufacturing Engineer supporting the Europe Middle East and Africa operations of some of Intel's largest global accounts.  He co-developed and piloted a proactive 'Manufacturing Advantage' service for EMEA customers which tangibly improved time to market associated with new product introductions and which was rolled out as a worldwide program.  Ian subsequently held senior commercial roles including international assignments to the US and emerging markets.  He was Director of Intel EMEA Customer Support and Technical Marketing, an organisation of over 100 people plus an outsourced call centre operation and in 2002 undertook a headquarters based assignment as Worldwide Director, Intel Customer Support.  He then became Intel EMEA Channel Operations Director responsible for distribution and reseller strategy and programs before heading up Intel's Enterprise Solution Sales team across UK and Northern Europe.  In this role he managed commercial and technical teams serving key accounts in sectors including Financial Services, Government, Retail, Healthcare, Education, Transport and Energy.  In 2012 he completed an assignment to the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region as META Enterprise Sales Director during which he led development of a regional sales strategy for growth and secured incremental investment in the organisation.  The relationship between a semiconductor manufacturer, enterprise customers and the technology ecosystem is highly complex and value based and Ian was an internal developer and trainer of Intel's enterprise sales training curriculum.  He is an experienced coach and mentor.

In 2014 Ian became General Manager, Intel Technology UK Ltd with responsibility for Intel's strategic relationship with UK government and industry.  He sat on the board of TechUK between 2014 and 2019 and was a member of the CBI International Trade Council, the CBI Technology Group and the CBI Public Sector Partners Council.  He was also on the board of Resilience First and DAFA (Digital Access for All) and was a member of the Smart Cities APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group).  He led Intel's partnership with Canary Wharf Group and their Level 39 Technology Cluster with ground breaking programs including the Cognicity Smart Cities challenge.

Ian has regularly spoken and keynoted at government and industry events on topics including digital transformation, cloud, Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence and 5G.  He has championed innovation projects with technology clusters and coached and mentored several SME and start-ups. 

Ian retired from Intel at the end of 2019 after 30 years with the company.

Current activities

Ian is a Visiting Fellow with Cranfield School of Management and stands ready to provide assistance for businesses that want to bring leading edge capabilities into the way they manage customer relationships.  He has provided mentoring to MBA students. 

His specialist areas of knowledge include Sales Strategy Development, Innovation in Sales, Segmentation of the Customer Base, Key Account Management, Consultative Selling and International Sales and Sales Management experience.