#10 Leading Practitioner Interview: Matthew Philpott

For our 10th Leading Practitioner interview, we are delighted to introduce you to Matthew Philpott, Executive Director of Technology at NHS England, where he leads national digital infrastructure and enterprise platforms supporting over 1.8 million users across the health and care system. With a career spanning major incident response, public sector transformation, and large-scale IT operations, he previously held senior technology roles at the Home Office and in global enterprise IT. 

He’s a Fellow of the RSA, BCS, IET, and CMI, a Leading Practitioner with FEDIP, and also volunteers with St John Ambulance as National Digital Advisor. His work focuses on practical, resilient delivery, especially where digital services have a direct public impact.

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1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey so far

I’ve worked in technology for nearly 30 years, starting out in infrastructure and operations roles across the publishing and property sectors before moving into global cloud and enterprise IT leadership. At Telstra, I led international teams delivering core services and cloud platforms to clients across finance, healthcare, and logistics. A secondment to Telstra Health in 2015—supporting the integration of Dr Foster—sparked my interest in health informatics and how data can drive better patient outcomes.In 2017, I joined the Home Office and took on a series of senior technology roles focused on critical national infrastructure. I led large operational teams delivering real-time services to police, borders, and law enforcement—often under high pressure during major incidents, cyberattacks, and state events.I’m now Executive Director of Technology at NHS England, where I lead digital infrastructure, enterprise platforms, and internal IT services for the health and care system, supporting over 1.8 million users.

Alongside this, I volunteer with St John Ambulance and serve as their National Digital Advisor. Throughout my career, I’ve remained focused on practical, resilient delivery at scale—and I’m proud to be part of the FEDIP community, helping to raise the profile of informatics professionals working behind the scenes to keep vital services running.

2. What is one thing you wish you had known when you began your career?

That imposter syndrome is normal—and often a sign you care. I spent years second-guessing whether I “belonged” in the room, especially as responsibilities grew. Looking back, I wish I’d trusted myself earlier. It’s okay not to know everything; leadership is often about asking the right questions and bringing people with you.

3. What advice would you give to someone who wants to advance in the profession?

Stay curious and don’t get boxed into one specialism. The most effective digital leaders I’ve seen are the ones who understand how the whole ecosystem fits together—whether that’s data, infrastructure, user experience, or governance. Also, be useful during a crisis. That’s when trust is built.4. What are the best resources that have helped you along the way?For me, it’s always been about people and context. Peer networks have been invaluable—learning from others facing similar challenges often gives me better insight than any textbook. Professional qualifications have also helped structure my thinking, especially when moving between sectors or scaling leadership responsibilities.I’m a big believer in getting out from behind the desk—walking expo floors, asking questions, and seeing how problems are being solved in other settings. It’s not just about the tech—it’s the conversations, the patterns, the ideas that stick. And while I’m not one for learning through failure, I do constantly look for ways to make things simpler and more effective—usually by asking “is there a smarter way to do this?”

5. What is the one common myth about your profession or field that you want to debunk?

That it’s all about technology. The tech is often the easy bit. The challenge is aligning people, process, and behaviour—especially in complex systems like health and government. Digital transformation is really about trust, culture, and change leadership.

6. What do you think is going to have the biggest impact on health in the next 5 years?

The growing maturity of informatics and clinical data science. I remember speaking with one of our clinicians during a secondment to Dr Foster—they told me they believed they’d saved more lives in informatics than they ever did on the ward. That stayed with me. When data is translated into timely, trusted action, it can transform care on a scale no single individual can match.

7. How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things within your role?

I never really switch off—I’m always thinking about how things could be done better. If something sparks my interest, I’ll dig into it, usually with a burst of late-night research (AI has definitely made that easier). I’ve got a pile of half-written blogs and presentation decks that no one’s ever seen—but the process helps me work things through, test ideas, and sharpen my thinking.

Frontline engagement is a big part of how I learn too. I stay connected with operational teams, clinical staff, and volunteers—not just in meetings, but by spending time where the work actually happens. That insight helps challenge assumptions and keeps me grounded. A good example is when I started researching how major incidents are managed clinically—how teams triage, prioritise, and make decisions under pressure—and realised there’s a lot we can apply in digital and IT incident management, especially where there’s direct clinical impact.

8. What do you think is the biggest challenge for the profession and how should we overcome it?

There’s a lot of hype and marketing around AI right now—which is understandable, and to some extent well-earned. These tools are already making life easier in small but meaningful ways. But we need a reality check: AI is still an emerging technology, and many people (including some decision-makers) don’t fully understand how it works or where its limits are. It’s not a silver bullet. The bigger challenge is making sure digital leaders have a meaningful voice at the top table—because good technology decisions can’t be made in isolation from operational, clinical, or strategic realities. We need digital professionals who can bridge that gap, speak the language of both systems and services, and push back when something is being oversold or misapplied. That means building trust, being present, and showing the value of informatics and digital thinking in real, practical terms.

9. What job did you think you’d be doing when you were at school?

A camera operator. I wrote that in a letter to my future self at the start of secondary school—but the school lost the letters, which feels very on-brand for 1990s admin. I was always fascinated by what went on behind the scenes, which in a way is still true now.