Brian Roche

Airports, data centres and critical infrastructure

Brian Roche

I started out as an air traffic controller and I've spent forty five years around aviation since. Thirty of those have been in data centres. These days I work on how airports and critical infrastructure use technology, and I keep safety at the front of it.

Capabilities, enablement, safety. In that order.

About

I joined the RAF in 1980 and served there until 1990. After that I moved into civil air traffic control with the CAA and NATS at London Area Control, and I stayed until 1998. Air traffic control taught me early to be straight with people, and to say no without making it personal.

From there I moved into technology, and into the places where it has to work every time. I've held CIO level roles, including at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, and I've spent most of my working life in airports and data centres.

Safety is really the only thing I work on. Commercial return matters, but it isn't what drives me. I don't believe in telling people something can't be done. There's nearly always another way to skin a cat, and the job is to find it.

I also played basketball for England, which still comes up more than you'd think.

Career

WhenWhat I did
1980 to 1990Royal Air Force.
To 1998Civil air traffic control with the CAA and NATS at London Area Control.
Since thenTechnology leadership in airports and data centres, including CIO level roles. One of them was Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.
TodayChief Information and Technology Officer at Aviatech Digital, based at Sci-Tech Daresbury.
AlongsideI chair City Quay Management. I founded LiverpoolInternational.org. I've also served as an expert witness in the High Court.

What I'm working on now

Cyber security, AI and leadership, mostly as they apply to airports and to the data centres that sit behind them. I also work in construction, where the same habits of planning and safety carry over.

I'm a member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers and have been since 2018. Much of the detail of my client work isn't mine to share, so you won't find names here. If you'd like to talk about the kind of problem I can help with, please get in touch.

Learning

I'm still studying. I hold a Level 7 NVQ in Construction Senior Management, and I'm working at postgraduate level in cyber security, AI and management. To be fair, very little of it is new to me. I do it because I'd like the qualifications to match the experience.

Writing

I'm going to write here once a week. You can also find me on LinkedIn, where each new piece will be shared.

11 October 2026

Why I've started writing

For a long time I kept most of what I know to myself. Partly that was because the work needed discretion, and partly it was because nobody asked.

I'd like to change that a little. Every week I'll put down one thing I've learned, got wrong or changed my mind about, mostly from airports, safety critical operations and data centres. I won't name clients, and I won't write about anything that isn't mine to share.

If something here is useful, or you think I've missed a trick, please tell me. I'd rather be corrected than stay quiet.

Contact