Lendlease Podium | #DigitalTradies: When A Classical Musician Discovers The World Of Technology - Meet Ciaran Hennessy

#DIGITALTRADIES: WHEN A CLASSICAL MUSICIAN DISCOVERS THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY - MEET CIARAN HENNESSY

4 August 2021

Welcome to the second episode of #DigitalTradies!

In this new series, we catch up with some very awesome people in the Lendlease Digital family (we call “Digital Tradies”) to find out what they do and what they’re working on right now, with Podium.

Today we spoke with Ciaran Hennessy, former classical musician - turned technology leader. Ciaran is the Principal Software Architect at Lendlease Digital and Chair of the Infrastructure Working Group of the Digital Twin Consortium.

Tell us about yourself
I like to refer to myself as a bit of an uber nerd. So basically it means I love technology, I love software and I love solving problems – and that’s pretty much what my job is about. I run a lot of the technology architecture across Lendlease Digital.

In the grapevine, we’ve heard you have an extraordinary gift of music. Can you tell us a bit more?
When I was younger I played a lot of woodwind instruments – clarinet, bassoon, oboe. I also played a lot of classical piano and a bit of the harpsichord in a few orchestras. One of the things that’s interesting about music (which a lot of people don’t realise) is that it’s pretty close to technology. Just like music, technology is all about creativity, looking at different ways of doing things and creating something out of nothing.

What makes you so passionate about technology?
It’s this joy in seeing something that you’ve imagined come to life in the real world. Even though it’s virtual, you can almost touch and feel it. You can see it coming to life in your hands and that’s really exciting!

Do you have a favourite Podium product?
I love all my children equally. Here’s the thing I'll say – what I find really exciting about Podium is actually the concept of Podium itself rather than one specific product. Each of the products by itself have huge value and huge transformational outcomes, but I think Podium as a family together and working together is what I’m most excited about.

What inspires you to log in every day?
It’s a bit about the people. It’s a bit about what Lendlease does. And it’s a bit about the authenticity of the things that Lendlease believes in. When Lendlease says things like “we’re committed to safety ”, they mean it. When they say “we’re committed to moving to carbon net zero”, they mean it. The other thing I love about Lendlease is that job titles don’t matter. Lendlease is an organisation of experts so you just need to understand what each person’s expertise is. Lendlease at its heart has this culture of mentor/mentee and there’s this real drive in people to share knowledge and experiences.

Finally, what is your spirit animal?
Chameleon! Being able to embrace change and adapt to what you need to in any situation is very useful.