Baker, Richard
A-List 2006
Job title European channel marketing manager.
Company AMD.
Year of birth 1961.
Place of birth Wroughton, Wiltshire.
Career outline I started my professional life as a design engineer working on the computers that filled Wembley Stadium but had the computing power of a door handle. Then I tinkered with PCs in the days when we were impressed by floppy disks that weren’t floppy. I finished my designing days at 3Com on fibre optic networking technology. I was convinced to join AMD with the promise of a fast, shiny black car and moved from a technical role into marketing about 10 years ago.
What motivates you every morning to get up and work in the channel? It’s always about people and the successes, failures and issues they bring. The challenges of chipping away at the competition is constantly challenging and rewarding.
What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years? Streaming video on mobile phones. I know these guys want to sell bandwidth, but really.
What will be the most underrated technology in the next five years? Not really a technology, but the absence of technology. It’s easier to send emails or a text message than actually talk face to face with someone. So maybe the most underrated technology will be transport and shoe leather.
Which technology would you most like to have invented? The still-to-be-invented decent office coffee machine.
Do you have any regrets from your time in the industry? I really wish my Michael Steely boss hadn’t caught me making earings out of optical hybrid circuits one lunchtime many moons ago. It was very difficult to explain that one.
If you could swap places with anyone in the industry, who would it be? It would be Michael Steele at Ageia. He is extremely competent, was in the right place at the right time several years ago and has the attitude to work and life that I aspire to.
What is the biggest hurdle you have faced in your career? The ongoing battle of balancing business growth with market demand.
What is the biggest success of your career? Taking people and showing them what they are capable of doing.
What piece of technology could you not live without? I think I could live without almost everything of my own – although my wife would probably say I couldn’t live without the GPS in my car – but if you took the mobile phones from my children, that would make life very difficult. I mean, how would I know where and when to pick them up?
What would be your advice to anyone starting a career in IT? Pick the most impenetratable technology that you can find and sell that. After all, it is common knowledge that the most successful technologies are those that are indistinguishable from magic.
What is your favorite computer game? All of the Splinter Cell games.
What would you like for Christmas if you could have anything? A pilot retractable fountain pen.
What is your favorite karaoke song? My favorite karaoke song is my wife singing These Boots Are Made For Walking, by Nancy Sinatra. You really don’t want to hear me sing.
What would be the title of your autobiography? It’s Really Not That Difficult.
Do you have any phobias? Yes, being convinced that we really need a dog.
How many beers before you fall over? 10.
Number of staff you manage? 9.
What car do you drive? BMW 525 Tourer.
Number of air miles you have? 160,000.