Michael Keegan

Executive director, Fujitsu

Career so far From the mid-1980s to 90s I was a senior executive at NatWest Bank and MasterCard Internatioal, before moving on to chief executive roles with various private equity financed ventures. I joined Fujitsu in 2006 as sales and marketing director for our Government Business Division. In 2010 I became executive director of our product organisation which encompasses responsibility for our channel business among its remit, so probably an unusual route into today's channel.

What was your first job and were you any good at it?

I was a cashier at the Cromwell Branch of NatWest, and let's just say it was my first brush with creative accounting when the till refused to balance at the end of the day.

Who was your top teenage pin-up?

Margaret Thatcher adorned the walls of my digs at university.

My colleagues won't know this about me but...

I have stood for Parliament twice but the voters were sensible enough to reject me, and as it happens I'm very grateful to them in retrospect.

What is your favourite snack?

I try not to snack (just in case Mrs Keegan is reading this), but like Oscar Wilde the one thing I can't resist is temptation.

What has been your career high point to date?

Building and growing a profitable product business with Fujitsu and particularly within the channel.

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?

Good - we have achieved growth in all key strategic business areas in which is still a tough economic climate. My operations director is ugly though. Still, you can't have everything.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living?

That I work in IT and if that doesn't move the conversation on I'll go into more detail about enterprise architectures and wiring diagrams.

If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be...

The lead guitarist in the punk banned The Damned.

What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014?

There could be changes ahead in ownership and commitment of traditional vendors in the channel, although personally at Fujitsu we see this as an opportunity.