Colin Brown

Managing director, Softcat

Which tech figurehead do you admire the most?

Satya, for the reinvention of Microsoft from being yesterday's news to the industry leader once again.

What's the biggest challenge facing the industry no-one is talking about yet?

AI salespeople!

If you could invite three famous people to dinner, who would they be?

George Best, Joe Strummer and Orson Welles.

How has 2017 been for you?

Fantastic - a great year for Softcat and I've achieved a lot of personal goals this year like running my first ever 10K (I know I'm a bit of a late starter).

What's the most extravagant business lunch you've ever had?

We don't do those in Softcat!

Which global city best matches your personality?

Boston - friendly, welcoming, strong Irish roots and happy to play second fiddle to New York/Martin Hellawell.

What would be your super-hero power?

Mind reading!

Complete this sentence. The worst thing about our rivals is… that they keep improving!

What makes you nervous?

Any letter that comes from HMRC. No specific reason for me to be nervous, just innate fear.

If you could eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Potatoes - there's such a variety of ways to eat the humble spud. And I'm Irish, so what do you expect.

Sum up the channel in three words

Darwinian natural selection.