My digital life: Bill Hughes

Bill Hughes, head of real assets at Legal & General Investment Management, on battling with blockchain and the tech he can’t live without The biggest challenge for the real estate industry when it comes to embracing digital transformation is… Finding the property people who understand tech, and the tech people who understand property The moment I realised the time had come to make a change was… When the chief executive of a REIT showed me his portfolio; it was handwritten on one side of A4! In fountain pen The tech advance I find the hardest to get my head around is… Figuring out how to embrace blockchain If I could pass on one piece of advice about trying to futureproof a large company, it would be… Persist with targeting conventional thinking and inertia, and challenge it L&G’s ultimate tech goal is… Assist in solving the problems of a horribly antiquated property industry A company without a digital strategy is… Like a fish out of water; it will inevitably suffocate The simplest way to adopt new technology is… Identify a clear need that the new technology meets, and then focus, adapt and adopt When it comes to digital transformation, there is no such thing as… Easy evolution My biggest tech fail was… Losing all my contacts when my first mobile phone broke, with nothing copied to the SIM card My greatest tech advisers are… KPMG, especially Nick Wright The tech company I most admire is… Google; the search engine has changed everything, and the company continues to innovate The piece of technology I can’t live without… The Boris Bike App The piece of technology I wish everyone would shut up about… Wearables My avatar name would be… Ginger You can always got hold of me via (text/e-mail/WhatsApp/LinkedIn etc)… Text, e-mail or LinkedIn; or WhatsApp if you are in my secret groups