Paul Barnes

Hi, I'm Paul Barnes.

Over my 25 year career, I've been fortunate enough to work with great clients like Vodafone, Disney, Macmillan, British Airport Authority, Thales, Tesco, The Sun, BBC, John Lewis Partnership, Thames Water and a host of startups.

Through those engagements I've witnessed the challenges that businesses have in designing, developing and launching new digital products: 
- fixating on solutions rather than problems 
- delivering features rather than valuable software 
- users unable to use the software you build 
- lack of goals causing misalignment and building the wrong 'thing' 
- increasing cost of technology 
- transformation to digital
- restricted access to talent 
- integrating legacy systems with new technology
- poor communication across teams
- silos and frustrating handoffs
- clearly understanding who needs or wants your new software product, and 
- overcoming organisational change.

All of which have substantial impact on a company's growth targets, reduces the quality of services and ability to serve customers well and respond to change with speed and innovation.

Having experienced these challenges with big companies, and recognising that smaller companies have them too, I decided to found Cariboo Digital. 

Cariboo Digital is a software development company with a mission to make awesome, game-changing, tailored software available and affordable for all companies. Through Cariboo Digital, my aim is to serve the needs of SME's that deserve the same technology capability that empowers large corporations, to help them succeed, compete and grow.

I really believe that working with small and medium sized businesses, to support their digital journey, is the way to ensure small businesses remain relevant, support their customers, and be a driving force for the economy.

We've all experienced massive change, disruption and faced the need to adapt over the past few years. I take great satisfaction leading companies through the design and delivery process. Helping them face ambiguity and uncertainty, focussing on identifying business and user challenges to seek out truly valuable opportunities that can be turned into desirable digital product that people want to use and server their business or community well.

If you think this mindset and approach to building great software products resonates with you, please get in touch and schedule a discovery call so we can explore your needs together.

 

Versatile Delivery Manager specializing in agile product management and delivery. Demonstrates a strong product mindset, leading diverse teams to successfully deliver complex digital products. Excels in driving organizational change, identifying product improvement opportunities, and implementing strategic initiatives through analytical thinking.

Exhibits a deep commitment to creating customer value, championing the iterative development and delivery of digital products that meet both business and customer needs. Advocates for continuous discovery, prototyping, and validation as key strategies to mitigate risks, maximize ROI, and ensure product relevance and impact.

Achievements

• DLUHC Voter Authority Certificate : Managed a £5m budget and ensured end-to-end integration and quality acceptance for 300+ institutions and various 3rd party systems, delivering on time for a immovable project end date
• Flaconi Ecommerce Transformation : Led platform migration for a German online retailer, implementing Algolia search and Criteo for retail media placements, resulting in an increase in customer engagement through targeted search and offers
• Thames Water Leak Management : Successfully delivered a workforce management app for Thames Water ahead of a three-month client milestone. This led to a significant improvement in the leak detection identification and repair cycle, reducing the time by a factor of five.
• Sun Newspaper : Delivered a £1.7m digital platform project as part of a wider £20m print loyalty programme, launching MVP iOS and Android apps to market and meeting print deadlines.

Computer Science BSc Honours Degree at Oxford Brookes University